July 29, 2010 at 8:33 a.m.
Thompson defends crown in CL Tri, only competitor under 4
Thompson defends crown in CL Tri, only competitor under 4
For the first time in the five-year history of the Chisago Lakes Triathlon, the same two feet carried the winner past the finish line.
David Thompson of St. Paul became the first repeat champion in the history of the tri. He set a blistering pace early, and then cruised through the finish line more than 12 minutes ahead of his closest competitor. Although he was eight minutes off of the record that he set last year, Thompson didn't have anyone pushing him quite like he did last year.
Thompson was the first person out of the water after the 1.2 mile swim, finishing in 24:40, which built him an early minute and a half lead. Once on the bike, Thompson only extended his lead, blazing through the 56-mile course in 2:08:26, eight minutes faster than anyone else.
With the combination of first place finishes in the first two events, Thompson had a comfortable 15 minute lead going into the run, so barring a catastrophe, Thompson could cruise through the 13.1 mile run, as he is one of the top runners in the field.
He finished the running in 1:20:55, good enough for fourth overall, but nobody was able to lop off enough time to get near him as he crushed the field with the only sub-four hour time on the day of 3:55:24.
Jackie Arendt had to take a little more competitive route to the title, but she dominated nonetheless, pulling away in the last leg of the triathlon.
She started the race solidly, grabbing a third place finish in the swim at 27:58. It left her only a minute and a half behind the top finisher as they transitioned to the bikes.
Arendt and Cathy Yndestad, who had come out of the water a mere five seconds before Arendt, started to pull away from the pack during their bike ride. At the beginning of the pedal race, Arendt was 17 seconds behind, and after the transition from bikes to running, Arendt held the slimmest of leads at five seconds.
It was in the run, however, that Arendt really separated herself from Yndestad and the rest of the pack. She ran a 6:27 per mile pace while Yndestad could only manage a 7:05 pace through the 13 mile trek.
Arendt ended up crossing the finish line in 4:27:44 and Yndestad finished in second with a time of 4:36:11. Arendt finished in 10th place overall, which is the highest ever finish in the event for a woman.
Scandia native Andrew Turner bested his time from last year, finishing in ninth place overall. The 22-year-old finished third in the swimming, 20th in the biking and 12th in the running. His 4:24:24 is a marked improvement over last year's 4:30:21.
Thomas Krenz of Chisago City finished in 4:34:21. He had a tough go in the swimming, finishing 31st, and things didn't get much easier in the biking, as he finished 33rd, but he kicked it up a notch and finished 15th in the running to capture 15th place overall in the event.
Daniel Undem of Chisago City completed the triathlon in 5:38:51. He didn't particularily excel in any one event, but he stayed consistent to finish 198th among men.
Dr. Joe Virga, a chiropractor from Lindstrom, finished 299th among men with a time of 6:33:17.
Three other local men came in a bunch just a shade over seven hours. Michael Schaab Jr. of Forest Lake finished in 7:06:50, right as Scandia resident Doran O'Brien was on his heels with a 7:10:37. Forst Lake native Steve Storkan rounded out that local trio, finishing in 7:12:58.
Only two local women competed in the half-tri, and the top finisher was Sarah Zirkle of Wyoming. After coming out of the water in seventh place, Zirkle fell behind with a 139th place finish in the biking and a 59th place finish in the running.
However, her time of 5:47:41 was still enough to put her in 80th place among all the women competing.
Audrey Hutchinson of Forest Lake finished in 157th among women, completing the race in 7:24:50.
In all, 171 women started the race and 164 finished. On the men's side, 347 competitors participated in the event, with only 328 finishing the grueling race. The 518 total competitors was up a hint from the 497 of last year.
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