(Photos: Madonna, who wasn't at the race. We don't have a picture of Brooke Larsen yet, though her dad said he'd send us some. If you squint, Brooke and Madonna look an awful lot alike. Well, they both have blonde hair. We'll post pics of Ms. Larsen when they are available. Below - Two-time LBL champ Matt Payne.)The totally cool and well-produced Land Between the Lakes Triathlon is the first event on our state's annual multisport calendar that features a lake swim. The temps in Fountain Lake has been sub-bath-water-ish during the first five runnings of this race. This morning, however, the water was a quasi-balmy 67.8 degrees according to triathlete Jim Wolter's handy rectal thermometer. (Okay, it wasn't really a rectal thermometer, though it looked like the one that Dr. Shelley at Central Pediatric's uses.)
Twas warm (70s), cloudy and more than a little breezy. Riders alternately enjoyed tailwinds that pushed their odometers into the high 30s and rued (cool word!) head-on blasts that made double-digits tough to maintain.
Still, most of the record 200-or-so entrants rocked, turning in great times. Warm and windy beats cold and windy any day!
Last year's champs Matt Payne and Brooke Larsen more than lived up to their favorite status, especially Larsen who toasted her CR on this .25 -20.9 - 3.5 route by more than three minutes. Brooke is two-for-two in 2010. The win is the 4th of her young career.
While Payne, runner-up to Devon Palmer for the Most Improved award last season, did not match his 2009 time, he wasn't far off (+:29). More importantly, he outdistanced his nearest challenger, COLT winner Sam Janicki, by 4:30. Sam, who really does look a lot like Andy Samberg, is definitely a man to watch.
Winner of at least three races in 2009, Todd Landgraff finished an impressive 3rd in the men's overall competition. He was almost two minutes faster than last year, when he finished 5th. Fairmont Olympic '09 winner Suzie Olsen and lasts year's LBL runner-up Caroline Skaar (pronounced "Score")-Page rounded out the women's Top 3.
AG course-best efforts were recorded by: Shelby Woodworth (00-19W), Caleb Vukovich, 14, SD (00-19M), Dan Friedrichs (40-44M), Suzie Olsen (40-44W), Carol Marston (50-54W), Sue Reiss (55-59W) and Denise Kaiser (60-64W).
Complete RESULTS
