Race Coverage
Great Venue. Great Day. Great Event....
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Monday, 19 August 2013 03:10
(YndeCam Photo - Race Director Chuck Smith giving great meeting.)
LAKE MARION VI - This great event is co-director by decorated identical twin triathletes, albeit "lapsed" triathletes (neither has raced in a "Coon's Age," whatever that means?), Chuck and Phil Smith. Being identical, they are difficult to tell apart. As a rule of thumb, Phil is the one who wears baseball caps, usually backward. Chuck is not into hats.
You can also tell the brothers apart by the fact that Chuck, not Phil, conducts the pre-race meeting, and does so with totally cool understated pithiness.
Put differently, Chuck gives great meeting....
The Lake Marion Triathlon has a lot more going for it than just Chuck's terse pre-race oratory. Its Lakeville venue is amazing, large and scenic with a picturesque potable lake. Antlers Park appears to have been designed with triathlon in mind. In our humble opinion, there isn't a better 
tri venue in the Metro, which is saying a lot. (We believe that its closest rival is next weekend's Maple Grove Triathlon, which is staged at Weaver Lake Park.)
The Lake Marion Triathlon also has a sponsor--Di Lusso Deli Company--that provides free nummilicious food for spectators as well as participants. How many events do that?
Super cool race directors and superior venue and amenities make the Lake Marion Triathlon the kind of event that every triathlete needs to do.
Now for Sunday's race, starting with the Sprint because W. Harvey Skees gets steamed at us because we historically spend more words on the longer events, in this case, the Olympic race. W. also wants us to devote more cyberwords to the shorter companion races because he--W. Harvey--races in them more often than he races in the longer events.
Headline: W. HARVEY SKEES PLACED 3RD OVERALL AT THE 2013 LAKE MARION SPRINT TRIATHLON ON SUNDAY.
Finishing ahead of W. was Andy Wiberg, who nuked his own 2012 course record, and 46-year-old Joe Caturia, who significantly lowered his AG's record. Also setting a divisional record was 18-year-old Nick Traxler, who also owns the junior CR in the LM Olympic race.
The women's sprint turned out to be a reshuffling of 2012's podium. This time it was Brenna Zavadsky, 3rd last year, coming out on top, with 2012 champ Joyce Bourassa (excellent YndeCam photo R) taking 2nd and two-time Morris Tinman winner, Bette Rowley (2nd last year), placing 3rd. AG course records were rewritten by Bourassa (45-49), Robin Tedlund (50-54) and Deb Anderson (55-59)
The Lake Marion Olympic race, which celebrated its 3rd anniversary on Sunday, featured a course record victory by Dennis Dane, his sixth career W, and an AG rewrite by Peter Tabor (55-59). 2012 winner Kyle Serreyn and Brian Gorman rounded out the overall men's podium.
For the women, Cathy Yndestad convincingly chalked up her 3rd consecutive win here and 63rd of her storied career. Likely Rookie of the Year nominee, Olivia Bagnall placed 2nd and Robyn Wangberg finished 3rd.
