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Thinking of Mitch....
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Friday, 21 July 2017 00:00
ED - We received this Facebook message from Lynn Rothmeier this morning:
Hi MTN Guys,
I don't know if you ever put specific shout outs on your website but Mitch Brekke was in a terrible bike accident on Tuesday night with a ride group from Mankato and is very lucky to be alive. It never hurts to get some love and prayers from our multi sport community! There is a Caringbridge site set up for him. Thanks! - Lynn
Most of us know MItch, aka "The Hartland Express." He's a great athlete and an even greater person. Our thoughts are with him and his family.
His CaringBridge page: www.caringbridge.org/visit/mitchbrekke
Nate's Season Thus Far...
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Thursday, 20 July 2017 23:10
By Nathan Ansbaugh (nathanansbaugh.blogspot.com - July 18, 2017)
Yesterday, Every Man Jack teammate and great friend, Sean Cooley, and I took off around 8AM to kick off the transition between what has felt like a constant sprint over the past six weeks into both a figurative and literal marathon that is about to ensue over the next two months with Superior Man and Ironman Wisconsin looming in the distance. About 2 hours and 18 miles into the hot, muggy, and generally demoralizing back half of our 22 mile run yesterday, I couldn't help but think, "Oh man, I forgot how much Ironman racing hurts." Between the past six weeks of bizarre schedules at work with every 3rd day spending 28 hours in the hospital with 30min to an hour of sleep on those nights, transitioning to becoming a chief resident in the emergency department, racing four times including two days ago at the Minnesota State Championship at the Heart of the Lakes Tri, and then giving ourselves rhabdo on the run yesterday, I have been in need of a day off. Thus, as previously promised, I figured I'd sit down and reflect a bit on the racing over these past weeks.
Glorious Day. Glorious Race...
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Wednesday, 19 July 2017 19:10
By Christel Kippenhan (seecktri.wordpress.com)
Timberman Race Report - This was the third time racing Timberman for me, and with every year I seem to love this race more: great venue, great course, great organization, great volunteers, great people, great company … and on Saturday also great weather!
During my run warm up, I had just completed some skips, one of the volunteers looked at me and said, “Your name is Kepp…, Kipp…, Kippsomething …”
“Yep, it’s Kippenhan.”
“I knew it! I knew it’s you! … I had your Biomechanics class almost 20 years ago … I’m Trisha, I played Volleyball for BSU … I still have the binder with your class materials … Look at you, doing triathlon …”
Yes, I seem to run into former students everywhere. But, it’s a good sign that they still recognize me and even better that they still want to talk with me ;-). It is also a sign that I have been and Bemidji State already for a long, long time....
Kids Rock! And Weekend Preves...
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Tuesday, 18 July 2017 23:10
Photo - Two Swensons--Jamie, Kristina--and a Dennison.
HEART OF THE LAKES SHORT COURSE - Juniors rocked socks at Heart of the Lakes Short Course last Sunday. Teens took the top two spots for the men, and the bottom two-thirds of the podium for the women.
We love this! It's a "future of the sport" thing.
For 15-year-old KYLE SWENSON, the brother of 2016 HOLT SC winner KRISTINA SWENSON, the last eight days have been super satisfying. At Graniteman Sprint on July 8, Kyle rocked a 4th place / 1st Junior finish. As sweet as that was, his victory at HOLT was sweeter, but certainly more stressful, as the eventual margin between himself and runner-up NATHAN BICH, 18, a tall young man with six-time HOLT winner BRIAN BICH genes in his cells, was only three seconds.
Exciting stuff!
Also exciting and cool was the fact that three of the Top 7 male finishers were fifty-genarians (4th - ANDY CLARK, 6.- TODD WHITE, 7. MARTY MORAN).
The women's race was won by the ever-smiling JEN NEUMAN, 47. The victory, the eleventh of her tri/du career, didn't come easy, as 14-year-old rising star ISABELLA BUENTING was only thirteen seconds in arrears. Buenting was also Top Teen at Lake Minnetonka, where she placed 11th overall....
The Happiest Days of Summer...
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Monday, 17 July 2017 09:10
Photo (L-R) - Maggie, Christina, Diane
HEART OF THE LAKES (Long Course) - Sometimes it's the battles within a race, duels actually, and not what is happening at the front that are most exciting. At HOLT last Sunday it was clear shortly after they had exited T2, that SEAN COOLEY and CHRISTINA ROBERTS would win the race and claim well-earned state titles.
Their leads were simply insurmountable.
Thus, the focus shifted. Who would place 2nd and 3rd? As it turned out, the battles for these spotswere epic. Not only that, the athletes who would would claim the following two places--4th and 5th--in both the men's and women's competitions would be pleasantly surprising.
While Sean was charging on to claim his 16th win since his relocation from North Dakota to Minnesota, and Roberts was officializing the 15th tri victory of her career, and her second W in as many weeks, MAGGIE WEISS and DIANE HANKEE, and NATHAN ANSBAUGH and JOSH BLANKENHEIM were dueling over 2nd place finishes. In both battles, it was the athlete in the come-from-behind positions--Blank and Hank--that would prevail.
For Josh, it would be his third strainght runner-up performance, all of them taking place in deep races, and it avenged his 2nd at Lake Waconia, when the run distance--four miles--was not long enough for him to catch eventual winner, Ansbaugh. HOLT's run is 5.3 miles, enough to catch-and-pass....
