Race Coverage

Cathy & Claire. Claire & Cathy...

Tuesday, 30 August 2011 03:00

(Great YndeCam Photos - Cathy emerging from Weaver Lake & Claire in total hammer mode. Hey, go to Kerry Yndestad's Facebook page and check out his phenomenal photo coverage of the MG & TriStar races.)

Maple Grove Olympic - Five years and three weeks ago Minnesota Athlete of the Decade, Cathy Yndestad, was beaten at Turtleman by fellow Minnesotan, Heidi Keller-Miler, and honorary Minnesotan, Marnie Walth.

That was the last time that CY has finished behind a Loon State woman in a triathlon.

Until Saturday, that is.

Four days ago Cathy blasted out of T2 at the Maple Grove Olympic Triathlon knowing that she better put close to a half mile (3 minutes) under her Kwicky Blades before Claire Bootsma got off her bike. Less than that would be fatal. Claire is just too fast afoot....

Cathy was running scared.

When Claire dismounted she was only about 90 seconds behind the leader. She overtook the 50-race winner between kilometer five and six.

In the last 12 months Claire Bootsma has endeared herself to the Minnesota multisport community. We've all grown to love her solar smile and champagne personality. And we cheered like lunatics when she crossed the finish line at the MG Tri in 2:12:51, a new course record and her 6th win of the 2011 season in the books.

But the joy was soon swizzled with a dab of disbelief and a dash of dysphoria. Seeing Cathy finish 2nd a little more than a minute and a half later felt weird; not right. We've grown so used to seeing her win.

Folks are bound to wonder if Cathy is being replaced at the top of our state's Elite Heap.

We think that it's too early to go there. What may be the case, though, is that Cathy is being joined on top of that hill and that she and Claire will have a plethora of great head-to-heads in the future, with CY prevailing some of the time and Claire doing likewise.

Some of Yndestad's supporters may point to the fact that Cathy is still not 100% healthy. Let is be known that Cathy herself would never play this card. In fact, she was not planning to race on Saturday and didn't become interested in doing so until after she knew that Claire, who had just finished 6th overall at Nationals, (and Becky Youngberg--photo L--who has won seven races this summer) would be there. The race had already filled, but as defending women's champ, Cathy was cheerfully offered an entry when friends petitioned the race directors on her behalf. Cathy was too shy to contact Lindsey and Jeanette herself.

What happened to Cathy on Saturday was not really a defeat. It was simply a 2nd place finish, a placing most triathletes would kill for. And the experience WILL make Cathy a better triathlete. If you know her at all, you know that she'll use this as motivation to get faster. She is the most "motivatable" person we know. No one pounces on motivating opportunities as quickly as CY. Hey, that's why she got a pro card last year. She wasn't afraid of being beaten. She wanted to take the path that would lead her to her ultimate personal perfection the fastest.

Claire will help CY perfect herself as an athlete. And vice versa.