Parsons wins rain-soaked Big Mountain triathlon

As soon as national mountain-biking

champion and world-class randonee racer Ben Parsons got out of the

water, the inaugural Pole, Pedal, Paddle triathlon on Saturday was

all but over.

Parsons overcame a two-minute deficit

in the kayak portion of the race by blazing up Big Mountain Road on

a bike in less than 40 minutes and climbing to the top of Big

Mountain on skis in 46 minutes to post a best overall time among

all competitors.

The triathlon drew 25 hardy racers on a

day plagued by typical Montana spring weather. A steady downpour of

cold rain soaked competitors in the kayak and biking legs, while

the climb up Big Mountain was mostly in a mix of rain, wet snow and

thick fog.

The race started at Riverside Park

where competitors paddled up the Whitefish River to the ice at the

outlet of the lake and back for a 2.5-mile round-trip paddle.

Racers then transitioned into biking garb and pedaled 8.25 miles

and about 1,500 vertical feet up Big Mountain Road to the Base

Lodge, where they started the ski ascent.

After climbing 2,200 vertical feet up

the Toni Matt run on Big Mountain, racers skied back down to the

Base Lodge via the Big Face, Heep Steep and Corkscrew slopes.

Whitefish’s Rich Graves opened a big

lead on the river and carried his momentum on the bike until the

final switch back on Big Mountain Road. Graves, Parsons and Jason

Schmidt were all bunched together on the final corner when Parsons

made his break-away move. Graves, however, managed to maintain his

positioning in the skiing leg to claim second place overall.

Bear Barinowski, also of Whitefish,

threw down a solid overall performance, including the

second-fastest boat and ski times, to make the podium in third

place. Barinowski took it up a notch by completing the entire

course in Hawaiian board shorts.

Among the women, Cody McCarthy edged

Erika Johnson by about five minutes to claim the top spot. Savannah

Matyas wasn’t far behind to take third.

Individual Men

Ben Parsons 1:51:04

Rich Graves 2:10:09

Bear Barinowski 2:18:00

Keith Meehan 2:19:23

Paul Conrad 2:32:15

Jeff Beck 2:36:48

Andy Burbine 2:39:07

Matthew Smeltzer 2:39:54

Jesson Vogt 2:54:15

Jonathan Ferree 2:55:27

Rich Laidlaw 2:57:37

Darin Zick 3:21:37

Dave Chenault 3:38:25

Ryan Friel 3:58:11

Individual Women

Cody McCarthy 2:54:58

Erika Johnson 2:59:36

Savannah Matyas 3:00:00

Team Men

Patrick Dryden, Jason Schmidt, J.

Hampton 2:01:11

Mark Sandry, Eric Klvtke, Jim Brenden

2:15:50

Nicholas Broskovich, Tim Brezsnyak,

John Cadman 2:22:33

Chris Deister, Zachariah Deister, Erik

Schliebe 2:40:04

Team Women

Remi Rasmussen, Kimberly Buls, Marcella

Sandry 2:50:24

Christina Fidler, Brianne Javorsky,

Sara Wilkinson 3:31:18

Mixed Team

Dawn Lev, Cathy Galbraith, Jon Mulfeld

2:12:55

Eric Sieden, Judith Moore, Brigid Fray

2:37:56