Race Coverage

Paul Bunyan Stuff...

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 04:00

Pretend that "Jack" in the image on the left is really "Mike," and "Kathy" is really "Colleen." Okay?

Bismarck, North Dakota's "Mike" Fretland collected his 2nd tri victory on Minnesota soil in 2010 at the Paul Bunyan Long Course Triathlon (1 mile-20 miles-5 miles) last Saturday. He also won the Lakes To Pines event on Park Rapids last April. Mike's time at PB was 1:51:21 and his margin over Nevis' David Lewis, whose '10 season features a 5th at Graniteman and a 6th at Chain of Lakes, was exactly four "mittens." (Ian--you don't know him but he is a totally cool kid--used to substitute the word "mittens" for "minutes" when his was a toddler. He's 12 now and gets most of his words right.) Chuck Jensen II of Ramsey, took 3rd....

The womens long course winner was "Colleen" Lavelle from Dillon, Colorado. What can we tell you about her? Well, her name is Colleen Lavelle and she's from Dillon, Colorado. We also know that she's a a pretty good triathlete, having won the PBT and all. We also know that Dillon isn't far from Frisco and that Breckenridge isn't far away. Neither is Vail, for that matter. Beautiful country!

Out-splitting the competition in the swim and bike segments, talented Canadian teen Riley Unger was dominant in the PB Sprint (.5-12-3). His 57:40 gave him 6:34 of "alone time" before he was joined at the finish by runner-up Sean Cooley of Grand Forks, ND. Hasting's Kathryn Seleskie, a two-time Top Fiver at New Bri, relied on a superior swim split to upend--figuratively, not literally--prohibitive pre-race favorite Tara Makinen of Grand Rapids.

The event enjoyed record attendance (200ish finishers). Many of the visiting triathletes made a point of checking out the totally lifelike statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox (photo). Many were heard to emit audible oohs and ahs.

ED. Sometimes the cheesiest things are the coolest.