Reigning Heart of the Lakes Triathlon champions defended their titles Sunday, July 20, at the 23rd annual event under near-perfect conditions. Brian Bich of Duluth, who has swam, biked and run at Annandale for more than a decade, captured the men’s long course title for the third time in four years. Cathy Yndestad of Apple Valley, a relatively new face at the Annandale race, claimed her second title in the two years she has competed here. "It was a perfect day," said Bich, who dove into Pleasant Lake for the first leg of the race at 8 a.m. under overcast skies that kept the heat at bay all day and a bit of morning fog. The fog was a little disconcerting to Yndestad, who said she couldn’t get a good idea of where the swim course was. "I knew I could always follow the boys and I’d do all right," she said. The fog had lifted a little by the time they got to their 21-mile bike ride and the temperatures remained cool during their 5.3-mile run. "It was perfect for running fast," said Bich, who struggled with the swim and didn’t take the lead until halfway through the race. He spent the bike ride catching up and had to run his fastest to hold off Samuel Hauck of Shoreview and Brett Lovaas of Minnetonka. "I really had to push hard. I’m really happy, but it was a hard race," said the 42- year-old father of two. A biology teacher at Lake Superior College in Duluth, Bich can actually be said to have won the HOLT amateur championship for six straight years because he has finished second behind professional triathletes three times. He won with a time of 1:30:17 Sunday. The problem, he said, is "the younger guys are getting faster every year and I’m just getting older." Yndestad was excited to come back this year with fresher legs to compete on the HOLT course. Last summer she was coming off a win at the Lifetime Fitness race in Minneapolis the day before. This year the Minneapolis race was held the weekend prior to Annandale’s, allowing Yndestad a week of rest. The result was a five-minute improvement over her time here last year and what announcer Jerry MacNeil called the fastest woman’s long course time here since Becky Gibbs set the record in 2001. In fact, Yndestad was encroaching on Gibbs’ time of 1:35.45 but didn’t quite make it. "I knew out on the run that I was close to breaking her record, but I couldn’t quite finish it off," Yndestad said. Her final time was 1:40:15. That said, she still managed to keep a four-minute gap between herself and runner-up Becky Youngberg, 34, of Eden Prairie. "I felt pretty confident," Yndestad said. "I felt like I was running, not just surviving." The 29-year-old Wells Fargo business analyst in Minneapolis said she really likes the Annandale course and the volunteers. She plans to be back next summer to try again for the record. Because Annandale hosts the State Championship race of the Mid West Events series, Sunday’s winners are also the Minnesota state champions. On the men’s side, Tony Schiller held onto the long course record of 1:26:34 that he set back in 1995. The 50-year-old veteran from Chanhassen has been the men’s long course overall champion 10 times. On Sunday, he finished sixth overall with a time of 1:32:21. Another familiar face, Jan Guenther, 49, of Mound finished fifth in 1:47:23. She has won the HOLT event eight times. Jody Quesnell, 40, of Roseville won the women’s overall short course with a time of 50:50. Kelly McCann, 21, of Hudson, Wis., was runner-up in 51:15. Timothy Andrew, 42, of Duluth won the men’s overall short course in 45:38 and Nathan Budde, husband of Annandale High School graduate Sheri Ironside) Budde, was second in 46:43. In addition to the athletes, more than 400 volunteers worked tirelessly to get the triathlon off the ground. They offered water and encouragement to competitors all along the course.
