By Keon McGarvey

 

It was a very wet Graniteman Triathlon last Saturday with heavy rain throughout the entire race with a stiff wind that became a “great equalizer”. In total, 202 triathletes and teams competed in this year’s competition, down from 260 of last year. There were 154 sprint triathletes and teams and 48 olympic triathletes and teams.

Lakeside park played host once again to the event, serving as the starting and ending points as well as the transition area from swim to bike to run. The transition area opened up at 6:30 am with packet pickup and body marking from 7 am until 8:30. Even with the threat of rain, the Triathlon organizers were determined that rain wouldn’t slow the race and that it would go on as planned. Had there been lightning or severe weather, the race would’ve been delayed.

After the pre-race meeting at 8:30 am, triathletes did last minute preparation for the first leg of the race, the swim. Heat one, olympic distance (0.9 miles) 39 and under and Athena kicked off the triathlon at 9:00 am. Heat two, olympic distance 40 and over and all olympic teams began at 9:03 am. After a short ‘intermission’ the sprint (1/3 mile) swimmers set out on their races. 

Heat three, sprint 29 and under and Athena and Clydesdales began at 9:15 am. Heat four, sprint 30 - 34 and all sprint teams began at 9:18 am. Heat five (sprint 35 - 44) started at 9:21 am, heat six (sprint 45 - 54)  at 9:24 am, and heat seven (sprint 55 and Up) at 9:27 am.

By the release of the last Sprint swimmers, some of the first olympic and sprint swimmers started arriving the beach and began their transition to the bike segment. Any racing teams would pass on their chips to the biker before continuing on, mounting on the bikes appeared to go smoothly despite the rain and wind.

The bike course was an open course, meaning that triathletes shared the roadway with vehicle traffic. Big Lake Police had multiple units dispatched to assist with the bike racing safety. The bike courses were 15 miles for sprint triathletes and 24.6 miles for olympic triathletes.

The run courses were 3.1 for sprint and 6.2 miles for olympic. Water stations were located on the run courses at mile one, two, and the 10K turnaround. Post-race recovery food was served to triathlon participants only. The Big Lake Legacy Foundation will be selling food and beverages; all proceeds go toward improvements at Lakeside Park. Due to heavy rain, there was no awards ceremony, instead, the winners received their medals individually to allow families to go home and dry off.

Winner of the sprint triathlon this year was Brian Storhaug, 27 of Alexandria, who finished with a time of 1:09:56. Emily Gage, 32 of Minneapolis was the first female to finish, placing seventh overall with a time of 1:17:23. Nathan Overby, 32, was the first Big Lake triathlete to finish, placing sixth in the sprint triathlon with 1:16:33. James Abfalter, 52, was the next Big Laker to finish with a 33rd place time of 1:29:07.

Other Big Lake residents in the sprint triathlon were Julie Kallemeyn (51st, 1:32:41), Amanda Vagle (54th, 1:33:24), Teresa Hill (55th, 1:33:24), Tony Ramunno (59th, 1:34:20), Kamryn Robarge (74th, 1:37:17), Jaden Anderson (75th, 1:37:20), Jeff Robarge (79th, 1:38:07), Pam Nordberg (120th, 1:47:33), Jason Anderson (124th, 1:48:31), and Adam Weis (153rd, 2:18:01).

Winner of the olympic triathlon was Ryan Collison, 37 of Independence, with a time of 2:15:42. Katherine Johnson, 30 of Ramsey, was the first female to finish the olympic triathlon, placing 10th with 2:30:10. John Kallemeyn, 33, was the first Big Lake resident to finish, placing fifth with a time of 2:21:14. Scott Mackenzie (18th, 2:39:23) also represented Big Lake in the triathlon.

Becker triathletes included Casey Mork (19th, 2:40:41) and Matthew Mork (36th, 2:58:34) in the olympic triathlon. Monticello triathletes included Jennifer Ridgeway (35th, 1:29:15), Greta Sirek (65th, 1:35:01), Mary Ridgeway (72nd, 1:36:41) Kelsie Wahlberg (84th, 1:39:51), Nick Ridgeway (95th, 1:40:50), Emma Ridgeway (102nd, 1:42:50) and Shannon Reagan (139th, 1:59:50) in the sprint triathlon. Other triathletes competed from Clearwater, Zimmerman, Princeton, Buffalo and Elk River. The triathlon was a national and international affair with a triathlete from Arizona, Manitoba, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, and Missouri. Full results from the triathlon can be found at  www.mtecresults.com or at www.pickleevents.com.