Race Coverage

A Race Worth Several Thousand Words...

Saturday, 14 June 2014 00:10

Author's Note: this article has been written with broad-ranging artistic licenses. All such licenses are possessed by the author, and may be produced if legally compelled to do so. As such, the details in this article have not been verified by the author or any other party. The reader is advised that the words below are written only as the author's best recollection of the events, and may not be taken as sworn testimony.

By A Guy or a Gal from Northfield, probably a student at Carleton.

June 5^th, 2014 – The venue was packed with 65,000 cheering fans (or was it 65? 6.5?) to witness the 2014 running of the Carleton Triathlon, in Northfield, MN. Conditions were perfect, mostly sunny with little wind and temps in the mid-sixties. But the focus was not on the beautiful weather, nor the toned bodies of the competitors, but on one simple question: “Could anyone unseat the dominant champions of this event?” ...

In the women's race, Brooke Plotz (née Larsen) came in as the recent behemoth of the Carleton Triathlon, having won six out of the past seven races. For the men, Andy Clark had won six out of the past nine. Clark is the longtime head swimming and diving coach at Carleton, and Plotz is his top assistant. This recent dominance of the swim program shows that the swim leg in fact does matter in non-draft triathlons (nah, just kidding!).

On the men's side Clark appeared to have one serious challenger in Andy Hardt ('13). Hardt, coming back a year after graduating sporting a fancy trisuit and a new bike, was hoping that technology would give him what ability never could, a Carleton Triathlon title. Plotz, however, seemed set to coast to yet another dominant victory.

However, Plotz had a fearsome challenger to contend with – little known Tori Ostenso ('15) had undergone a backbreaking 2-year training regime in secret with the sole objective of challenging, and perhaps unseating, Plotz. She came into the race without Plotz' speed in the pool, but with the confidence to run down anybody and the focus that only her inner demons could provide.

Plotz, as expected, bolted to the early lead. She took control of the race with commanding performances in both the swim and the bike. Ostenso was left far behind and out of sight of Plotz. Coming into the second transition, Plotz had a 4-minute lead, and the fire in her eyes showed a competitor who was not about to relent.

However, Ostenso was not about to give up. She raced through transition, and though the leader was running strong, started taking minutes out of Plotz' lead. With a mile to go, the lead was around a minute and closing fast. Plotz was running hard, but would she finally meet her match in the long strides of Ostenso? Would Ostenso end the reign of the dominant female triathlete in Carleton's recent memory? No. Plotz held on for a close win in 1:52:47. Ostenso was 26 seconds back in second with a 1:53:13.

The results of this race set up an alluring matchup at next year's event, but as the lack of quotes in this article shows, neither competitor succumbed to the temptation to trash-talk the other. This restraint indicates that the only things larger than the bed-shaking hearts of these fit and classy competitors are their metaphorical hearts.

If the women's race was dramatic, the men's was even more so, if not as unexpected. As has happened in the past, Hardt built a lead over Clark on the swim, and the latter closed the differential and more with a savage leg on the bike. The two were neck and neck out of transition when Hardt surged, channeling Alfred Kipketer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdsQey3JUoA). Immediately, a gap formed, and by halfway the distance between the top two had ballooned to almost a minute.

The race was over in dominant fashion. Or was it? Clark had not won this race so many times by going down without a fight. Clark surged and started to cut into Hardt's lead. Meanwhile, it turned out Hardt's  show of strength was a mirage as he was paying for his blistering early running in the most dramatic way possible. While Hardt flailed his arms and weaved from side-to-side, Clark strode stoicly on, taking chunks out of what once appeared to be an insurmountable lead.

With 400m to go, Hardt was in sight, and with 200m to go, Clark had pulled almost alongside the struggling leader. But his superhuman effort to close the gap had proven too much. Hardt had one final effort in him. He sprinted away in the homestretch to win in 1:34:35, and collapsed on the ground. Clark was a scant 2 seconds behind in 1:34:37. The tactics had taken their toll on both runners, and neither could speak for several minutes. Clark proved to be as gracious in his narrow defeat and he had been so many times before in victory, but resolved to take his performance to an even higher level.

Top Students

For male students, Drew Polasky ('15) used a blistering bike leg to take control and neutralize the run of Ross Brown ('14). Polasky was fourth overall in 1:40:56 and Brown was fifth in 1:42:05.

Ostenso was the first female student in 1:53:13, and Jackie Dowling ('17) blazed home on the run to finish in 1:58:10 and take a close battle for second (third overall).

Team Races

If the individual races were defined by close battles, the relays were marked by dominant performances. In the men's/mixed race “There is No Tri,” the team of Wilson Josephson, Marcus Huderle, and Jacob Hoerger, built a lead on the swim leg and never looked back, coasting to a 3-minute victory over “Ernesto.” The latter team had the fastest run split in the field with a 29:53, but it was not enough. “There is No Tri” finished with a time of 1:39:01, while “Ernesto” finished at 1:42:51.

In the women's race, “Masha Ava Caroline,” the team of Masha Toulokhonova, Ava Lewis, and Caroline, were even more dominant. With strong swim and bike legs, they pulled away early to win by more than 7 minutes over “Yucky,” 1:42:14 to 1:49:16.

Fast Splits

In fitting manner, both genders' run splits for relays and individuals were broken on the 0^th anniversary of the new run course. For relays, the team “Ernesto” split 29:53 and “Yucky” split 31:34. For individuals, Brown split 33:50 and Winona Rachel split 35:00. All four times bested the previous records of infinity.

In the swim, two performances stood out. The relay “Masha Ava Caroline” split 11:18, taking down the split record by one second. For individuals, Alex Mathson split 11:03, coming within an agonizing second of that record. Mathson was consoled from his near miss by the fact that he was then able to bike further  and through a more interesting route than any of his competitors.

Special Thanks

This reporter would like to thank the race organizers. Phoebe Chastain, Kaitlin Bagley, Evan Olawsky, Andrew Cely, Jackie Dowling, Sam Rix, and Tanner Fliss put on a remarkable event which lived up to the race's hallowed history, and provided the author with intimate reporting access to the event. Legendary former race director Chas Karch agreed with this sentiment, saying “Phoebe and the crew did so well this year, I hear there's talk of hiring her on to run the Northfield Ironman next year. A two mile swim in Lyman Lakes should be great!”

Thanks also to all the varsity athletes who volunteered, many in spite of ear-splitting headaches and nausea. Finally, thanks to Carleton College and the Carleton SAAC for supporting the event.

Though the races have resolved, the tension has not abated. Instead, all parties are lazer-focused on 2015. Will the favorites prevail? What new contenders might surface? It's too early to tell. All that we know is that no competitor will leave an ounce of strength or a drop of willpower out on the course.