Thanks to a scheduling change that brought The Viking Challenge to a mid-June date, series racers were hit with back-to-back-to-back weekends full of racing. Now here we sit before summer has even officially begun with half of the series behind us. Here's where we stand:
Men's leaderboard: With a 3rd place finish in the Viking Challenge 10k, series newcomer A.J. Groebner has moved into first place, but just barely. His 385.61 points bests two-time champion Nick Mariotti (382.19) by a mere 3.42 points. As the series shifts gears into a less run-centric focus for the next two events, this contest will be a fun one to watch and has the potential to remain undecided up to the very end. One can also count on a fair amount of jockeying for third place as the season goes on, with any number of athletes vying for that spot. Hunter Halvorson, Jacob Gustafson and Mitch Wellman continue to dance around each other, while feeling the heat from brothers Charles and Dan Revering, who could break into the party at any time.
Women's leaderboard: After a nasty fall at Running Wild that knocked her out of contention for the top spot, Shauna Overgaard came back strong on Saturday, taking all 18 10k obstacles in stride and finishing injury-free in 50:39. Not far behind her (of course) came Jo "Mama" Ellen Kohlman-Petrick, who also did double-duty and decided to jump in the 5k race a few hours later and notch a victory there. (Not bad for a cooldown!) For their efforts, Shauna and JoEllen were awarded beaucoup points and sit atop the leaderboard with 423.61 and 409.31, respectively. This is no small task, mind you, as Jess Knutson (298.54) leads a pack of four others whose perfect attendance thus far demonstrates their commitment to the competition.
We'll see you again on the other side of the Hoot Lake Triathlon. Get out and enjoy the summer!
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