Race Coverage
Fun & Fast Times...
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Saturday, 31 August 2019 23:10
HOPKINS ROYAL TRIATHLON - Saturday morning at Shady Oak Lake. Cloudy, mild temps (low 60s), negligible wind, flat lake. Add the new transition layout and you have ideal conditions for a triathlon, the kind that result in fast times and a spate of rewritten age group records.
ANDY ZABEL, arguably the frontrunner for the 2019 Most Improved (male) award, was the clear favorite to take the men's overall title.
The women's gold medal race was less predictable, though. 2017 champion ANDREA MYERS, who had excelled on this course in each of the previous three years, had experience on her side. Here stiffest challenge on Saturday would come from rising rookie star CARYN HERRICK.
Zabel and Herrick were later registrants, thus they were among the last starters in the event's time-trial format. Myers was an early starter, which allowed her to appear to gap most of the field, women and men alike, from the get-go. We've seen this before. Andrea finishing well ahead of her rivals, then having to wait to see if others would overtake her in the final results.
Myers husband SCOTT was the first athlete to cross the finish line. ERIC ROESNER and KEVIN GREIMEL were in next. Then Andrea crossed the finish line. Ultimately, Scott would have the 5th fastest time of the day, Eric would place 7th, and Kevin, a two-time Top Fiver here, would finish 8th.
Andrea's time on Saturday was 1:11:27, a personal best on this course, a performance she could be proud of. But would it be good enough for the win? ...
Runaway Win Caps Blankenheim's Season...
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Tuesday, 27 August 2019 23:10
By Mike Aulie (brainerddispatch.com / cool photo by Steve Kohls)
BAXTER -- Josh Blankenheim of Duluth improved on his second-place finish of last year to post the fastest time in the Lakes Country Triathlon and Baxter’s Jacquelyn Bacigalupi repeated as the top female finisher Sunday, Aug. 25, at Kiwanis Park in Baxter....
Ted's Back!
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Monday, 26 August 2019 23:10
MAPLE GROVE OLYMPIC - Capping his 2018 season with two major wins and a 2nd, TED TREISE was anxious to launch his 2019 season, his first year as a professional.
But injuries resulted in DNFs and DNSs, and rehab dominated the four months that comprise the heart of the tri season.
He returned to action last Saturday at Maple Grove Olympic, where he would face 2019 Green Lake Olympic winner KAELEB ROYSTER (IU), and a gaggle of up-and-coming collegiate triathletes.
A loss would be understandable.
But Ted didn't lose. In fact, he threw down the fastest bike split of the day in front of his signature fast run, which built a satisfying 2:14 margin of victory over Royster, the talented Hawkeye.
Ted's time was sweet: 1:56:55.
Treise shared the Top Step with repeat champion BECKY YOUNGBERG, whose time --2:06:06--had been bettered by only one other women's clocking in the 10-year history of this event. That time was 2:05:01, set by Becky in 2018....
Another W for Zitur. Another Record For Buenting...
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Sunday, 25 August 2019 23:10
MAPLE GROVE SPRINT - CHERYL ZITUR never fails to impress us. Then again, neither does ISABELLA BUENTING and AMY WOOLSEY.
Zitur and Woolsey are women who have done their best racing since turning 50. Zitur won her first tri at the age of 48, and now 54, has amassed 15 overall women's triathlon titles, the most recent of which was last Saturday at beautiful Warner Lake Park, venue of the 10th annual Maple Grove Sprint Triathlon. The win was her sixth straight here, and her time (1:07:15) was the 3rd fastest women's clocking ever on this route, and quick enough to land her in 4th place overall!.
Guess who owns the the Top 2 fastest times?
Woolsey, who has won four of the five races she's won since turing 50, placed 5th on Saturday, a performance that compliments her 6th at Apple last May, and her Top 10 at Chisago Sprint last month.
Buenting is not in her 50s, and has a long way to go before she gets there. She is 16, and she placed 4th at Maple Grove Sprint, doing so in a time--1:10:09--that slashed 5:12 off the prior junior record. In five regional tri starts this season, Bella has five age goup wins, and junior CRs were set in four of those efforts....
"Everything Went Right."
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Saturday, 24 August 2019 23:10
By Paige Schulz (strava.com)
Ironman Mont-Tremblant Race Report - 10:09 total time. 3rd place amateur female. 2nd place 25-29 age group. 49 minute PR. A great race....
Doritos & Sprinklers....
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Thursday, 22 August 2019 23:10
By Mario Minelli
The Wingman Triathlon. This will be more of a race course/venue review rather than a personal recap. Or maybe a mash-up of the two...
I believe the Wingman Triathlon started in 2009, the year after I did my first tri. It's only about an hour long drive from where I live and I've always wanted give it a shot. The problem was that it usually fell on the same weekend as the Festival in the Park Run, a race in Kasson, MN, where I reside. I like to support local events and I'm not one for doing two races in one weekend so I always passed on the Wingman--until this year. So I raced in the 5k on Saturday (August 10), then the Wingman Tri the following day. I did, however, pass on the Festival's Twinkie eating contest that would have made for a triple event weekend.
I entertained the idea of taking it easy in Saturdays race, but we all know it's hard to hold back. And for triathletes who race a variety of distances, a 5k is about as short as it gets in a swim-bike-run event. So...I ran pretty hard in the 5k. Surprisingly, I felt ok Sunday morning for the Wingman. My friend Tom and I got to the race venue, Red Wing's Colvill Park, about an hour before the 8am start time. We were setting up our transition areas when Tom realized he forgot one minor piece of equipment: goggles. This would be his second tri. His other being Rochesterfest a couple years ago so he was a little rusty.
Then the sprinkler system at the park started blasting water into the transition area getting many people wet before the swim, or for the swim depending on how you look at it. A friendly athlete next to Tom had a spare pair of goggles and the sprinkler issue was soon resolved. ...
