Race Coverage
Pregnant Women, Futbol Hooligans & Fatherhood...
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Wednesday, 20 June 2012 02:30
(Photo - An Argentinian Futbol fanatic guy named Sergio and his offspring. He and countryman Martin, pronounced "Marteen," have done the RochesterFest Olympic the last two years clad in full soccer hooligan regalia.)
RochesterFest Coverage - It's true that some preggers women actually glow. These girls radiate happiness and contentment, which makes them beautiful to look at and be around, even though their bellybuttons poke out in a sorta disturbing way.
We know that this pregnantic glowage phenonmenon (PGP) is real because we witnessed it firsthand at RochesterFest last Sunday. The PGP girl in question is Kyla Blazek, who is due in two weeks and is as big as a Volkswagon. Her size and poked-out bellybutton and readiness to pop at any moment were not enough to keep her out of the race. Heck, she'd done Trinona Sprint the week before. FYI, we doubt that she'll race next week, but who knows, maybe she will....
Awash with PGP, Kyla told us before the race on Sunday that she hoped to cover the sprint course (.25-10-5K) in 1:30 or less. Ambitious. Then the glowy 32-year-old Winonan and her fetus swam, biked and ran their way to a 1:19:34. To us at MTN, she was the Rock Star of the Day. Way to go, Kyla!
And she was not the only one. Rock Star, that is.
Patty Hutchings also did the sprint. It was her first triathlon. What makes this especially cool is the fact that she is 69-years-old and has finally succumbed to the urging of her tri-veteran husband, Harvey. Patty wore a white blouse over her tri suit and ran in a pair of sandals, proving that there's no wrong way to do this tri thing. Now she can cross this type of experience off her Bucket List, thereby forcing her husband to bug her into doing something else that she probably doesn't want to do.
As in 2011 there were a couple of South American guys dressed in full "Soccer Hooligan" (Barrista Futbol) regalia that did the race together, laughing and mock-hooliganning throughout the entire event. We thank these soccer uniformed hombres--Martin Fernandez-Zapico and Sergio Gradilione--for the entertainment and reinforcing Patty Hutchings' "do-it-you-own-way" message.
RochesterFest was staged on Father's Day and the greatest FD gift ever was given to David Thompson, who won the Olympic race in record time (1:52:52), of course. This "gift" was presented to him the night before the race when his wife Hannah gave birth to their first child, a son. The gift of Fatherhood is truly a beautiful thing. David did not stick around after the race. Apparently, he wanted to get back to his family. FYI, DKT's win marked a milestone. Twas the 75th victory of his tri career.
Ruth Brennan Morrey came into Sunday's Olympic race with a 2012 resume boasting four wins and four course records. Well, Ruthie remained undefeated and kept her CR streak alive, as well. The 2011 Minnesota Rookie of the Year placed 6th overall (!) in 2:11:57, which lowered Cathy Yndestad's 2008 course best by 1:04. Is she the best amateur multisportswoman in America right now?
We believe she is. And she, like Kyla and Patty and the frolicking Futbol Hooligan guys and new dad, David Thompson, are on the short list of MTN's RochesterFest 2012 Rock Stars.
By the way, as of Sunday morning David and Hannah had yet to name their new son. We hope they consider our recommendation: Charlemagne. Charlemagne Thompson. Gotta nice imperial ring to it, don't you think?
Photo R - Kyla did not wear this outfit at RochesterFest, but we saw this pic on her Facebook page and felt that it was too goofy not to share. Apparently she stole one of Madonna's jogbras.
ALSO: We also want to acknowledge Johnny Heinlein III, who crushed the sprint course record and became the first athlete in event history to break 50 minutes. John's time was 48:53 and his margin of victory over runner-up Brandon Ordway was 4:25. This was Heinlein's 2nd career multisport win.
