Jesse Thomas crosses the finish line to win the elite men's division of the SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle on Saturday in Bend.

Marshall Greene was riding in the pickup truck of a good Samaritan, his bike with a flat tire in the back, when he saw Jesse Thomas and several other cyclists go streaming by near the parking lot at Mt. Bachelor’s West Village Lodge. Greene had more than a minute lead after the nordic ski in the men’s elite division of the Pole Pedal Paddle on Saturday, but the pothole-induced flat tire would be his undoing, as Thomas went on to win his third PPP title. Thomas, of Bend, finished in 1 hour, 46 minutes, 49 seconds in the 44th edition of Central Oregon’s signature multisport race. Mike Condon, also of Bend, finished second in 1:57:45, and Bend’s Greene took third (1:58:47) in a race he was hoping to win for the eighth time. “I flagged down a pickup truck who drove me back into the lot, so thank you to whoever that was,” Greene said. “I ran back to the car, got a different wheel, and then jumped back into the race. My wife said, ‘You can just drop out now.’ I was like, ‘I’ve got an extra wheel, let’s do it.’” What ensued was likely the most impressive third-place finish in PPP history. Greene, 40, was in fifth place in the bike-to-run transition at the Athletic Club of Bend, and moved up to third after the 5-mile run, 1.5-mile paddle and 1-mile sprint to the finish in Bend’s Old Mill District. Thomas, 42 and a retired professional triathlete, was never challenged, winning by more than 10 minutes. Thomas did not see Greene in the pickup truck and did not know he had flatted until reaching the Athletic Club after the 22-mile bike ride. “There wasn’t another guy?” Thomas said to his support crew as he flung off his bike cleats and slipped into his running shoes at the bike-run transition. “I was waiting to see Marshall at some point, but when I got in on the bike they told me he flatted,” Thomas said later. “I was really bummed. I was looking forward to racing Marshall. It was a little deflating. I kept the pedal to the metal, hoping for the fastest time (overall).” But that honor would go to the age 40-44 male pairs team of Team Guy, which finished in 1:43:44. Thomas had an interesting tale of his own after arriving late to the start at Mt. Bachelor. “I had pants on that I thought would just go over my boots, and I couldn’t get them off,” Thomas said. “I had to ask somebody for a knife to cut them 90 seconds before the race. I cut them, threw them off to the side, and then sprinted down the hill to the race start. And then my hands were so cold I couldn’t put my gloves on, so I raced with no gloves. My hands were so cold until the run started.” Conditions at the mountain were brutal, featuring rain and high winds. “This was definitely Bend conditions: freezing rain at the start of the race, and then almost a little hot on the run,” Thomas said. Condon, 35, was ecstatic about his second-place finish, not only because it was his highest placing yet after racing the PPP every year since 2005, but because it was a chance to honor his father, who died about a year ago. His dad was always a part of his support crew for the PPP. Last year, before the PPP was canceled for the second straight year, the race was scheduled on the day of Condon’s father’s funeral. “So it’s kind of a good chance to honor him,” Condon said. “He was one of my support crew since I’ve been doing it. It’s my first year without him. It was a fun way to honor him. I was definitely thinking about him when I was racing.”

44th edition of the SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle

What: Nearly 2,000 racers competed as individuals or teams on a 34-mile course from Mount Bachelor to Bend that included alpine skiing, a 6.2-kilometer nordic ski, a 22-mile road bike ride, a 5-mile run, a 1½-mile paddle and a 1-mile sprint.

Where: The race started at Mt. Bachelor ski area’s West Village Lodge and finished near the Hampton Inn in Bend’s Old Mill District.

Information and results: www.pppbend.com

What: Nearly 2,000 racers competed as individuals or teams on a 34-mile course from Mount Bachelor to Bend that included alpine skiing, a 6.2-kilometer nordic ski, a 22-mile road bike ride, a 5-mile run, a 1 1/2-mile paddle and a 1-mile sprint.

Where: The race started at Mt. Bachelor ski area’s West Village Lodge and finished near the Hampton Inn in Bend’s Old Mill District.

Information and results: www.pppbend.com