Race Coverage
Finding Silver Linings...
-
Friday, 04 September 2015 00:10
By Amy Bauch (amysrunningaround.blogspot.com)
Superior Man 41.5 RaceReport - My 2015 “local” triathlon outdoor season ended last Sunday after I crossed the finish line of SuperiorMan‘s “short” course in Duluth. It was a fun day in a fun town.
The race initially intrigued me because of the swim start. Racers are loaded on to a Vista Fleet ferry boat and taken out on to Lake Superior and get to jump off the boat in to the lake. How fun is that?
I did the long course in 2013. It was the hottest day of the year in Duluth – heat index was well in to the 100s along with some pretty heavy humidity. Very unexpected for this time of year upnord der.
I have long thought about doing the Escape from Alcatraz race, which also has a “jump off the boat” swim start. There are just a few other things about that race that keeps me away (sharks, currents, cold temperatures and a lot of hills to name a few).
SuperiorMan offers the same cool start without worrying about Jaws. It does have its fair share of currents, cold water and hills, though.
I had planned to race the long course again this year, but when Ironman Arizona 70.3 opened up, I made it my “A” race for the season. (And, truth be told, my pretty lazy training season left me not really ready to pull a ½ out of my legs yet. Fortunately, I have six weeks to get them ready for Tempe)....
Perfect Day for a Race...
-
Thursday, 03 September 2015 00:10
By Mike Aulie (Brainerddispatch.com - Aug. 31)
BAXTER - "Any race up north is a good race."
Those were the words of Larry Hosch, 37, from St. Joseph, who won the Lakes Country Triathlon Sunday with a time of 59:00 that shattered the best time from last year by nearly four minutes.
Olivia Bagnall, 24, from Lakeview, was the top female finisher traversing the quarter-mile swim, 14-mile bike ride and 3.2-mile run in 1:09.03.
Competitors agreed that it was a perfect day for a race with temperatures in the mid-60s under cloudy skies when the first wave of swimmers hit the water at Whipple Beach like lemmings abandoning ship.
Hosch was the fourth swimmer to come out of the water and took the lead after the bike ride going into the final run....
A Superior Exerience...
-
Monday, 31 August 2015 06:10
SUPERIOR MAN - After a lumpy swim in the nippy bay, the 400ish half IM and 41.5 participants got a nice push out to their respective bike turnaround points. The wind was their friend.
Then it wasn't. Turning back into the wind really blowed, even more than the stiff breezed themselves.
But triathletes love that kind of challenging stuff. Sure, they bitch while they're doing it, but all that negative stuff goes away when they cross the finish line. That's when they talk about loving the experience, planning to return next year and patting the race director on the back for a wonderfully executed event.
It seems contradictory to the non-triathlete. But it is soooo not! The internal juxtapostional stuff is an essential part of the deal. Train for an endurance event, then do one. You'll understand.
While the wind was a tad on the extreme side, the conditions were not as extreme as athletes had endured in the event's three prior runnings, especially 2013.
But as we noted, triathletes love challenge, and this challenging event is already a two-time "Triathlete's Choice Race of the Year."
Yesterday's News...
-
Sunday, 30 August 2015 06:10
CHALLENGE PENTICTON - MTN congratulates HEATHER LENDWAY on her 4th place finish at the Challenge Penticton Half IM yesterday in British Columbia. On FB, here's what HL had to say about her effort:
"2nd half in the books: Fastest swim followed by a solid bike and my first sub 7 pace half for fourth overall, we'll call it a good day."
Heather celebrated with a treat from Dairy Queen. Probably a Blizzard.
FYI, her time was 4:30:02 and she earned $1500 in Canadian money. The current exchange rate is $1US = $1.32338CAD, therefore Heather made the equivalent of $1,135.76 in real money. - RESULTS
LAKES COUNTRY TRIATHLON - In our preview, we predicted that LARRY HOSCH would win the men's title and JACQUELYN BACIGALUPI would finish 2nd in the women's competition. We were kinda right. Larry did win and, as we also predicted, managed to break the 1-hour mark, and by a full minute, at that (59:00). ...
Garrick Got it Done...
-
Thursday, 27 August 2015 06:10
By Brock LeFlorette
As Garrick Dietze (Facebook photo L) crossed the finish line at Sunday’s Waseca Sprint, a sparse crowd (thanks to semi-yucky weather) cheered admiringly and the announcer called him a rockstar.
The man smiled and thrust both fists over his head.
“I got it done!” he exclaimed.
He did indeed. Garrick had just finished his first tri, which is rockstarry enough, right? Making his accomplishment more salient and savorable, though, was the fact that he is a Clydesdale.
Actually, he is TWO Clydesdales. You see, Garrick is 6’5” and weighs 400 pounds, at least that’s what he weighed before battling the chilly 20-mph winds during his 18.65 mile odyssey.
Most would agree that Garrick’s effort was the performance of the day.
Dietze wasn’t the only one who “got it done.” Kevin O’Connor got it done before everyone else as he had for the last three years here. The win was his 5th of the 2015 season....
He's Back! We Think...
-
Wednesday, 26 August 2015 02:10
Photo - Conditions during the race were kinda yucky. But as so often happens, the weather got good after the last finisher crossed. Why is that? Enjoying the new sunshine here are Waseca 1/3 winners Rich Heilman and Suzie Fox.
In 1996 when Rich Heilman was 32, he was one of the most successful amateur long distance guys in the US. At Long Course Worlds in Muncie, Indiana, he finished 3rd overall in the amateur competition.
A few years later, Rich disappeared from the regional and national tri scene in order to do life stuff. Over the next decade and a half he popped up on the tri grid a time or two, usually at an out-of-state Ironman, but not often enough to suggest that he would return to regional prominence.
Then Heilman, now 50, showed up at this year’s Lake Marion Olympic Triathlon. He didn’t look much older than he did in the 90s and still had his infuriating 30-inch waist and 5% body fat.
He finished 2nd overall in that race.
Is he back? It was too soon to tell....
