Race Coverage

Grinaker Throws Down at Chisago...

Sunday, 29 July 2018 23:10

I get why Toughman wanted Chisago to be part of their brand.  What an incredible race! I don’t think I’ve ever participated in a race with so many greet volunteers, and so many city residents cheering all of the athletes on. - Wade Cruser

CHISAGO LAKES HALF IRONMAN - The email we received from Wade yesterday summed up not only his experience last Sunday, but the experience of many, if not most, of those who participated. The weather was favorable,  wetsuits were legal and more than eight hundred athletes crossed the finish line. Times were impressive, with a pair of AG records rewritten. Wade set a personal best - 4:16:55--which took a 3:34 bite out of his prior best, but it was not quite  enough to land him on the podium.

Defending champ SEAN COOLEY led the way for then men through 68 of the 70.3 miles. As the seconds, then minutes, ticked by after he left T2, it sure looked like Dr. C would collect his sixth career half IM victory. Heck, he might even better the 4:06 he posted here in 2017. His lead over his closest challengers, CRUSER and an unfamiliar guy named MATT HUTCHINSON, 24, from an unfamiliar place called "Ingham," was just under six minutes. Wade is a strong runner, but we soon learned that the unfamiliar guy, is a VERY strong runner.

Hutchinson threw down a 1:18 run split, allowing him to catch and overtake the arguably overraced Cooley with a couple miles to go. Cruser was wilting in the late going, which eventual bronze medalist JOE ADRIAENS took afull advantage of.

Hutch crossed in a brisk 4:06:45. Cooley held on for his fourth sub-4:10 (4:09:25), placing 2nd. ...

Who is this unfamiliar guy who stole the race? Turns out he's an amiable young man from New Zealand, who currently resides in Ingham, Australia, a small town in northern Queensland. A little research revealed that he has spent the last few months in Madison, Wisconsin, during which he had placed 2nd overall at Muncie 70.3 (4:08) to go with his several regional wins and podium finishes on Wisconsin soil. 

Hutchinson's performance on Sunday was awesome, indeed, but was it the most impressive of the day?

Not quite. That honor goes to HANNA GRINAKER (top photo with Sean Cooley), who turned in her third consecutive Performance of the Year-nomination worthy effort in the month of July. (Guess who will win the women's July AOM title?) 

Hanna's 2:08 turned heads at Minneapolis on the 14th. Her 1:39:42 at HOLT the next day was arguably an event better performance. Then she rocked a 4:28:34 in-your-face effort at Chisago, placing her in the overall Top 10. Not since 2012, when soon-to-be pro RUTH BRENNAN MORREY popped a 2:25:55 had any woman flirted with a sub-4:30 at Chisago.

Grinaker was the first of nine women who would crack the 5-hour mark at Paradise Park, matching 2014 as the second most sub-5s in race history. In 2nd place this year was current Master of the Year frontrunner BECKY YOUNGBERG, who at 43, PRed for the distance with a masters record 4:37:04. Her fleetness afoot allowed here to overtake eight-time half IM champ KORTNEY HAAG late in the game. Kortney's 3rd place time was 4:38:01, marking the first time since the race began in 2006 that more than two women broke 4:40.

Youngberg's 40-44W and overall Masters Record were not the only marks to fall. With his 4:35:04, former Mankatoan DAVID LYONS, now of Schofield, Wisconsin, lowered his own 55-59M AGR by a whopping 10:38! RESULTS