Race Report: 06/15/13: Stovepipe Sprint & Railsplitter

Stovepipe Sprint and Railsplitter Olympic Distance Triathlons in Petersburg, IL

Grim Reaper Fitness was well represented today at Tri Harder promotions inaugural roll out of the Stovepipe and Railsplitter in the month of June.  Previously the race has been held in August and to escape the heat and the June black hole after Tri-Shark, the race changed dates.

Well guess what?  It sure wasn’t hot!  The rain and wind however reminded us all that mother nature is not a triathlete and often likes to make our feats of endurance that much harder.  It was humid, warm, with a driving rain (that actually hurt), with 15mph winds on the bike.  Did that stop the athletes of Grim Reaper Fitness, nah we race no matter the conditions!

In the shorter of the two races GRF saw the following finishes:

Janet Moore (in her first full season) 2^nd Overall Female

Jaime Wheeler (on Janet’s heels) 3^rd Overall Female

Tom Keller (only his 3^rd tri) 2^nd in the 35-39 AG and 12^th overall

Debby Hadsell (in her first ever outdoor tri) 1^st in the 50-54 AG

Jessica Miner (battling injury)  1^st in the 35-39 AG

Friends and fellow Sharks

Jori Cooper won the Athena category (awesome and a GRF super fan with fellow racer on the day Jen Weaver)  *Reaper happens to be a fan of them too!

David Ford (of Tri-Shark fame) to 2^nd in the 30-34 AG and 10^th overall

In the Olympic Distance Race

Coach Jason Sturdyvin (gets punched in the face during the swim resulting in a bloody nose, and looses his rear brakes during the bike causing multiple issues, and still) 1^st in the 30-34 AG and 29^th overall

Lynn Staley (in her first ever OLY) 2^nd in the 40-44 AG

Kate Murray (in only her second race) with 3^rd in the 40-44  AG

Coach Rankin landed 3^rd in the 35-39 AG and 18^th overall

John Murray and Beth Billings also had solid races and represented Reaper well!