Race Coverage

Reasons to be Happy....

Wednesday, 10 July 2024 00:10

By Doobie Kurus

Average Jo Race Report - In my quest to visit/participate in the various triathlons in MN, I was happy to have last weekend available in my schedule to do the Average Joe/Jo Tri in Perham. If you're not familiar with this race, you're not alone, even though it's the 19th edition of it. Aside from it being listed on MN Tri News and the Hopkins Royal Tri websites, it's tough to find. In fact, the race itself doesn't even have a website, just a FB page. So, not much information to glean, like the race day schedule, course maps, etc. With knowing that, I wasn't expecting much in terms of a race day experience. Still, I figured for $50 to register, what have I got to lose? I drove up on Friday afternoon, and enjoyed the numerous small cities along the way, like Big Lake, Sartell, Royalton, Little Falls, Motley, Staples, and Wadena.

It's a 3 hour drive from Mpls, so I stopped occasionally for dinner, interesting shops, garage sales, AND ice cream! After checking into my hotel in town, I decided to visit the race venue, so to get a lay of the land. When I arrived at Paul Miller Park, aside from 3 portopotties and a little bit of yellow caution tape, there was nothing that indicated that there was an event going on, let alone a triathlon. I did see a couple of people with tri bikes on their vehicle. I was thrilled when they said they were there for the tri as well. Apparently it was the first time doing this race for all of us, so we spent a few minutes guessing where we thought things would be, like the transition area, swim start/finish, etc. 

When morning arrived, I was happy to wake up and on my own and have plenty of time to eat breakfast, because the race start time was around 8:45. I drove over to Miller Park and was happy to find plenty of parking and just 50 feet from the transition area. I was already happy enough merely finding out that the transition area existed! I was happy to run into Vanvechten (very cool name) and Joel Crane, the father and son from Bismark, ND that I met the previous night. I was happy to see longtime HoRT participant, Ryan MacMaster, along with his wife, Reggie, doing the event. I was happy to find out that Pickle Timing, who times many triathlons (including the Hopkins Royal Tri) in MN, was the official timer. I was happy to go do a warmup bike ride and was happy to see how well paved the road was. NOTE: I was NOT happy about the 17 mph headwind, but was happy that it eventually became a 17 mph tailwind! I was happy to see mile marker signs for each mile of both the bike and the run courses. I was happy to have just 2 buoys for the swim course, 5 right hand turns on the bike course and 1 turn on the run course of an out and back route. I was happy to make the "podium" (ok, there was not an actual podium, but it still made me happy to get recognized) for 2nd place.

Make no doubt about it. It was pretty evident I was not at some highly advertised, volunteer laden, big money backed, produc branded triathlon. There was no ongoing race announcer, although the local DJ from 99.5 did the pre-race announcements at 8:30 a.m. The race apparently starts 30 seconds thereafter, NOT at the 8:45 time other racers had mentioned. I wasn't even in my wetsuit when I heard them say, "Racers in the 1st wave, take your marks." The finish line was simply a timing mat and a digital clock. The post race fare consisted of a 1/2 banana, granol bar, and bottle of water, all self-serve. The prizes were a simple medal for the top 2 male/female in each 15 year age group. There were less than 100 people registered, and a little over 50 individual finishers and 5-10 relay teams on hand, BUT those that were there...were happy! 

The event organizers gave us what we really want (and need); a safe, enjoyable, welcoming, and challenging triathlon, with accurate results, support, and a desire to return. Next year will be their 20th anniversary. Maybe I'll bring a gift of china? Nah! I'll just bring friends to join me. Will you?

Top Photo courtesy of Bulldog Photograhy / Blake Steinbring -- Women's winner Kadie Hokanson asking a boy if she can pet his dog.

Page 2 Photo: Doobie, Ryan McMaster and a football.