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Sometimes It Rains...

Monday, 09 June 2014 05:10

PHOTO - Winnipeg's Ashley Malzahn, one of many wonderful Canadians whose annual tri calendars include the Liberty Triathlon.

RACE COVERAGE - Yucky days happen. Sucks, but true.

Sometimes races fall on yucky days. That was certainly the case last Saturday at the 10th annual Liberty Triathlons. Relentless rain and wind that made the cool temps feel even colder and a transition area resembled the Okefenokee Swamp were what 343 eventual finishers had to contend with.

More than 500 athletes had signed up for the races--half and Olympic. Unsurprisingly, many stayed in bed and of the slightly more than 400 who showed up, approximately 70 decided not to endure the one hour delay.

Naturally, most course records remained intact. None were reset in the Olympic race, but two fell in the Half, starting with Matthew Payne's incredible 4:02:46, which not only lopped close to five minutes off his 2013 CR, it will be debated whether it, or Kevin O'Connor's 4:02:59 turned in at Muncie in 1997, deserve to stand as the Minnesota men's amateur Half IM record. Most 70.3 courses have suspect measurements. It's hard to accurately measure that much real estate.

In any case, Matt's effort was but another in a long list of course records he has set over the last few seasons. In 2014 already, he has crushed the amateur CRs at Oakdale, Buffalo Olympic and Liberty. We're anxious to see how he fares at Best of the...

Battle of the Brands...

Monday, 09 June 2014 00:10

By Frederick Dreier (online.wsj.com)

The Ironman triathlon coming to Chattanooga, Tenn., in September sold out 2,500 slots in under a minute.

The Hits triathlons feature races exactly as demanding: a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run. The events have averaged just 30 registrants this year.

It's hard to see much difference between the two beyond the logo.

As Ironman races swell in popularity in North America with more weekend warriors competing, rival races are popping up. They are finding, though, that it can be hard to attract competitors without the name Ironman, even with lower entry fees. Meanwhile, the Ironman series, run by World Triathlon Corp., which owns the Ironman trademark, has ballooned to 35 global races, many with waiting lists....

Sunday Racing News...

Sunday, 08 June 2014 15:47

TRINONA VI - David Thompson won the Olympic race for the fifth consecutive year, and Heather Lendway (photo) took a gluttonous 4:45 bite out of Ruth Brennan Morrey's 2011 women's race record. RESULTS

John Taipale and Lisa Lendway won Trinona's sprint course race. Words and photography for both races on Tuesday. SPRINT RESULTS

KANSAS 70.3 - Ruth Brennan Morrey captured the women's title today at Kansas 70.3. Her time was 4:13:47, missing Rachel Joyce's 2012 CR by a scant second. Ruther's margin of victory over runner-up Joyce of Great Britain was :57 seconds. RBM's splits - 28:34 - 2:21:31 - 2:20:50. RESULTS

LAKE CRYSTAL DUATHLON - Land Between the Lakes Du winner Mario Minelli picked up another run-bike-run victory yesterday at Lake Crystal Rec. Center. Becca Lewis was the women's champ....More stuff on page 2.

Cooked!

Sunday, 08 June 2014 00:10

By Devon Palmer (palmertri.wordpress.com)

I participated in and successfully completed a sprint (Pigman Sprint) last Sunday. Unfortunately I can’t say much more than that. I got on the bike and realized I was cooked. I’d overstepped a bit in training and didn’t have the firepower I need in a race. This happened many times in 2012 and 2013. It is no fun. I felt kind of dull and wasn’t sharp or excited the day before the race. That should have been a warning sign. Racing when cooked is rough because you just feel silly getting trounced and going slow out there. It was completely self inflicted as well – my coach assigned 2-3 hours or riding the Wednesday before the race which I turned into 100 miles. Looking at the two weeks leading into the race it’s pretty obvious that Wednesday century was ill advised. Anyways, I’ll have to carefully nurture my ego and confidence back to health this week.

Another downside is when you race tired or in a negative mindset it seems bad stuff is more likely to happen. Finishing the ride I somehow managed to take an acrobatic tumble as I...

Payne Pops a 4:02....

Saturday, 07 June 2014 19:33

9th LIBERTY HALF - Despite challenging weather, Matthew Payne managed to blast his own course record, dropping his 4:07 in '13 to 4:02:46. His Winners Circle mate was 2013 Rookie of the Year Nicole Heininger. Words and photography on Tuesday. RESULTS

10th LIBERTY OLYMPIC - Gaby Bunten (photo )recorded her first career victory, Pring in 2:18. The men's winner was 2012 Champ David Holden. More words and a a pic or two on Tuesday. RESULTS

NEW BRI TRI - We haven't seen results yet. Words and a results should be posted Sunday afternoon.

BOB POWERS NEWS - We received this email today from Kevin O'Coonor about our favorite nine-o-genarian triathlete: ...