Race Coverage
Palmer & Lendway Are Tough, Man....
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Monday, 27 July 2015 06:10
TOUGHMAN MINNESOTA SPRINT - Devon Palmer's signature monster bike split propelled him to his 3rd victory in four starts this season last Sunday in Chisago City. The caffeinated spokesmodel (photo L) had a slim lead on Kevin O'Connor coming out Chisago Lake and picked up a couple more ticks in T1.
On the bike, though, his margin over the eventual runner-up grew by an additional 2:09. The mustacheod Palmer needed that time to hold off Kevin during the 5K run. KO's run split was 1:21 faster than DP's thus Devon's eventual margin of victory was trimmed to 53 seconds. His winning time--1:16:04--was the event's 4th fastest ever.
Both Palmer and O'Connor had prior wins here, Devon in 2012 and Kevin in 2011. By our reckoning, the victory was the 17th of Palmer's tri/du career. For the 44-year-old O'Connor, it was his 7th podium effort of the season. Four of those performances were victories....
Rounding out the men's podium at this 10th annual race, known formerly as Chisago Lake Sprint, was Brian Sames, who was coming off a PR performance at Racine 70.3 the week before. In case you hadn't noticed, Brian smiles a lot. Pleasant fellow.
Rookie pro Heather Lendway had been chasing dollars this season (which are becoming increasing hard to find in the pro world), thus she hadn't raced on Minnesota soil. Until last Sunday, that is. It goes without saying, though we'll say it anyway, that she won the women's title, something she had done in 2014, as well. For the two-time National Champion and 2014 World Champ, her victory at Toughman was the 24th of her tri career, which started in July of 2012.
The rest of the women's Top 5 were filled out by some of Minnesota's most successful elite amateurs. Heiney (Nicole Heininger) placed 2nd, which gave her the amateur win, the 8th of her young career. (She was Rookie of the Year in 2013.) Suzie Fox (photo), Minnesota's winningest female multisportswoman thus far in 2015 (7 wins) and amateur champ here in 2012, placed 3rd overall. Fourth was earned by 2014 USAT Duathlete of the Year Honorable Mention Diane Hankee, who is a HOOT!, and 5th went to Life Time - Minneapolis winner Bridget McCoy. Impressive field, huh!
We were also impressed with the 6th place effort by Sarah Berger, who may, once again, be included in the "Most Improved" discussion at season's end.
The climatological conditions early in day on Sunday were very accommodating: Cloudy with manageable temps and humidity levels. By noon conditions had become toasty and thick. The clouds had scattered. In other words, the Toughman Sprint participants enjoyed nearly ideal racing weather. For those needing more than five hours to negotiate the simultaneously contested Toughman Half, however, the situation was much different. Hot, humid. Borderline grizzly. More about that in another post.
