By John George
Kinship of Perham Director Jill Shipman overheard an interesting comment last Saturday at the 4th Annual Average Joe Triathlon.
Two ladies, who entered the triathlon simply for the satisfaction of finishing the grueling race, which combines swimming, biking and running, were bringing up the rear of the swimming portion in Little Pine Lake.
"I don't know why you call this race 'Average Joe', these people are anything but average," was the jist of what they were saying.
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That's a comment not lost on Shipman, as she's seen the race began four years ago as a fundraiser for Kinship gain more and more participants in a race that gets more and more competitive every year.
"We're getting some great athletes," Shipman said.
Last year, 127 athletes took part in the triathlon, which starts with a 1/3 mile swim in Little Pine Lake, moves to a 12-mile bike ride around Little Pine Lake, and ends with a 3.8 mile run around the golf course and Pioneer Grounds on the Cal Miller Bike Trail.
This year, more than 150 took part in the race, with 124 individuals and 12 relay teams crossing the finish line. Competitors came from as far away as Missouri to take part as a total of eight states, including Minnesota, were represented.
This year's overall winner was Jim Johanning of Detroit Lakes, who finished with a time of 1:08.58. Johanning had the best time among men in both the swim and run portions of the race.
The top female finisher was Megan Rose of Plymouth, who had a time of 1:21.53. The relay team of Aaron Olson, Rick Paczkowski and Shawn Vasichek was the first team to cross with a time of 1:18.31.
Perham's Sam Huber was the top local participant to cross the finish line. He placed 23rd overall with a time of 1:22.13. Parker Carignan was 31st overall with a time of 1:25.12.
Patty Jaeger of Vergas was the first local female to finish. She took 53rd overall and seventh among women with a time of 1:30.34.
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The races oldest competitor was Bob Koshnick of Detroit Lakes. The 64-year-old had a time of 1:31.23 to finish 57th overall. Perham's Jerry Huebsch was the next youngest. The 58-year-old finished with a time of 1:34.25, good for 73rd place.
Shipman was pleased not only with the race results, but the turnout of fans and supporters.
"This has become such a great event, not only for Kinship, but for Perham," she said. "This event has become so much bigger than I expected when we started it. It's bringing in 200-300 people to town that wouldn't have come here otherwise."
Full race results can be found online at www.pickleevents.com .
