Silly Chili Triathlon Results - 2011

For the fourth year in a row, this triathlon turned out to have a small but enthusiastic run and swim following, and a loud, raucous and passionate turnout for leg 3, the chili cook-off.

Leg 1 - The Run

Hardcore regulars Kim, Sibylle, Susan and myself showed up at the Griffin Gym in North Vancouver.  We were joined by Monika from Vancouver who looked a bit bewildered.  "I was expecting a throng of triathletes with chili bowls", she confessed as we jogged to the start.  It was cool, gray and threatening to rain at any minute, but actually quite pleasant for running.

For those not familiar with the Mosquito Creek trail, it's like a country road:  rock and gravel surface, wide enough for a car, adjacent to a wide creek and decidedly uphill to
the turnaround.  For those not familiar with Club Fat Ass events, whining, in whatever form, is not allowed.  Of course, the whining started as soon as the trail got a bit steeper and it started to spit with rain...  

Tradition calls for each participant to touch the sign in front of the yellow bridge, run to the Mount Royal bridge and touch it, then retrace their steps back down the trail.  Repeat as many times as possible in an hour.  

The skies opened up with thunder and a brief downpour as we made our way back to the gym.  This was followed by a brief, but intense bout of hail, then glorious sunshine for the swim leg.

Leg 2 - The Swim

This leg of the triathlon is somewhat open to interpretation, as it does not absolutely require that one swim laps.  Most of the participants went directly into the hot tub.  Monika and Jackson actually did do a few laps of "tri swim", which is a form of full-contact swim that involves crawling-over, rolling over or otherwise trying to take-out the other person in the lane.  A mentally handicapped swimmer with whom we shared the lane was delighted with the concept.  John Machray appeared in the hot tub and was overheard trying to convince Susan to run 100-milers.  They spent the better part of an hour in the tub, so the “Dry as a Prune” award goes to the both of them this year.

Susan, Monika, John and Jackson

Leg 3 - The Chili Cook-off

This year we had nine contestants in the cook-off including two past champions (Wendy and Reagan).  The iron chefs and their contributions this year were:

After being provided with a scorecard and a bowl, everyone  was free to sample chilies at their own pace.  While a bit subjective and somewhat depending on the participant, the finish line was determined to be the point at which the participant uttered, "I'm stuffed!"  Those who started with larger bowls and cleansed their palates with cornbread muffins or soft tortillas where first to reach the finish line.  Several participants had a second wind and returned for a bake-off of their favorite chilis.

When the last bowl was laid to rest on the table, the voting started.  This is where things became a bit controversial...

To determine the most popular chili, we had 2 rounds of a show of hands. Round one narrowed the field to 5 contestants.  The second round of voting was limited to the winners of round 1.  The more statistically inclined in the room pointed out numerous voting irregularities with this method.  (sidenote:  Sue is a self-diagnosed anal-retentive and Mebs is the president of a software company that develops grading rubrics.  Think of how you two could improve the scoring if you had a year to collaborate on it! )  It was also a very, very close vote.  In the end, however, the Chili Con Valley from La Famille Pace prevailed.

Many thanks to the following contestants and participants for all you did to make this a wonderful evening:

Wendy Montgomery, Reagan, Isaac and Carter White, Karl and Lorraine Jensen, Gabi and Graham Kwan, Craig Moore and Vicky Forsyth, Kim Taylor, Mebs Tejpar,
Glenn, Manon and Gabrielle Pace, Patricia, David and Hannah Jensen, Monika Kreidemann, Susan Hui, John Machray, Sibylle Tinsel and Ean Jackson.

Ean Jackson and Sibylle Tinsel
Hosts of the Silly Chili Triathlon

PS  I will post the recipes of all chefs who share them with me 

PPS Registration is now up for the 2012 event.  Sign up now to avoid disappointment: www.clubfatass.com/events/flash-silly-chili-triathlon/2012

Silly Chili Triathlon Results - 2010

Goodness, there was a lot of chili this year! 

A record-breaking 14 chilis representing what seemed like all possible meat and heat scales were represented in this 3rd annual celebration.  Crock pots covered all available space on the counter and the dinner table groaned under the weight of tortillas, cornbread, pies and other goodies.

Here are some highlights:

• a small number of tough cookies showed up at the Griffin gym for the run leg of this triathlon.  A torrential downpour abated somewhat as we made our way up Mosquito Creek for some intervals next to the raging river.  Smelling of tobacco smoke, John gutted out a lap.  The girls got 4 laps in.
• there was a good turnout at the pool for the swim leg.  A couple of participants actually swam lengths, while most simmered in the hot tub
• there was a spicy edge to the air back at the ranch for the final leg.  The chilis just kept on arriving!
• Rachel provided a bit of a diversion during the judging when her hair caught fire.  If there ever was any doubt, she's one fiery redhead!
• the keg of Fat Ass Special IPA was not drained, but almost
• by popular vote (closest to the post) Wendy Montgomery won the cookoff with Rojo y Calor.  The Placebo Chili and Left Turn at Albuquerque were close runners-up.  (Nobody voted for my Squirrel Chili!)
• John managed to find some takers for his 20-year old mescal, but we saved the worm for another day

Thank you to everyone for making this special event a lot of fun all'round.

Ean Jackson and Sibylle Tinsel
Co-Hosts of the Silly Chili Triathlon

PS  There's a nice plastic prosecco glass, a couple of spoons and a single glove in the lost-and-found.