Race Previews
Cool BH Stuff...
-
Monday, 28 July 2014 00:10
28th BREWHOUSE TRIATHLON - Brian Bich (photo) could, as they say, "Make History" on Saturday. A win at the Brewhouse (Olympic) Triathlon would be his 12th at that annual classic, and it would snap his tie with Tony Schiller for the most wins in a single triathlon. (Tony has 11-wins at the Lake Waconia Triathlon.
A state record is on the line.
Can he do it? He's 48 now and has scaled back his racing in order to increase his participation in the lives of his two teen sons. Additionally, he'll be facing a resurgent Josh Blankenheim at BH. Josh beat Brian by 43 seconds at Heart of the Lakes.
In Bich's defense, HOLT was his first racing effort of the year. For Blank, it was his fourth....
That the amiable family man/college professor co-holds a state record is cool enough. But records are meant to be broken. Schiller's last win at LWT was in 2003. Few records stand for more than a decade, thus we think that the time is right for this one to go down. Brian has time and muscle memory on his side.
We think he'll win on Saturday.
Predicting the winner of the women's BH Olympic is much easier. Defending champ Elaine Nelson (photo) should repeat.
Brewhouse participants were asked to make comments about themselves on their registration forms. Hopefully the announcer will repeat some of them on race day. We know the announcer and he's not getting any younger. The odds of him remembering, then spewing, hundreds of personal comments aren't good. So, to help him out, we are posting some of those assertions, with our terse parenthetical responses, below.
Aaron Day - "I have the best Father-in-Law ever!" (Somebody has to.)
Nathan Hoffman - "You can't teach height." (Sad but true.)
Sahan Jayawardena - "Sahan is Legen--wait for it--dary!" (Worth the wait.)
Timoth Jung - "Stay gold pony boy." (Huh?)
Ben Kapella - "This is my first triathlon, and I like long walks on the beach." (Sensitive guy. Probably likes chick ficks.)
Jon Matejek - "#1 chess-playing triathlete in the 49-year-old age group." (This and $2 will get him a cup of coffee at Caribou.)
Steve Sander - "Adult Film Critic." (He probably nows Ron Jeremy and Dirk Diggler personally.)
Daniel Schlesinger - "The Schles Dog." (Hell yes!)
Libby Atwater - "Now I can drink all the beer I want." (You really believe this?)
Carrie Bettedorf - "Mother of 8." (Holy episiotomy, Batman!)
Jennifer Farnham - "She loves Sam." (Awwww.)
Conner Lewis - "Competing for Cystic Fibrosisi Foundation." (Good for you!)
Emily Lewis - "Wanted to compete in 1st triathlon before trying to start a family." (Hokey dokey.)
Jena Ogston - "I love waterskiing." (Who doesn't?)
Catherine Richardson - "Entire family of 6 will are competing." (Who's feeding your goldfish?)
Hilary Sonstegard - "Returning after 15-year hiatus." (Welcome back.)
Brandon Benzer - "I like turtles." (Cool or creepy. We're not sure.)
Samuel Caspers - "The Legend of Woodbury." (Known throughout the land, from Oakdale to Lake Elmo.)
Andrew Harting - "Runs funny." (Doesn't mean you're a bad person.)
Dale Forde - "This is my 26th Brewhouse." (Knows a good thing when he sees it.)
Brian Olson - "I like things that are great." (Awesome comment!)
Brian's words say it all. Brewhouse has alway been a GREAT event, and is even greater now that its venue is at picturesque Island Lake.
