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Martyrs, Chipmunks & Flip-Flops...

Monday, 13 January 2014 06:10

Going "Off Course" - Carlton triathlete Jason Crisp was born and raised in a place that had only one tree. The place, which does not appear on maps, is a township, not a town, and is named, appropriately, "Lone Tree." The region has a scattered population of 25-ish folks, most of whom complain about the lack of shade.

In the pursuit of shade, and an education, Jason attended South Dakota State University in a great little city called Brookings. The town is not exactly carved from a forest, but lots of trees have been planted on its picturesque college campus, which delighted the shade-starved Jason Crisp, who heretofore had never seen sap.

Before moving to the relatively woodsy community of Carlton, Minnesota, which is near the heavily forested Jay Cooke State Park, Jason, according to his questionnaire, married Sheila Crisp. No, he did not marry a close relative, because that would be wrong, and Jason isn't one who does wrong stuff. We suspect that Sheila had a different last name before he married her. The fact that their many above-average-in-every-way children--Kylee, Katie, Tyler and Jared--do not possess any hideous genetic disfigurations, suggests that the partners were sufficiently unrelated before they got hitched....

If we knew Sheila's maiden name, we could Google her lineage to see if it contained any famous people. As for Jason, we were happy to discover that the Crisp clan, which originated in England and has a large branch in France along with a totally cool Family Crest (photo above L), is overflowing with famous and semi-famous kinsfolk, including a pro baseball player (Covelli "Coco" Crisp), a retired NHL hockey guy (Terry Crisp), an Acadamy Award winning actor (Donald Crisp) and even a saint (St. Crispin, who was martyred at Soissons in 285 AD). How cool is that!

A soft-spoken family man who has a small waist even without sucking it in, Jason is a likeable guy in spite of having a myriad of bad habits (according to his wife, Mrs. Crisp), like leaving cupboard doors open (don't you hate that!) and being noisy in the morning. On the bright side, he rarely leaves the seat up after he goes.

The Crisp family has a parttime pet, a dog named Lola that comes and goes as it sees fit. And every summer a wild chipmunk hangs around their house. Daughter Kylee assumes that it is the same rodent that makes annual visits, and has therfore named it Alvin, though its gender has never been officially determined.

Jason is the only guy we know who wore flip-flops at his wedding (photo R). How odd (and cool) is that?

You can learn more stuff about the remarkable tree-loving transplant from South Dakota, Jason Crisp, by reading his questionnaire. We thank him and his family for allowing us to have some fun at their expense.

BACKGROUND:

Name: Jason Crisp

Age: 33

Where you live now? Carlton, MN

Where were you born? Dell Rapids, SD. I grew up on a farm close to Lone Tree, SD and went to the Colman-Egan School.

Education? Where? Degrees? Degree in Exercise Science from Dakota State University. I’m also a NSCA, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

Occupation? Personal Trainer for Anytime Fitness in Cloquet, MN and an Endurance Sports Coach

Dream Job if you could do anything you want?

Retirement in a warm climate!!! Seriously, either a physical therapist or sports medicine doctor

Former Occupations? (Anything weird or embarrassing here?)

In High-School I tore up electrical transformers. It was a very dirty job and not a whole lot of fun. Good motivation to study and go to college.

Before moving to Carlton I was the Fitness Coordinator for The Community Center in Madison, SD. It was an awesome job! I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with a lot of great people in Madison.

Family? Wife? Husband? Kids? I’m a lucky guy to be married to Sheila Crisp! Together we have one little girl, Kylee, and three step kids: Katie, Tyler, Jared. We are a very busy family with the kids going to school and sporting events.

Pets? Names? No Pets, but we have a neighborhood dog named Lola that comes around often. In the summer we have a wild chipmunk named Alvin that Kylee tries to feed.

Tattoos? Other cool mutilations? No Tattoos or piercings! Although I do have a broken/crooked nose from playing football and also from a large swinging door.

Best physical feature? I’ve been told my calves.

Anything you wish you could change about yourself? Like most triathlete’s sometimes I can become a little too OCD ;)

Pet Peeves? Lazy people and negativity

Bad Habits? My wife tells me “how long of a list do you want; leaving the cupboard doors open, noisy in the morning, etc.”

Embarrassing Moments? Those long runs where all you need is a bathroom and there isn’t one available ;(

FAVORITES:

Movies?

Avatar, Braveheart, I guess really anything action & adventure. Lately my wife has been forcing me to watch all the Holiday Movies on the Hallmark channel. Let me tell you they become very predictable. We have a game where I try to predict exactly what will happen. I’ve become very good at it.

TV Shows?

This summer we got hooked on Friday Night Lights.

TV Stars? As a kid I enjoyed the TGIF shows.

Books? Recently I read the book “Iron War”. Not too much time available to read books. Mainly read magazine and online articles.

Musicians/bands? I like a mix. Everything from the 90’s grunge, rock, pop, country. Not too picky. I like listening to motivational music.

Restaurants? We love Pasta like Olive Garden, etc. Quinn’s Almost By the Sea in Kona is one of my favorites (I like the setting has something to do with it;)

Meals? Grilled Steak with homemade Sweet Potato Fries! And a few beers as desert.

Junk Food?

Chocolate and Ice Cream