Race Coverage

Cool Stuff About Patrick Parish...

Wednesday, 10 October 2012 02:10

On September 29, 2010 Minnesota Triathlete of the Year Patrick Parish competed in his first F1 style triathlon. It was called the Super Frog Triathlon, obviously named after the beloved amphibious superhero, and we don't know the exact format. The experience was educational, and PP freely admits that he got totally smoked.

The next day, though, Parish did the Super Frog Half IM, his 70.3 debut, and this time he was the one who smoked the competition. Racing in the Elite Wave, Patrick finished 4th overall and was the first male finisher who didn't actually hold a pro license. You may have heard of the trio of ....

guys who placed ahead of him. The winner was Lance Armstrong (3:49:45). The silver medal dude was former World Du Champ Leon Griffin (3:54:03) from Australia, and the bronze position was earned by Bermudan Tyler Butterfield (3:57:53), a consistent podiumer in major 70.3 races.

Patrick's time was 4:11:44 and his margin of victory over the 2nd amateur / 5th place finisher--Keith Butsko of Encinitas--was 2:04. Keith's Got Game. He won his division and placed 5th overall among amateur men at California 70.3 back in March.

A week later Patrick returned to Dallas, where he hoped to defend his Toyota US Open Elite title. Perhaps a tad fatigued after his back-to-back race weekend, PP had to settle for a still very cool 3rd in the Life Time Fitness Tri Series finale in Big D.

Nominated once again for MN TOY, Parish has won nine races this year and 27 for a tri / du career that started in August of 2007, when his rookie effort produced a 41st-place finish at Turtleman. In 2008 he finished 2nd to Kortney Haag in the race for Rookie of the Year and by 2010 he was named US Athlete of the Year Honorable Mention, an accolade he just might receive this year as well.