Grim Reaper Fitness travelled all over Illinois this past weekend, competing in four events and winning several top category and overall finishes.
A large group of Reapers traveled to New Salem State Park near Petersburg, IL, to compete in the Stovepipe and Railsplitter Triathlons…17 of them took home Top 3 finishes.
Railsplitter Olympic Triathlon
Romanie Walter led the charge placing 2nd overall in the women’s division of the Railsplitter Olympic Triathlon. Romanie ran a 2:28:18, as usual riding an outstanding 7:03 run pace to the top 3 finish. Lynn Staley, Jori Cooper, and Rhonda Heinz also scored for the Reapers, with Lynn and Jori winning the 45-49 Age Group and Athena categories, respectively. Rhonda placed 2nd in the 50-54 Age Group.
In the men’s Railsplitter, Jeff Grabinski and Bryan Heppe set the pace, placing 1st and 2nd in the men’s 35-39 AG. Jeff’s stellar 2:09:51 was the 6th fastest overall time of the day. His bike time of 1:01:55 was the 4th fastest of the day. Matt Cuttell and Tim Auth also took home age group awards, with Matt placing 2nd in the 30-34 AG, and Tim taking 3rd in the 45-49 AG.
Stovepipe Sprint Triathlon
The Reapers had a very strong showing in the Stovepipe Sprint Triathlon with six of 10 participants winning their age group. Curtis Preston had the best Reaper time of the day, winning the competitive men’s 35-39 AG with a time of 1:09:12. David Cate continued to chop chunks of time away in winning the Clydesdale division at 1:12:07.
Best time on the women’s side belonged to Wendy Smith at 1:17:20, good for 1st in the 40-44 AG. Also taking home 1st place finishes were Baby Reaper Lily Matthews in the 14 and under, Kelly Ruiter in 30-34, Lisa Kiley in 50-54, and Natalie McKee in the Athena division. Bev Smith also took home an AG award with a 2nd in the 55-59.
With the strong showing this weekend the GRF team added 125 points to their Division III leading total in the USAT Mideast Region Club Series.
O’Fallon Grand Prix
Petersburg wasn’t the only stop for Grim Reaper Fitness on the weekend, though. Tom Keller and David Ford traveled to the O’Fallon Grand Prix cycling event. On Saturday, Tom won the 13.1 mile time trial (30+ Cat 4/5) with a time of 30:29 and average speed of 25.8mph. In Sunday’s 40-mile road race, David took 11th and Tom was 19th in their first ever road race in the 30+ Cat 4/5 field.
Steamboat Classic 15K
There’s more…Jason Sturdyvin and Scott Todd competed in the Peoria, IL, Steamboat Classic 15K. Sturdy held a 7:17 pace to finish in the top 100 of the 750+ participants and 7th out of 60+ in his age group.
Next big stop for the Reapers will be the ITU in Chicago on June 29.
