Race Coverage
Julia!
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Wednesday, 10 June 2026 00:10
Photo (L-R) - Katie, Julia, Elena
2026 Buffalo Olympic Coverage - The morning was hot and thick and the times generally reflected those facts. It didn't prevent the pre-race men's favorite from winning, though, but as you'll learn when we post his terrific race report in a few days, it came with a steep cost.
Still, Spencer Syvertson, managed to win by a substantial margin, 3:41 to be exact, but his final time--2:04:46--was 4:42 slower than his winning time here in 2025.
His closest competition was provided by former Minnesotan, now Houston Texan, Mark Van Mechelen. Jeron Hall, 20, who turned in some fine junior performances last season, rounded out the men's Top Three.
The overall women's podium seemed to match what was predicted, but didn't due to the wave start system. When pre-race favorite Elena Jasper was the first woman to cross the finish line it was easy to assume that she would remain atop the leaderboard. Thus if you weren't paying close attention to the clock, it would be easy to miss the fact that former Buffalo Olympic winner Katie DeRegnier, who started two minutes behind Jasper, would overtake the top spot, albeit by a slim 7-seconds.
Game over, right? We know the Top Two and the next woman to finish, Kristen Hawkins perhaps, would claim the third step....
Nope! Sixty-year-old tri phenom, who seems to thrive in hot weather, Julie Weisbecker would turn in an eventual time--2:20:55--that not only crushed her AG's record by almost 12 minutes, it was the fastest women's Olympic time of the day.
Our state has more than its share of female Grandmaster superstars, and Julia, after her win at Buffalo and her AG course record at Oceanside 70.3s, has moved to the top of that august list.
