Will Wingnut win Whirlpool?

Triathlon Forum
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Wendy “Wingnut” Ingraham to compete in the Whirlpool Steelhead Triathlon

One of the most decorated Ironman triathletes will journey to Benton Harbor, Michigan to participate in the 2005 Whirlpool Steelhead Triathlon this summer. Wendy “Wingnut” Ingraham has been one of the world’s top Ironman athletes for the past thirteen years.

Competing in some of the most grueling competitions known on the planet, Wingnut epitomizes Beauty vs. The Beast. Wendy Ingraham, a.k.a. Wingnut, is considered one of the top long distance triathletes in the world. She has placed in the top 10 in Hawaii 9 of 13 years. She was the first American female to finish at the 1997 Hawaii Ironman where she broke a 13-year old course record for women in the swim leg. One year later, she shattered her own swim record again by over a minute. Competing in 39 Ironmans as a professional, Wingnut has finished in the top 10 of 36 Ironmans around the world. With multiple international wins at Ironman distance, she has now become one of the all-time leaders in Ironman competitions. You can now find Wingnut working at TYR, her sponsor for thirteen years, and she’s still racing.

The Whirlpool Steelhead Triathlon takes place on Sunday, August 6th and features a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run. Along the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan, Benton Harbor is just a short 2 hour drive from Chicago. For more information on the race or to sign up for the event, please go to www.steelheadtriathlon.com.

Achievements:

2003 Florida Ironman - 3rd Place

2003 Austria Ironman - 3rd Place

2003 Mexico Half Ironman - 1st Place

2002 Japan Ironman - 2nd Place

2002 Wisconsin Ironman - 4th Place

2002 New Zealand Ironman – 4th Place

2002 France Ironman- 3rd Place

2001 Hawaii Ironman World Championship - 7th Place

2001 Brazil Ironman - 1st Place

2001 Austria Ironman - 2nd Place

2000 Austria Ironman - 1st Place

2000 Escape from Alcatraz - 2nd Place

2000 Hawaii Ironman World Championship - 8th Place

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Do you mean Overall or just against the women?

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She might win the overall race! Z

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Tom,

Is Benton Harbor a nice area? I seem to remember it being a little rough. The reason I ask is that I am considering the race, but I want to know where to stay. I prefer to camp but a cheap hotel would work OK I guess. For some reason I remember some kind of rioting or something going on up there not too long ago. I wouldn’t want to be in that part of town.

I am sure you will put on a great race, I’m not worried about that.

Being from Ohio, so I pretty much think all of Michigan sucks, especially Ann Arbor =P

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I did the race last year and took my family. We all came back alive. :wink:

Actually, the area pretty nice. It is made up of 2 cities separated by a river, St Joseph and Benton Harbor. St Joseph is nice. Very nice actually. It has a nice downtown and one of the best beaches I have ever seen. Benton Harbor is “the other side of the tracks” (actually river) and is run down but not dangerous. I was begging for someone to shoot me during the run but could not find anyone to help me out.

The start, transition areas and finish are technically in Benton Harbor but are at an extremely nice park on Lake Michigan. The beach is about 100 yds wide. Great for the kids to play on but it did kind of suck running through all that sand on the way to T1. There are a couple of hotels in downtown St Joseph that are about 2 miles from the park where the race starts and finishes. I never looked into camping but I am sure there is quite a bit near by. This area is a major tourist area (its only about 100 miles from Chicago) so there are lots of hotels and cottages for rent but they do fill up on the weekends so definitely get on your reservations. We made a mini vacation out of it last year. We staid in St Joseph the night before the race than rented a condo for a few days in another town about 50 miles north.

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Our corner of Michigan definitely does not suck. The area is beautiful and the race site is perfect. There are a number of hotels, some cheaper than others. Camping is about 20 minutes south and there is a KOA 10 minutes north. This address www.swmichigan.org will give you info on many of the accomodations. There is also a state park not mentioned on the website that is 20 min. south called Warren Dunes State Park.

Hope you join us for a GREAT weekend!

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Eric - St. Joseph/Benton Harbor is on the west side on Michigan - beautiful orchard country with lots of apple trees, blueberry farms and white sand beaches. (On the shore of Lake Michigan) The race site is in Benton Harbor, but most of the hotels are in St. Joe - Benton Harbor did have some racial problems two years ago, but we do not use that part of town for the race.

Please go to www.steelheadtriathlon.com for race information - The race maps are on-line. You can also contact slowtwitcher Tom D. about the race as he has participated both year. Hope to see you at the race. Z

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Who cares if she wins or not…she is still hot! Chatted with her at Wildflower a few times and she is just too cool and what a body! Nice to see a woman pushing 40 look so good.