Race Coverage
Bourne-Again Triathlete...
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Monday, 24 June 2013 04:20
RochesterFest VI - Do you remember the beginning of "The Bourne Supremacy" where Matt Damon as Jason Bourne was running on the beach in western India? He was going balls-out, world-record pace and wasn't even breathing. His mouth didn't move at all. He wasn't puffing, much less panting.
How can he do that?
Well, apparently it can be done 'cuz that "fast-yet-non-breathing" style is how Kat Schlaefer runs (photo L - nice "Gunshow"). It's amazing. And despite being, as they say in Bournesque espionage-istic jargon, "off the grid" in 2011, Ms. Schaleger's O2-less running has helped propel her to victory in six of her last 12 multisport starts, the most recent of which was on Sunday at the 6th annual RochesterFest Olympic....
Unlike mid-foot-striker Damon/Bourne, Schlaefer is a toe runner, which suggests she's spent some time on the track and it has served her well. In case you don't already know, Kat has been known to occasionally get hopelessly tangled up in her curtains at 
home (photo R).
Filling out the women's podium were Veronica Bond, who has finished 2nd in each of her last three starts, and Bridget McCoy, who won her first race 14 months ago at St. Paul.
Winning the Olympic contest for the dudes were pro Dan Hedgecock and elite amateur Kevin O'Connor, both of whom clocked a 2:01:01 on the windy and occasionally damp morning. For Hedge, it was his 23rd career win. For O'Connor, it was his 4th straight W in as many starts in 2013.
Rounding out the men's podium was Chap Achen, who just keeps getting impressiver and impressiver. The 42-year-old Red Wing guy held off the elite likes two-time RFO amateur champ Alex Hooke (4th), fine-human-being Thaddeus Ingersoll (5th), La Crosse, Wisconsin's insanely handsome Brent Sinn (6th), two-time Master of the Year nominee David Holden and Dan Arlandson, who has chalked up two amateur wins already this season.
Though it was not a day for records, two AG marks tumbled. O'Connor's time knocked more than two minutes off the masters record, and Mike Colaizy, whose lovely wife Beth is totally into Pink, the singer/songwriter, not the color, took his own 60-64M standard down by a similar margin.
The companion sprint race was won by 17-year-old Christopher Lam, who was doing only his third tri ever. Remember his name. He's gonna be sick good, and Diana Koepp, whose career now boast three victories. Two-time Tri Minnesota Series champ and conspicuous absentee from the scene since 2011, Brooke Larsen, who got married and is now Brooke Plotz, took 2nd in the women's race. Jessica Geise, pronounced "Geesey" was 3rd.
Colin Smith and Elton Mossman rounded out the men's sprint podium.
The event was flawlessly produced by Final Stretch and presented by Rochester Toyota, the owner of which, Rob Gregory, 50, finished 7th in his AG in the sprint. We believe it was his tri debut.
