Race Coverage

#10 For Suzie...

Wednesday, 09 September 2015 00:10

2nd HOPKINS ROYAL TRIATHLON - According to SUZIE FOX, who ordered and devoured The Juicy Lucy, albeit with lettuce substituting for buns (Who knew?), at Moose Country after recording her historic 10th win of the season, the Hopkins Royal Triathlon, is one of the best triathlons in Minnesota, which is saying a lot. And she wasn't saying this because she just won it by a six-plus minute margin and people tend to say good stuff about races they win. She gushed about the venue and the Race Director, Doobie Kurus, who is a total HOOT!

With her victory, she became the fifth Minnesota woman to post double-digit wins in a single season since the Millennial change. The others are HEATHER LENDWAY (12 wins in 2014), CATHY YNDESTAD (11 wins in 2008), JENNY WILCOX (10 wins in 2010) and BECKY YOUNGBERG (10 wins in 2004).

Pretty dang good compnay, huh!

Suzie's next race will be IMOO next Sunday, and who knows, she just might win that one, too.

Placing 2nd in the women's race was 2014 HRT winner, SARAH MERCER, who will likely earn, and not for the first time, a Master of the Year nomination. Another elite master, CATHERINE LEE, last year's runner-up, rounded out her gender's Top 3.

PATRICK PARISH, who has endured some discouraging health issues this season, nevertheless managed to collect his 3rd win of the year, and 29th of his impressive career.

And speaking of impressive, TRAVIS MILLER was somewhat of a semi-surpise runner-up, managing to outrace PHILIP ENGLISH (3rd), BRETT LOVAAS (4th), and 2014 winner ERIC HENDRICKSON (5th), all of whom have well-established credentials. We're liking Miller's career trajectory.

The participant with the best name in the field was an Illinios junior named PATIPAN PIPATINYOPONG. We Googled him. We were pleased to discover that he is sub-par golfer, which is a good thing, who attends The U. We think his ancestry is from Thailand.  RESULTS

Photo - Suzan Hilal smilingly en route to an 8th place finish at HRT.