Race Previews
Nationals + Seven...
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Monday, 03 August 2015 06:10
Not including the USAT National Olympic and Sprint Age Group Championships in Milwaukee, events that have drawn almost 200 Minnesotans, there are seven Gopher State triathlons slated for the weekend of August 8-9.
Insane, right? Especially coming on the heels of an under-utilized weekend, which had only two races--Brewhouse and Minnewaska--and both of them were on Saturday. This kind of stuff has been happening too often, don't you think?
We certainly hope that those Minnesota races--Northwoods, Turtleman (New!), Graniteman-Big Lake and Rainy Lake on Saturday; Green Lake, North Mankato and Wingman on Sunday--that are scheduled for next weekend are successful under the circumstances and encourage everyone who isn't signed up for an event currently, to support one or two of them....
Passing the Torch to Josh...
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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 07:10
29th BREWHOUSE PREVIEW - When one ponders the history of multisport racing by Duluth athletes one recalls Sara Hollingsworth, Robin Tedlund, Marlo Crosby. More recently, of course, the names Elaine Nelson and Jess Rossing come immediately to mind.
For the dudes, though, one need not ponder long, nor hard. Brian Bich, Rod Raymond and Rhett Bonner have been carrying Duluth's flag from more than two decades. Brian has won the hometown classic Brewhouse Tri an unprecedented 12 times. No other athlete in Minnesota multisport history has won a single race a dozen times.
Brian, now 49, will NOT be gunning for a 13th BH win next Saturday, but he'll be at the race. This time around, he'll team up with fellow legends Raymond at Bonner and rock the relay competition like it's never been rocked before. Gonna be so cool! And so fast!
But how much faster will they be than the individual men's winner? Hard to say, though they better be fast if they are going to distance themselves from pre-race favorite Josh Blankenheim (photo L)....
Protectors & Servers and Toughmen...
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Thursday, 23 July 2015 06:10
MINI RACE PREVES - There are five races next weekend and we'd love to preview all of them. But alas, we cannot. We only know who is racing at two of those events--Saturday's Walker Tri and Sunday's Toughman Minnesota, formerly the Chisago Half and Sprint. The other three races are Uncle Randy's Shell Lake Tri in western Wisconsin, the Moose Lake Tri south of Duluth, and the long-running Hoot Lake Tri near Fungus Falls, which is actually "Fergus Falls," but Angie Hop calls it Fungus Falls. We certainly hope that all these races enjoy great weather, good turnouts and satisfied participants....
North Country Buzz & Other Stuff...
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Thursday, 16 July 2015 00:10
4th Annual BUZZ RYAN SPRINT - This super-cool event takes place next Sunday at Island Lake north of Duluth at a picnic park that appears to have been designed with triathlon in mind. The race is a great prelude to Brewhouse, which had moved to the same venue three years ago, but its primary goal is to lure newbies and introduce them to the multisport lifestyle. Here's BRS' Mission Statement: ...
Epic Possibilities...Updated...
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Wednesday, 15 July 2015 00:10
HEART OF THE LAKES PREVIEW - The 30th edition of this classic event, the State Tri Championships since 1996, promises to be super competitive. On the men's side, it is possible for this year's field to match a record that happened in 2009: Six men broke 1:30 in the long course. Since '09, only one guy--DKT--has dipped under the magic 90-minute mark....
Minneapolis Tri XIV Preview...
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Tuesday, 07 July 2015 06:10
LIFE TIME FITNESS - MINNEAPOLIS TRIATHLON - The 14th edition of this annual classic will take place at Lake Nokomis on Saturday. The event will feature a regional collegiate championship with at least 38 athletes racing, and an Elite Amateur competiton with a similar number (40ish) of attendees....
