Race Previews

It's All Good....

Friday, 02 July 2010 06:00

Pardon the anthropomorphizing, but races have personalities. In fact, they are downright "moody."

Take Timberman and Northwoods, our state's "destinationy" events, for example. They have a laid back vacationy vibe. These races are preludes to barbecues and cold beer and laughter and pontoon rides. Very cool.

Then there's Heart of the Lakes, our state's most gregarious race....

"Gregarious"? Huh?

Heck, yeah. HOLT is soooooooooo social. The mood there can bring out the extrovert in Bashful the Dwarf. People truly connect with each other there. And they laugh and learn important stuff about one another. They discover what the kids are doing and what kind of drugs are stashed in their underwear drawers. And they find out what new injury Daryl Stevens has. And whose new tattoo got infected. Cool stuff like that. They arrive ridiculously early and stay late. The whole world should get along like that, don'tcha think?. And the organizers should be hugged for promoting such a "feel good" event.

(Yndecam Photo: CY & JH)

And speaking of "feel good" races, there's Croixathlon, which is thoroughgoingly zany! Every race calendar needs at least one Croixathlon.

And then there is three-time (in the last five years) Triathletes Choice Race of the Year Minneman, staged at beautiful Lake George Regional Park (photo above) in Oak Grove.

Held on Fourth of July Eve, it is a patriotic celebration of all the blessings that we, Minnesota's multisport community, enjoy. The mood is convivial and welcoming, like the old guy in the goofy vest by the front door at WalMart. The Saturday race is a wonderful launching pad for the long festive weekend ahead. You can celebrate your great workout and its myriad physical, spiritual and social benefits with quasi guilt-free indulgences. Go ahead. Have another 6-7 beers. Scarfing yet another rack of ribs is certainly justified. Let the kids guzzle extra Kool-Aid. What the heck.

Minneman has always done a great job of marketing their event to newbies. Only the mega-humongous Life Time Fitness Triathlon puts more first-timers on its starting line. This is so cool and a big part of the reason that this event has thricely won the Race of the Year award.

And it is also a VERY competitive race. Especially this year. A plethora of national and regional stars will be in attendance on Saturday. Let's do some name-dropping, starting with the girls.

Who are the most successful women on the Minnesota scene this year? Cathy Yndestad (4 wins/4 starts), Julie Hull (5 starts/3 wins), Jenny Wilcox (6 starts/3 wins), Sarah Mercer (3 starts/1win) and high-flying rookie Jenny Shaughnessy (2 starts/2 wins - photo right), that's who. It will be first time this season all five of these fast girls will be racing head-to-head. How exciting is that!

The Fab Five won't be the only members of their gender to do some serious "chicking" on Saturday. Others include Pam Nielsen (3rd here in 2009; the rumor that Pam was named for the non-stick pan spray is probably not true), Sara Viamonte (4th here in 2009), Julia Wize-becker (phonetic spelling; her husband gets steamed when his name is mispronounced), who earned and accepted a BOUS invite in a breakout effort at Lake Waconia last weekend, 2009 Rookie of the Year Suzie Finger, 15-year-old youth national champion Katharine Lowrey (photo left) and promising second and third-year triathletes Leah Prudhomme and Greta Simpson. Yes, there are more fast girls but our fingertips are getting numb and we haven't tapped about the dudes yet.

Based on their 2010 resumes, here's how we see the men's race shaking out. Sorta.

1. David Thompson - 61 career wins, 2 x MM champ. His CR 53:34 is outrageous!

2. Devon Palmer - Extra riding in Rochester is the only reason Dev isn't undefeated in tri action thus far in 2010.

3. Patrick Parish - Fastest amateur in all five of his previous races this year.

4. Kevin O'Connor - Defending amateur champ here, he's been nipping at Parish's heels all season. Do not be surprised if KO upsets PP.

5. Matt Payne - 7 career wins, two this season. Always a threat and a really cool metal-head guy.

6. Dan Hedgecock - This rookie is special. Man, can he run!

7. Scott Penticoff, 40 - The masters course record is going down hard on Saturday!

Who will fight over the last three Top 10 spots? Todd Firebaugh (photo right), Anton Pshon (whose totally pretty and cool wife Nicole did her first tri at Manitou!), Thaddeus (Great Name!) Ingersoll, Dan Conley and Chris Frykman, pronounced "Frick-man, " not "Freak Man," look like the most likely suspects to us.

Minneman is going to rock on Saturday. WEBSITE