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Thursday, 19 May 2016 00:10

ED. Two-time Minnesota Master of the Year nominee, Christel Kippenhan, a former baby (see photo on page 2), has a new blog. In her inaugural post she reflects on something we all deal with with varying degrees of success: DNFs (including DNSs, 'cuz you can't finish what you don't start).

By Christel Kippenhan (seecktri.wordpress.com)

I have been competing in gymnastics, swimming, track and field, road running, and triathlons ever since my parents registered me in a sports club back in Germany when I was not even 4 years old.  And as far as I can think back, I can use the fingers of only one hand to count the times that I missed or did not finish a competition I was registered for. Let’s see …

* Nov 27, 2010 – Turkey Trot 5K, Bemidji, MN – turning cone was missing so I stopped to direct runners > still finished, just after everybody was on the way back, even the walkers > does that even count? ...

* April 2008 – Stride Into Spring 10K, Bemidji, MN – DNS > we had so much snow over night that I could not get out of my driveway to get to the race.

* Aug. 8, 2015 – USAT Standard Distance National Championships, Milwaukee, WI – DNF > had to bow out of the race because of injury to Achilles Tendon

* Aug. 30, 2015 – Superiorman 41.5, Duluth, MN – DNF > stopped the race after the bike portion because I was not yet cleared to run after my Achilles Tendon injury

* Oct. 10, 2015 – Blue Ox Half-Marathon, Bemidji, MN – DNS > could not run it due to Achilles Tendon injury, I volunteered as lead cyclist, so, in reality, I still completed the course

… until this morning.  Yes, I ‘whimped out’ of driving to Thief River Falls for their Sprint Triathlon, even though I was registered. I was not ready to drive 1.5 hours from Bemidji to Thief River Falls just to get really, really, really cold doing a triathlon in below freezing temperatures with wind gusts of up to 20 mph whipping around my ears. READ MORE