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Help Team Mongo Help Kids!

admin — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:30:10 +0000

Team Mongo is spinning for kids. Please consider helping Team Mongo in its quest to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Oakland County. Saturday, November 12, 2011 at the Royal Oak Emagine Theater These clubs serve many communities in the area, including Ferndale, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Madison Heights, and Royal Oak, MI. Team Mongo is trying to raise $50,000 to support staff initiatives and programs at the clubs. These funds along with the hundreds of hours that Team Mongo Volunteers for truly make a difference in kids lives. Thank you to all who continue to help us out in these efforts. Please visit this site and consider putting your donation behind one of our athletes in this spinning challenge.

http://2011givekidsahand.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=491041

Race and Give Back!

admin — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:33:49 +0000

Kids Field Day occured with the Benton Harbor Boys and Girls Club August 12, 2011, in conjunction with Team Mongo. 100 Volunteers to coach kids were recuited the day before the Steelhead Triathlon. This Field Day Event was held for 300+ kids at the Boys and Girls Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan!

For more info and to sign-up, click here.

Team Mongo Island Lake Run

glarson — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:13:22 +0000

Team Mongo and friends gathered for a fun run and social gathering at Island lake State Park on Saturday, February 19th. The wind was strong and cold, but everyone had a great time in the sun and Jeff’s RV afterward.

Trex Tri Series Race #1

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:27:12 +0000

What a night for racing! Early morning weather stations had issued thunderstorm watches and tornado watches for the area. It had rained in the morning but the clouds blew away and gave way to sunny skies and warm/humid temps. This was the first race in a series of three Wednesday evening races (held every month during the summer). There were over 400 competitors on hand.

The water temp for the swim was 79 degrees, no wet suits allowed. Trex had created an elite wave that allowed the fast men and women to race against one another. The gun went off accurately at 6 pm. Total of 7 waves went off into the water, separated by 3 minutes per wave. The day was windy so the water was choppy. A young female college swimmer led the field out of the water. Team Mongo member Joe was second out of the water.

The bike route was on a smooth road with many quick ascents and descents. For the most part the course was flat but windy. The lead group road the 12.3 mile loop in under 30 minutes. Joe had lead the entire time on the bike ride with many team mates Roman and Matt following behind.

The 3.1 mile run course consisted of a one loop pavement run that had numerous turns. With the warm temp and high humidity, there were many water stations on the course to keep you from over heating. Again, Joe was able to fend off any competitors that would threaten the race victory. Joe came in first overall with a time of 1:01:39. Rounding off the last podium spot was Roman (3 minutes behind Joe). Matt ended up taking 6th overall and 2nd in his age group. On the women’s side, Julie put in a great performance and took 1st in her age group.

In conclusion, the race was great and supported very well. Everyone who came out had a great time and enjoyed themselves.

See you at race # 2!

Mongo Training Camp

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:23:38 +0000

Wish you were a Mongo! It’s Camps like this that create such a high demand. Team Mongo and friends gathered for a long weekend of Training in May at the Shawnee State Park in Southern, Ohio.

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Amy Gluck Qualifies for KONA

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:17:11 +0000

Have you ever been Glucked??? Well, plenty of us on Team Mongo and triathletes from all over the world have been! Simply stated, Glucked is when you have been beaten by Amy in a race and it is happening often.

This past March, Amy Glucked a lot of women and men in qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. On a very hot and tough day, Amy used her past Ironman experience to beat the weather and the field. Amy is an awesome biker and runner, but especially liked this swim that had four short sprints in and out of the water.

Lately, Amy has been winning all over Michigan including the Race for Recovery Half.

Way to go Amy!!!

Gary Larson at Boston Marathon

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:06:23 +0000

Team Mongo Newbie Gary Larson had a great experience at this year’s Boston Marathon. Gary Finished in a time of 3:41:58. Gary had a ton of fun with the whole “Boston Marathon Expereince” but has the following key learnings for next time!

Lessons for next time:

Train by doing repeats down the back of Wabeek 20 times to get legs ready for running downhill
Never wear a bike jersey to run a marathon in (don’t they breath?)
Really take Julie’s (Bedford) advise to hold back the first 2 miles
Don’t do 3 days of walking sightseeing tours through Salem, Harvard and the Boston Aquarium
Make Bob (Brother) run over 10 miles with me in training.

Way to go Gary, we see a sub 3:30 Boston in your near future.

TWO AMIGOS (MONGO’s) IN THE DESERT!

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:10:28 +0000

Two of Team Mongo’s biggest over-trainers, Mark Savedes & Roman Krzyzanowski , ventured off together to Ironman Arizona to get one last Ironman in for the season! Some would say why? They say, why not?

Prerace ritual for Roman seems to be “excessive” running and walking! Mark said Roman would not stop. In fact, there are rumors that Roman ran everyday he was there? Mark would have no part of this! He did not want this to interrupt his “excessive” massage schedule. So Mark and Roman’s time together was limited to meals and snuggle time…(please don’t ask any questions, the author was just given this info)

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After a brisk swim (water temperature 64 degrees) our two Ironman made their way through transition to the bikes. Roman seems to have taken his time through T1? 9 minutes and 40 seconds. That is dangerously close to BD’s record 10 minute T2 in Ironman Wisconsin. Roman is also quoted as feeling like a Popsicle for the next 1.5 hours as they road through the cool Arizona morning air. Both Mark and Roman had wonderful bike splits as the weather shaped up to a nice, sunny, 74-degree day. Team Mongo is especially proud of Mark for managing to get a penalty on the bike as he made his way towards transition at the end of the 112-mile ride. Nothing like four minutes in the “sin bin” during your first big race wearing Mongo Gear!

The Tempe run course is like a cement forest! Our athletes battled themselves, moderate winds, and an unforgiving sun in pursuit of their Ironman Dreams. Mark commented on how cool the aid stations where, each having a different theme. Something that definitely helped him battle through the duration of the race.

In the end, both Mark and Roman finished with sub 11-hour Ironman races. Mark 204th overall and Roman 317th. Congrats to both of you! Go Mongo!

204 10:15:22 SAVEDES MARK M40-44 (49/456) 1:05:28/3:58/5:14:49/2:37/3:48:33

317 10:39:36 KRZYZANOWSKI ROMAN M35-39 (73/386) 1:08:36/9:40/5:24:17/3:47/3:53:17

Quad of Mongo’s Race Strong!

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:38:06 +0000

Team Mongo was well represented this past weekend at the 20th Iceman Cometh. Jon Bennett, Andy Correll, and the Larson Brothers, Bob and Gary, competed and finished strong. On a day that will better be known for its incredible November weather, 50 degrees and sunny, the Iceman provided for a great event for more than 3900 riders from all over the world. To quote Ray Dybowski of the Wolverine Sports Club, “If you missed the 2009 ICEMAN, WOW, you missed a great one!” Ray, a Team Mongo Bike Coach, enjoyed both the race and the weather as he worked his way to a second place finish in the Elite Clydesdale Group. Way to go Ray.

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A special thanks to Tom Demerly who has been great to promote Team Mongo when he is announcing; “It was so cool to be at the start, with all those Elite Bikers and have the Announcer specifically recognize Team Mongo!” said Jon Bennett. “Tom mentioned the great stuff that we do in the community, which was awesome!” Andy Correll echoed Jon’s Comments, “While we were waiting for our wave to start, the announcer spotted Jon’s Mongo kit and took a minute to praise the team and all that they’ve done for the community. It was really unexpected as there were literally hundreds of guys all lined up for our start.”

The Race was face paced, fun, and sandy too. Although there were numerous crashes, we are glad to report that all Team Mongo riders finished safely. Here are the results:

Jon Bennett 1:51:47, 16th in Age Group
Andy Correll 2:03:22, 77th in Age Group
Bob Larson 2:11:29, 23rd in Age Group
Gary Larson 2:30:59, 52nd in Age Group

Gentlemen, WELL DONE! We are all proud of you and your efforts. Rumors have it that Team Mongo will be out in force in 2010. Can’t wait until next year!

2009 Team Mongo Tri Camp

admin — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:27:41 +0000

Many members of Team MONGO set out for a training camp to give their fitness levels a nice bump before the racing season. Many MONGO members are gearing up for Eagleman 70.3 which will take place on June 14, 2009.

Thursday was the start of the “Mongo Tri Camp”. Everybody began arriving Thursday afternoon, and by evening everybody was settled in their cabins and tasting Tom’s wine and beer assortment and checking out the hot tubs. Jon’s cabin was up till 1:00 AM directing a very lost Neil and Nikki to the lodge…we learned that Neil is directionally challenged. The plan for Friday was wheels “up” at 8 AM to ride two plus loops of the TTT course.

Day 1

We woke to a light drizzle and wet roads so decided on a 7.2 mile trail run to start the day while the roads dried up. Nobody had been on this loop as it was not part of the TTT course and due to a fire the week earlier the logging path was closed. The group consensus was that this trail put Potawatomi Trail to shame and the mud made it even more challenging. The guys took off ahead and the girls stayed together knowing that this was just the beginning and that we should save a little for the bike riding to come. Julie showed us her ultra trail running technique and most of us practiced the “rock it“ method on the down hills but Nikki preferred her “jazz” hands. Bob liked the trail so much he almost did a second loop but a rescue mission went out and talked him out of it. After the run we all rinsed off the mud in the lake and went back to fuel up for the 12PM ride. The group quickly split up into the guys and the girls and Tom who kindly escorted the girls through the fire roads and battled off the crazy attack dogs. Everyone ended up interpreting the map a little different and we ended up with a range of 50-70 miles on varying routes. Neil and Nikki got lost again until the guys tracked them down. The girls saw Neil going the opposite way on the loop saying, “Am I going the right way?” This became the common theme over the weekend. The weather cooperated today and we saw sunshine and 75 degrees. We covered over 6000 feet of climbing and descending. After an awesome dinner we celebrated a few awards for the day. Amy and Bonnie tied for “Queen of the Mountain” and Pat Carroll was “King of the Mountain” (after having run the Boston Marathon less than two weeks prior) and everybody got some Trek flip flops. All awards were graciously provided by our incredible sponsor American Cycle & Fitness. After some drinks and a lot of laughs people went off to their cabins for bed. Tom picked up Sotir from a local airport and Peter drove in each arriving around 10 PM. They enjoyed a beer after their travels before heading off to bed.

Day 2

The day began with a 7 AM wake up call and wheels “up” at 8:00 a.m. The goal was to ride out and back on 125 for 30-40 miles refuel at the camp store and then complete a loop of the TTT course. The group broke up and regrouped several times throughout the ride and then split up again. Everybody ended up with 60-70 miles and on these challenging hills it really felt like 90+ miles. For the most part, everybody had learned where the crazy dogs were and was prepared to fend them off except for one surprise when the craziest dog of all ran out after us. He apparently broke the rope that connected him to the tree much to our surprise! Everybody made it by unharmed but it was a close call! We finished the day with a TRun on a combination of road and trail ranging from 20-30 minutes. Peter feeling inadequate for missing the 7.2 mile run on day 1 went off to see the trail for himself and soon agreed with our war stories. He returned for the ultimate award – happy hour in the girls hot tub for him and 4 ladies. The weather cooperated yet again and it was a very pleasant mid 60 degree day with some sun and clouds. After another fabulous dinner, kicked up a few notched from the prior night, by “Chef Sotir” (just ask Tom) we had a few final awards. Julie won the “Mental Toughness” award for the weekend and Tom the “Domestique” award for a very long list of helpful tasks. The night carried on and lots of laughs were shared by all especially Sotir and Bob’s 1970’s triathlon stories.

Day 3

Sunday was the end of camp and again we woke to light rain which we had anticipated from the forecast. We opted out of a weMany members of Team MONGO set out for a training camp to give their fitness levels a nice bump before the racing season. Many MONGO members are gearing up for Eagleman 70.3 which will take place on June 14, 2009.