Race Coverage
The Big Macs are on Boots...
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Tuesday, 27 September 2011 03:00
Peregrine Charities Olympic - In a post-race interview, ubiquitous smiler Claire Bootsma laughingly claimed that she couldn't feel her feet until the final mile of the run.
She wasn't kidding.
Her frozen extremities, however, did not prevent her from winning the 4th annual edition of this great event in frosty Waterloo, Iowa, last Sunday. In fact, she won in course record time and by a cruel margin (5:07) over 2010 champ, Janet McCullough. Twas Boots' 7th victory (and 5th course record!) of the year and 10th of an amazing tri career which began only 13 months ago.
She pocketed $1000 for her efforts (2:10:02), which meant that it was her turn to buy at McDonald's.
That's how it goes. The one who wins the most money has to buy the Big Macs. (Dan can eat FOUR of those bad boys. A sominloquy sufferer, between snores he's often been heard to recite: "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions and a sesame seed bun...")...
Kortney Haag, won this race in 2009 and has also placed 2nd here twice, settled for 3rd on Sunday. The numbing conditions (40-45 degrees with a brisk wind out of the east; and a 63 degree lake) slowed down transition times significantly, and Kort was struggling more than most. Getting into and out of clothing with inoperative fingers and torpid muscles was a major chore, and it may have cost her a podium step and an extra $400 in 
prize pay.
In the end, Kortney finished 34 seconds behind McCullough. And like all the money winners, she received CASH ($100), not a check. Some of those dollars paid for husband Derek's lunch, which consisted of three Quarter Pounders with cheese, large fries and an Oreo Blizzard.
Half of the women's top 10 on Sunday were Minnesotans, which we think is totally cool! Joining Boots and Kort were Veronica Bond, who placed was 6th, Lisa Wasek, who took 7th, and Christina Meier, who finished 8th.
Three Minnesota dudes cracked the Olympic Top Five. Starting with David Thompson, who acknowledged that he was still a little tired and sore after his iron effort in Sandusky, Ohio, two weeks earlier (he placed 3rd at Rev3-Cedar Point in 8:38), and who out-biked the 2nd fastest rider at PCO by two-plus minutes.
In the end, DKT claimed a 3:23 win over rookie pro Chris Vander Linden of Iowa City. David's time was 1:53:01, which lowered Dan Bretscher's pro CR by 25 seconds. David's career multisport resume now features 72 victories.
Claiming the $100 third podium step and the amateur victory was Dan Hedgecock. His 1:58:46 was just seven seconds off Sam Janicki's 2010 amateur CR.
Hedge now has 10 wins this year, which matches Patrick Parish's 2010 win total.
And speaking of Parish, he placed 4th on Sunday. Following sluggish swim and bike splits, the frigid PP nailed the final run. His 32:54 was the fastest split of the day by a thick margin.
