Gear West Duathlon

Photo: Christine Wood

Thanks to everyone who competed or volunteered at the Gear West Duathlon.  We greatly appreciate it.  Everyone seemed to have a good time despite the hot and humid weather, which is abnormal for May in Minnesota.  If you haven't done the race before, the run course is a cross country course around the Orono School grounds.  The bike course is 18 miles around the rolling countryside of Orono and Medina.

In the end, I managed to win my 6th Gear West Duathlon.  Cathy Yndestad won for the women.  I believe it was her 3rd or 4th victory here.  Despite the warm weather, conditions were excellent for fast bike times.  Usually there is a 20mph wind or rain.  However, everyone had to deal with sweaty helmets this year.  The run is always slower than you want because of the hills, grass, mud, and uneven surfaces. 

Photo: Christine Wood

In the race, I lead into T1 followed by Partick Prish, Chad Millner, Brooks Grossinger, and Dan Hedgecock.  On the bike, I pulled away, but it was hard to tell because of other cyclists out riding around.  I looked back a couple of times after corners to see someone there.  Once I got out onto the second run, I could tell I had a comfortable lead, which was nice.

Men

1. David Thompson  1:13:27

2. Patrick Parish  1:15:39

3. Brooks Grossinger  1:16:00

4. Joshua Riff  1:16:12

5. Chad Millner  1:16:47

Women

1. Cathy Yndestad  1:26:10

2. Jenny Wilcox  1:27:11

3. Catherine Lee  1:27:45

4. Julie Hull  1:28:46

5. Marlo Crosby  1:28:54