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Freaking Awesomeness, Mountain Gaps & Horse Manure...
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Saturday, 15 July 2023 00:10
By David Leard
IRONMAN 70.3 PENNSYLVANIA - HAPPY VALLEY - Race Report - After driving the bike course on Saturday, I texted a couple Penn State buddies and told them, “Just drove the bike course. Freaking awesome! Gonna get my butt kicked, but it’ll be freaking awesome!” It was. The whole race was.
I never did a “Ironman” 70.3 before. Always thought them a little overpriced and when I wanted to do a half, there are local ones I’d rather support. But when this race was announced, and it was indeed going to be held at Penn State and finish at the 50-yard line of Beaver Stadium, my travel plans were made, and my sister’s 4th of July picnic was planned before registration opened.
Because of a new job, I didn’t race at all in 2022 and probably only trained a third of what I would have liked for this race. I went in relying on experience, muscle memory and (I hoped) a deep base to just enjoy and try and finish this one with no other stated goal....
Meet the Fargo-Moorhead Tri Club...
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Saturday, 08 July 2023 00:10
By Mike Combs
Local triathlon clubs are great for the triathlon community and are a wonderful way for athletes to train together. When you go to a triathlon in Minnesota, you see athletes with tri club attire from so many different clubs. Tri West Triathlon is going to highlight the many great clubs around our great state, along with hosting the first annual Minnesota Triathlon Club Championship. Between now and Tri West, there will be articles from interviews from different triathlon clubs....
Storm Delays & Exploding Hearts...
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Thursday, 06 July 2023 00:10
By Cami Eckhoff
Steelhead 70.3 Race Report - Steelhead 70.3 was an awesome and challenging experience! The highlight was having Keith and our boys with cheering and supporting me! The kids have come to a couple local short course races but being apart of a Ironman event and spectators on race day is no small endeavor. They came with to registration and bike check in the day before and were up at 4:30 am (3:30 our time) race morning, sat in the vehicle for the hour storm delay, walked miles across sand, road, golf course and more all to cheer for a few seconds each time. Every time I saw them, my heart exploded! They were the real champs of the day!
A quick race recap~ I truly swam, biked and ran as best I could with what my body gave me on Sunday.
Swimming in Lake Michigan was nerve-racking but I took it buoy by buoy being tossed around by the waves, telling myself to be calm and just keep swimming. I was so glad to lift my head and finally see the finish arch! ...
2023 Timberman Olympic Preview...
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Wednesday, 05 July 2023 00:10
TIMBERMAN OLYMPIC PREVIEW - For the entrants list that we received last week, here, in alpha order, are some of the players who we expecy to be competitive next Saturday:
JOSH BLANKENHEIM, 42 (Photo on Page 2) - Winner here last year and in 2019, Josh also has three 2nd place awards from this race. Timberman is his first tri of the season, yet we think that, based on muscle memory, he is nevertheless the man to beat. A win would be the 15th of his multisport career.
JAN GUENTHER, 64 - Jan owns two divisional records from the prior course, and one from the current route, which has been in place since 2013. She finished 3rd overall here in 2022, which will be hard to match that this weekend. She should nevertheless crack the women's overall Top 10 and win her AG by a ton, as she has already done this year at Maribella 70.3 (ESP) and Lake Minnetonka.
DIANE HANKEE, 46 - Winner of 42 multis in her career, Diane could reach the overall podium this weekend. She should win her 45-49W AG.
BETH HASSLER, 67 - Owner of the 55-59W record here, and divisional champ here last year, Beth should once again win her AG. FYI, Beth won her AG at BIrkie in '22. Also, Beth is a HOOT! ...
Minnesota's Destination Triathlon!
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Monday, 03 July 2023 00:10
TIMBERMAN SPRINT PREVIEW - Next Saturday's Timberman Sprint, the 38th edition thereof, will once again feature the "usual suspects," and we couldn't be happier about that. We are focusing on the women's race here, with BETTINA KEPPERS and TARA MAKINEN, with ten T-Man wins between them, on top of the ticket, with JENA OGSTON ever in pursuit. (Ogston won in 2015 by the slimmest T-Man margin ever: 2-seconds. Super exciting race.)
But there is one non-usual suspect that can shake things up this year. Her name is LISA FILZEN, a former Most Improved nominee who had raced Timberman's Olympic event before, but is making her Sprint debut on Saturday. A glance at the Buzz Ryan results in 2021, where she placed behind only ELAINE NELSON, but ahead of CHRISTEL KIPPENHAN, who won't be racing this year because she's gearing up for the World Sprint Championships in her native Germany, and Ogston was all we needed to tag her a contender.
