Race Coverage

Chad & Julie Go Off the Front...

Sunday, 02 May 2010 12:15

MILLNER & HULL TOPPLE RECORDS AT FALLS DU II....

The field was 50% larger than last year's, and vastly more competitive, too. It was a pretty day to look at--sunny, mild temps--but a tough day to race a bike. The lighter gusts were in the 25 mph range, the heavier ones, the ones that wreaked havoc on the venue's staging at times, were 30-plus. Still, two athletes managed to turn is record efforts...Several others--Joanna, Diane, Mario, Charlie, Lee and Bob to name a few, also turned in outstanding performances...

* Chad Millner's 1:03:46 lowered Jesse Nelson's prior course best by 46 seconds and was 3:37 faster than Nelson's runner-up clocking on this blustery day.

* Like Millner, Julie Hull grabbed the lead early on the bike and never looked back. She reached the finish line in 1:13:38, a full 5:24 faster than the old CR. The win was the 8th of Hull's impressive multisport career. (Her first win was at Pigman Half Iron in August of 2007.)

* Joanna Hall, who is not to be confused with the elite nordic skier of the same name albeit with an "H" between the "o" and the first "a"--something that we have done on several occasions--though she had skied once with medium-dazzle results, and Diane Hankee also had strong performances, finishing 2nd and 3rd overall respectively. Both women dipped under the old course mark, Johanna by 1:28; Diane by 1:26. Joanna is married to Mederic--pronounced "Med-Erik"--Hall, who also raced very well, finishing 8th overall. In addition to being fine athletes, this young couple is insanely good looking.

* Mario Minelli, Andy Clark, who has really cool hair, and 51-year-old phenom Charlie Roach all had outstanding races and rounded out the men's Top 5. Minelli and Roach were Top Fivers last year, too.

(Photos courtesy of Erik Hull.)