The Extreme Outitters DINO Triathlon

By Jim Harman, XTERRA representative

(Logansport, IN – July 30, 2005) Under perfectly sunny skies, relatively low humidity, and temps in the low 80’s,
The Extreme Outfitters DINO Off-Road Triathlon was blessed from the beginning. Throw in a beautiful venue, great course, professional race management, and the positive XTERRA vibe and you have all the makings for an excellent weekend.

Located just outside Logansport, Indiana, France Park served as the backdrop for this event. With tons of great trails, a sparkling clear quarry lake, camping aplenty, Midwestern hospitality, and $1 ice cream cones, this park attracted 124 age group finishers from 10 states.

At 9am, with game faces on, athletes toed the line for the start of the .5 mile swim. The horn sounded and they were off. It was not long before racers were swimming under the 80 foot cliffs of this old quarry. Long before ubiquitous lawsuits, these cliffs attracted locals looking for the perfect swan dive. On this day, however, they provided a birds-eye view of the XTERRA action.

With a blistering time of 12:12, Purdue varsity swimmer, Patrick Valentine (19, Lapel, IN) exited the water in the lead. Just under a minute behind with a time of 12:57, Michael Green (41, Farmington Hills, MI) was next to enter the transition area. XTERRA Pro and eventual overall winner, Jim Vance (29, San Diego, CA) was third out of water with a time of 13:11. For the women, Gabriela Baranova (25, Zion, IL) showed off her swimming prowess with the fastest women’s swim split of 15:32. With times of 16:42 and 17:08 respectively, Laura Hermanson (21, Schooldraft, MI) and Melanie Mester (23, Canton, MI) were the next females out of the water.

Next on the agenda: Mountain biking. This 2 lap, 10 mile course was fun and fast with a good mixture of single and double track trails and plenty of passing opportunities. Jim Vance quickly took the lead as he passed all his competitors on the bike. Vance’s bike split time of 42:44 was second behind Jim James (43 Ann Arbor, MI) who posted a remarkable 41:31. Given the fact that Vance had a faster swim split, James and Vance entered the TA within seconds of each other. With only the run course remaining, this contest would be won by the competitor with the fastest running legs. Still in contention, Brad Myers (43, Scottsburg, IN) was reeling in racers with an impressive bike split of 43:10.

Over three minutes behind first place female swimmer Gabriela Banarnova, Beverly Enslow (48, Metamora, IL) was determined to make up time. She did just that by producing a blazing 51:19 bike split, over 4 minutes faster than Baranova who still had an impressive 55:28 bike split. Close behind, Melanie Mester posted a 59:52 split, third fastest for the women.

The 2 lap, 4 mile run course included wooded singletrack, wide open fields, and a few intense hill climbs. Jim Vance, bested the crowd by over 3 minutes, solidifying his first place podium finish with an overall race time of 1:20:42. Jim James was next in line with a 28:00 run split, plenty of time for his second place overall finish of 1:24:05. Chris Williams (41, West Lafayette, IN) posted an impressive 28:38 run time but Michael Green proved his three sport consistency with an overall third place finishing time of 1:30:53.

On the women’s side, despite a very fast 34:36 run split posted by Annemarie Iddins (19, Corunna, IN), it was not enough to catch overall female winner, Beverly Enslow, who chalked up the second fastest run time of 35:08 and the winning time of 1:45:08. The steady work of Gabriela Baranova produced the third fastest female run split of 36:05 and second overall honors. She completed the race in 1:47:05, followed by third place female, Melanie Mester, who came across the line in 1:53:09

After the race, athletes enjoyed some wonderful post-race food, free XTERRA give-a-ways, and a fun awards ceremony. It was a nice way to complete a great day of XTERRA action.

Congratulations to all the athletes that competed and thanks to all the volunteers and spectators for coming out to support this very fun XTERRA event. Finally, a special thanks to the folks at DINO: Brian, Amanda, Scott, Travis, Cindy, John, Dale, and Richard. You guys put on a quality show! Thank you.

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