Race Coverage

It Was Very Windy...

Monday, 20 May 2013 03:00

(Photo - Rookie triathlete Harry Brodmarkle.)

Land Between the Lakes Triathlon - Chap Achen, who's parents deserve serious style points for naming him Chap, placed 3rd here in 2012, finishing not far behind talented young guys, Sam Janicki, who does look a lot like Andy Samberg, and Kyle Serreyn, who looks like the Russian assassin in "The Bourne Ultimatum." The Chapster, who resides in lovely Red Wing, set a resounding masters record on that cold, windy and wet day.

Last Sunday, Achen returned to Albert Lea and won the race outright, giving him at least two wins since turning 40 a few years back. (He also won at Wingman last year, doing so in CR time.) He not only won, he crushed his MR ..

and outpaced the men's runner-up, Peter Manstrom of Bismarck, North Dakota, by 5:31. Fellow Red Winger, which sounds political but it's not, Josh Pohlman, rounded out the men's podium.

The women's race was super exciting, not just because it was a close one. Duking it out for the top spot was Rebecca Cota (photo R) and Jody Mullet, neither of whom had won a multi in the past. Cota jumped out to an early lead and held it to the end. Had the run portion been a quarter mile longer, however, the outcome may have been different. Maintaining a running pace that was 30-seconds-per mile faster than the woman in front, Mullet narrowed the gap to just five seconds when Cota's timing chip burped for the final time.

It was totally cool to watch Cota and Mullet turn in their best tri performances ever.

Third place for the women went to the smiley Jen Neuman, who won this event in 2012 and 2011.

A significant percentage of registrants were no-shows, obviously assuming that the weather would be sucky. Yes, it was windy, but all-in-all, it wasn't a bad day for racing. Okay, it wasn't a great day for a fast bike split. We suspect that most, if not all, of the