Race Coverage
Another Du W for Parish & Fox...
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Sunday, 17 May 2015 06:10
Photo - Podium Posteriors (L-R): Lisa Lendway, Suzy Fox, Elaine Nelson.
23rd GEAR WEST DUATHLON - Not surprisingly, yesterday's race was conducted under cloudy skies with plenty of wind and dankiosity to go around. As usual, the cross country run courses were sloppy fun. On the bright side, the morning was warmish (low 60s) and snow flurries were nowhere to be found.
Also not surprising was the heated battle that unfolded between men's favorites Patrick Parish and Matt Payne. On Facebook, Patrick had this to say:
Gear West Duathlon: I thought I was in solid cycling form. Then Matthew Payne taught me that until I father a couple kids and start towing them up hills on a regular basis, I'm at a severe competitive disadvantage. Go figure. Well-done sir! At least the cross-country run was as wet and sloppy as advertised. Fun stuff! ...
What Patrick didn't mention, but M-Pain did, was this: This reads like I (Matt) won the race. Unfortunately for me the race doesn't actually end in T2.
In the end, Parish prevailed by a 34-second margin, though he entered T2 twenty-four seconds down. The Dukie is now two-for-two in duathlon racing this season and goes into next week's Apple Du as the favorite to claim his third career W there. (Patrick went to Duke, thus the "Dukie" thing. Matt went to The Juliard School, so he's a "Julie.") If our records are accurate, Patrick has now amassed 31 multisport victories since 2008, his first full season in the sport.
FYI, Brooks Grossinger rounded out the men's podium, as he also did in 2013 and 2012.
As anxious as we were to learn the outcome of the Parish/Payne confrontation, we were similarly excited to see how the women's faves--Suzie Fox and 2014 amateur champ Elaine Nelson--would fare. In the end, only 1:29 separated these women, with Fox coming out on top. Surprising, and very pleasantly so, was the fact that the red-hot Lisa Lendway managed to slip in between Fox and Nelson. Lisa is the clear frontrunner for 2015 Most Improved at this point in the season. In addition to her 2nd here, her resume includes two course record wins--HITS-Half IM (FL) and Cinco Du Mayo Sprint.
Other pleasant surprises included Mike Ward's and Wade Cruser's 5th and 6th place finishes ahead of several of our state's most decorated multisporters, and 18-year-old Nick Klonne's junior title, finishing an impressive 9th overall. Nick set a junior CR at Falls last month. We'd be surprised if he didn't earn a JOY nomination at season's end.
Winning the masters title for the women was Julie Weisbecker, 49, who placed an impressive 6th overall. She's very nice and everbody likes her a lot.
Next Saturday is the 33rd edition of the venerable Apple Duathlon in Sartell. Are you signed up yet? RACE WEBSITE
