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Root Beer, Princesses & a Miltary Presence?
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Saturday, 12 September 2015 00:10
NEWS: Wire-to-wire wins in BLAINE for ROBERTS and TATTON. Words and pics coming soon. RESULTS
SQUARE LAKE SHIRT COURSE - DKT notches 100th career multisport W! HEATHER LENDWAY claims her 3rd straight win here. GROSSINGER and HANKEE take amateur titles. Rookier AMY BORDEN (3rd woman/2nd amateur) continues to impress. RESULTS
By Doobie Kurus
Hopkins Royal Report - It was a dark and stormy morning…
which after a 45 minute delay, turned out to be a great, albeit HOT, race day! The root beer was flowing post-race, as finishers received bottle opener medals from the Hopkins Raspberry Festival Royalty and listened to music from the Starlifters, the US Air Force band from St. Louis, MO. Nearly 400 triathletes turned out for the 2nd annual Hopkins Royal Triathlon at Shady Oak beach on Saturday, September 5th. The event featured a newbies mini-sprint field of about 100 people from ages 10-85. The intriguing difference about this mini-sprint race is that the participants get to pick their distance for each segment on race day. Only a handful opted for the longer swim, and a few dozen did the long bike ride,...
Milestones on the Horizon...
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Thursday, 10 September 2015 06:10
16th & 15th SQUARE LAKE TRIATHLONS - The 16th annual Square Lake Short Course Triathlon will take place at picturesque Square Lake next Saturday. The 15th edition of the Square Lake Long Course (almost half IM) will happen at the same wonderful venue on Sunday.
We've looked at early reg. lists and aren't ready to predict winners in the LC event, though we do expect to see a podium finish for WADE CRUSER, who is enjoying a breakout season and is one of the many guys that are being considered for a Most Improved nomination....
Newbie-liciousness....
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Thursday, 10 September 2015 00:10
15th ST. CROIX VALLEY SPRINT - Late registrants KEVIN O'CONNOR and DIANE HANKEE posted convincing wins at the 15th edition of this popular sprint race in Hudson, Wisconsin last Saturday. With the fastest splits in each discipline, Kevin won by a 5:08 margin over 2014 champ / new daddy JIM FELLING. BRIAN GLAESER, who has 600 Facebook friends and is into "Family Guy" (Who isn't?) and the Minnesota Wild, placed 3rd.
It was the 6th victory of the season for O'Connor, 44, and his time (56:50) was one of the four fastest (fastest master by a ton) times in event history.
Hankee placed 4th overall. Actually, a Hankee placed both 4th and 5th. Diane's husband MIKE, who is a SWAT guy, placed 5th, only 14-seconds behind his decorated spousal unit. For Diane, it was her 2nd win of the year and 24th of her impressive career.
Placing 2nd in the women's race, 2:47 after Hankee, was lapsed triathlete / but active tri coach / and total HOOT / JODY QUESNELL (photo L with Rick Dehn, who placed 7th overall), who celebrated her great effort by consuming many, many adult beverages. At the awards ceremony, she confessed that she was somewhat floothered....
#10 For Suzie...
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Wednesday, 09 September 2015 00:10
2nd HOPKINS ROYAL TRIATHLON - According to SUZIE FOX, who ordered and devoured The Juicy Lucy, albeit with lettuce substituting for buns (Who knew?), at Moose Country after recording her historic 10th win of the season, the Hopkins Royal Triathlon, is one of the best triathlons in Minnesota, which is saying a lot. And she wasn't saying this because she just won it by a six-plus minute margin and people tend to say good stuff about races they win. She gushed about the venue and the Race Director, Doobie Kurus, who is a total HOOT!
With her victory, she became the fifth Minnesota woman to post double-digit wins in a single season since the Millennial change. The others are HEATHER LENDWAY (12 wins in 2014), CATHY YNDESTAD (11 wins in 2008), JENNY WILCOX (10 wins in 2010) and BECKY YOUNGBERG (10 wins in 2004).
Pretty dang good compnay, huh!
Suzie's next race will be IMOO next Sunday, and who knows, she just might win that one, too.
Placing 2nd in the women's race was 2014 HRT winner, SARAH MERCER, who will likely earn, and not for the first time, a Master of the Year nomination. Another elite master, CATHERINE LEE, last year's runner-up, rounded out her gender's Top 3.
Gaby Grabs Top Spot...
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Tuesday, 08 September 2015 00:10
ST. CROIX VALLEY OLYMPIC - Despite thick, wet, warm, blowy air, GABY BUNTEN (photo) managed to turn in a Performance of the Year-nomination-worthy effort at this 13-year-old classic race. Starting with her signature awesome swim, she charged on to a time of 2:12:15, which, according to our records, is the fastest (legitimate *) Olympic time by a Minnesota (amateur) woman this year. Four women have broken 2:13 this season, and Gaby's name is at the tippy-top of that list. Check it out:
1. GABY BUNTEN - 2:12:15 - St. Croix Valley Olympic
2. ELAINE NELSON - 2:12:29 - USAT AG Nationals
3. BRIDGET MCCOY - 2:12:40 - Life Tim Tri - Minneapolis
4. LISA LENDWAY - 2:12:55 - USAT AG Nationals
Was the SCVO course accurate? A review of the splits suggested that it was.
For Bunten, it was her 3rd win of the season and 4th of her career. And yes, her name is smack-dab in the middle of the Triathlete of the Year discussion, though determining the four best candidates will be harder than ever this year. There are at least EIGHT women currently receiving consideration for TOY nominations....
