Race Coverage
A Special Day...
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Monday, 15 July 2019 23:10
TIMBERMAN TRIATHLON - "Groundhog Day." A terrific movie that asks the question: "If you could relive one day in your life over and over, which one would it be?"
For us, it would be July 13, 2019. Last Saturday....
Why? Because we were "up north" at Ruttger's Sugar Lake Resort. It's a truly idyllic place. The scenery is breathtaking. The weather was the best a midwestern summer has to offer, and in our opinion, midwestern summers are as good as it gets.
And the event that the resort hosted that beautiful morning, the incomparable (35th annual!) Timberman Triathlon, was a joyful and rejuvenating celebration of robust living.
Perfect conditions, both from a weather and "vibe" standpoint, set the 'stage for PRs and course records. It was a "conducive" kind of day.
How conducive? Five of the six overall winners (Olympic, Sprint, Supersprint) rewrote couse records. And the one effort that did not produce a CR was the fastest time turned in on this course since 2014. And 15 (!) AG records were rewritten. That's right! 15.
TIMBERMAN OLYMPIC - We anticipated fast times from pre-race favorites JOSH BLANKENHEIM and BECKY YOUNGBERG, and we got more than we bargained for. Neither were seriously challenged. Josh's eventual 1:56:42 allowed him to spend six minutes and 16-seconds with his lovely fiance LARISSA and his four-year-old black lab WINSTON (photo R) before the next Olympic finisher, JASON CRISP, crossed the finish line. For Blank, the win was the 10th of his multisport career. For Crispy, his 2:02:58 was 4:36 quicker than his previous best on this course.
Taking 3rd for the second straight year was Thunder Bay's KRIS NISULA (2:03:32).
For Youngberg, 44, the win was her 3rd here at Timberman, and 45th (!) of her multisport career. Most impressive, though, was her time, 2:07:35, which lowered the women's course record by 1:43, and the Masters record by 8:49.
Before the race, four-time Timberman Olympic runner-up, ANDREA MYERS, 43, said that she believed that another 2nd was definitely out of the question. She didn't expect to outrace NICOLE HEININGER and CHERYL ZITUR. Then she put together her best T-Man performance ever. Her time was 2:12:52, a PR by 4:30. It was a time that would have crushed the Masters record had Youngberg been elsewhere.
And it landed her in 2nd place for the fifth time.
And yes, HEININGER (2:15:58) and ZITUR (2:17:20) took the next two places. For Nicole, the performance ignited an inner fire, and she can't wait for her next race to redeem herself.
For the phenomenal 54-year-old Zitur, the effort produced an AG record, slicing 5:10 off the prior standard.
The following Age Group records were set:
40-44W - BECKY YOUNGBERG - 2:07:35 (Old Mark - 2:17:22)
45-49M - DAVID LEWIS - 2:07:35 (Old Mark - 2:07:49)
50-54M - MIKE JOHNSON - 2:08:36 (Old Mark - 2:09:13)
50-54W - CHERYL ZITUR - 2:17:20 (Old Mark - 2:22:30)
60-64W - HELEN GUNTHER - 2:39:09 (Old Mark - 2:40:30)
65-69W - PAM STEVENS - 2:35:52 (Old Mark - 3:12:26)
TIMBERMAN SPRINT - A few days fbefore the race, BROOKS GROSSINGER decided to forego the Olympic,which he had won three times, in favor of the Sprint. No longer an easy pick for the Olympic podium, he was now the clear favorite in the shorter race. He owns the men's Olympic record on this course (1:54:24 in 2014), and noow he was now gunning for the Sprint CR.
Like Blank and Youngberg in the longer race, Brooks went to the front early and continued to build his lead. JOHN SHELP''s 55:51 in 2018, was the time to beat.
The clock read 52:52 when Brooks sped across the finish line. According to our records, the victory was the 35th of his multisport career.
Shelp was next to finish, his 56:00 only eight seconds off his 2018 clocking, with local teen GARRETT BECKRICH claiming 3rd. Beckrich, an accomplished nordic skier and cross country runner, turned in a spectacular time of 58:30, making him the first junior in race history to crack the one-hour mark. We believe this was only his second triathlon effort. He raced here in 2018, placing 6th in 1:00:11, just two seconds behind junior champ VASEK CERVENKA.
If Garrett gets serious about the sport of Triathlon, we think he isdestined for stardom.
Leading the way for the women was two-time, now three-time, champ BETTINA KEPPERS, who pushed the envelope the whole way. Her time was terrific, a 1:01:57, a full minute faster than TAYLOR LUNDQUIST's 2018 CR.
A pair of past winners, starting with JODY QUESNELL (2008, 2007), followed by TARA MAKINEN ((2014, 2013, 2011, 2010), rounded out the women's podium. Jody's time was 1:03:43, an AG record, and Tara's time was 1:04:31, also and AGR.
Nine Age Group record records were rewritten:
00-19M - GARRETT BECKRICH - 58:30 (Old Mark - 1:00:09)
40-4M - BROOKS GROSSINGER - 52:52 (Old Mark - 57:34)
40-44W - TARA MAKINEN - 1:04:31 (Old Mark - 1:05:20)
50-54W - JODY QUESNELL - 1:03:43 (Old Mark - 1:05:43)
55-59M - CRAIG PETERSON - 1:01:36 (Old Mark - 1:03:45)
55-59W - MOLLY BRESLIN, WY - 1:12:03 (Old Mark - 1:13:55)
60-64M - ALAN KUTZ - 1:10:14 (Old Mark - 1:11:12)
65-69M - LUKE HARNED - 1:04:53 (Old Mark - 1:17:24)
80-84M - DON MECK - 1:45:04
SUPERSPRINT - Winning this four-year-old, 34-finisher event was HANNA MOLAND, 22, in 34:54 (Prior CR - 40:03) and CONNOR MURPHY, 14, of Thunder Bay, Ontario, in 34:25 (Prior CR - 39:15).
(Photo Below - Our good friend GREGG GARRETTSON sent us this pic. It's a HOOT! It has nothing to do with the race, though Gregg referred to it as "the Clydesdale wave."
