Minnesota Tri Night 2010

Or, "Oh Jeez! I don't recognize you IN eyeglasses and OUT of Spandex!"

Saturday night was "Minnesota Tri Night 2010." (There's STILL no "flashiest shorts" category, so I wasn't nominated for anything.) But I went to have a good time, hang out with some "sporty" friends, and support those I knew. Click here to see the full write-up and photos on my Examiner page.

Minnesota running legend Dick Beardsley was the featured speaker. Here he is early in the evening with local TV personality Diana Pierce:

(If you've got 20 minutes, check out these links: To hear part of a similar talk Beardsley gave 2 years ago about his amazing run at Boston in 1982, click here. And to see the ACTUAL footage that Dick was talking about, click here. Great stuff.)

I sat at a table with lots of friendly, familiar faces. Swimming buddy Julia was across the table (she was nominated for "Most Improved" and "Master of the Year"). She teased me about not "eating my greens." I only assumed she meant my Andes Mint and some of Kerry's green M&Ms. So that's what I ate:

Green things are delicious, as long as their not naturally occurring
(like lettuce - gross)

Here are a few more photos from the night:

Dick Beardsley giving his talk


"Team Minnesota" - that's Julia 2nd from the left! Congrats Julia!
(She's with some BIG local names: Sarah Mercer, Julia, Julie Hull,
arch enemy Jenny Wilcox, and Cathy Yndestad.)


Cathy Yndestad's MMA for "Athlete of the Decade!" Congrats CY!

After the presentation, I snapped a photo of Chad and Chandra Millner who were sitting next to me (Chad was up for Duathlete of the Year):

And then Chandra snapped an awkward amazing photo of Chad and I:

I can't speak for Chad, but I wasn't even drinking! ;)

Anyway, Click here to see lots of photos from the night along with the list of winners. Congrats to all the nominees! And a BIG THANKS to OptumHealth, Steve Gunther, the Tri Night Committee, and MinnesotaTriNews for putting on such a great event!

UPDATE: I just put up another slideshow of images from before and after the awards presentation. Click here to see those images. Thanks!