Race Coverage

Triathletes Impress at Earth Day...

Wednesday, 17 April 2024 00:10

2023 EARTH DAY RUNS - A pair of prominent Minnesota triathletes turned in triumphant performances last Friday and Saturday at the 23rd edition Earth Day Runs, St. Cloud's largest endurance event.

As in 2022, weather conditions were, for lack of better words, not great. The two-thousandish dressed-in-layers participants once again were buffetted by arctic winds. On Friday evening 2022 Male Master Triathlete of the Year Andy Zabel pushed ahead of local multiple EDR winners Jonathan Stoltman, Morcelli Kombo and William Lindell to claim victory in the 5K, his 16:45 landing him at the finish line seventeen seconds in front of Stoltman....

On Saturday with temps in the high 20s, lowered significantly by  fifteen-plus mph winds and swirling snow pellets, 18-year-old Sean Pickle (photo), whose rookie  triathlon efforts in 2022 placed in the Junior of the Year conversation, made his long distance running debut. Having never run further than eight miles prior to the event, he nevertheless chose to tackle the ED Half Marathon. His goal was to finish as close to the 90-minute mark as possible.

At the 5K checkpoint, he was in 9th place, which caused his parents to worry about his having bitten off more than he could chew.

He stayed stong throughout the race while all but the top two men fell back. Sean's 13.1-mile debut produced a 3rd place overall finish in the 700-member field. He also managed to better his 1:30 goal, doing so by 3:08.