Race Coverage

The Stout in a Black & Tan...

Monday, 03 June 2013 04:10

Like stout that rises to the top of a Black 'n Tan, there were many terrific performances to, as they say, write home about. Let's start the women's Olympic winner Cathy Yndestad, okay? The pre-race fave not only lived up to the prognostication, she exceeded expectations. Her victory, the landmark 60th of the former US Athlete of the Year's stellar career, was her 4th here at Buffalo, and her time--2:08:24--lowered her own amateur course record set in 2010 by 29 seconds. CY, the only amateur woman to break 2:10 at TriBuff Olympic, has cracked the 130-minute mark three times.

Did anyone out-terrific Cathy on Sunday? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Certainly, sophomore triathlete Heather Lendway proved that she is our state's next big deal. Relatively speaking, her runner-up 2:11:24 portends future course records here and elsewhere. In recent memory, only 2011 Triathlete of the Year Claire Bootsma was able to turn in a faster Olympic effort in only her 2nd year in the sport. She did so under near-perfect racing conditions at Buffalo two years ago and at Nationals that year as well. In both races, she turned in 2:10s. We wouldn't be surprised if Heather breaks 2:10 later this season.

Other terrific performances demanding acknowledgement included Jared Smith's decisive victory in Buffalo's sprint event and 13-year-old Lauren Steinke's AG CR / 6th place overall finish in that race. If the St. Cloud teen races often enough this year, we'd be surprised if she didn't pick up a Junior of the Year nomination.

It warmed the cockles of our hearts to watch new mom Catherine Lee win the Buffalo Sprint. Have you seen her Cherrio-loving daughter, Elliot (photo R)? She's stunning! Cathy told us before the race that she didn't expect to win, noting "I started training on Thursday." Must be a muscle memory thing.

FYI, the Top 3 spots in men's Olympic race went to young pros Matthew Dellow of Australia and Patrick Parish, who has three runner-up finishes in as many starts this season, and Greg Rhodes, who was the day's fastest amateur.

The 10th annual Buffalo Triathlon was also marked by a touch of sadness. Race Founder/Director Brett Oden, who had worked tirelessly to create this major league event, stepped down. The new director is Bill Corcoran, the man who founded the awesome Graniteman races. We'll miss Brett, but we're happy to know that his event's legacy is in skilled hands.

If you haven't done so already, check out the complete RACE RESULTS.