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Monday, 01 July 2019 23:10

GRANITEMAN OLYMPIC - The men's Olympic podium last Saturday was comprised of three guys who have truly paid their dues, and are now taking their places among our region's elite multisportsmen. ...

Vets & Whippersnappers...

Sunday, 30 June 2019 23:10

GRANITEMAN CLEARWATER SPRINT - As in the women's Olympic race, elite masters swept the podium at Graniteman Sprint last weekend.

This wasn't unexpected.

And while all pushed hard, hoping to win, one of the ladies had an additional incentive to go as fast as she possible could, and the result was her 2nd victory in as many tri starts this season.

SARA RONDORF (photo) started the race in Wave 5. Her husband JEREMY started in Wave #4, three minutes ahead of her. She was able to make up about a minute on him in the water, but their bike splits were basically identical.

Sara wanted to beat her husband even more than she wanted to win the race. And not only beat him on paper, she wanted to actually beat him to the finish line.

She blasted out of T2 like a bat-out-of-heck. She was leading the women's race, but knew that JENNIFER FITZHARRIS-FUNK, 43, and Alaska's LORI DESCHAMPS, both accomplished runners, were bearing down.  ...

Masters Mastery....

Saturday, 29 June 2019 23:10

GRANITEMAN CLEARWATER - In both the Sprint and supersized Olympic races yesterday, masters women ruled. The podiums in each of those hard-fought races were earned by elite ladies over the age of forty, and their performances across the board were stellar, in spite of hot and muggly conditions that convinced raced management to make the humane decision to start the event an hour earlier than advertised.

In the Olympic-plus (the bike course, by design, was 6K longer than 40K) the question was not which of the Top 2 national class masters--CATHY YNDESTAD or KORTNEY HAAG--would, weather-be-damned--lower the course record (owned by Haag), but by how much.

By reputation and resume, CY had the edge. Her career scorecard boasts at least 75 multisport wins, making her our state's all-time winningest multisportwoman. And the fact that she came into the race with at least two stellar 2019 performances--1st at Cactus Sprint (AZ), 4th at Victoria (BC) 70.3--under her belt further clarified her favored status....

Jessica's Iron Quest - "I Had Not Earned it Yet."

Friday, 28 June 2019 23:10

ED. We found this cool story about a Brainerd triathlete Jessica DeShaw on Facebook. ..

By Conrad Engstrom (brainerddispatch.com)

Jessica DeShaw remembers not crying despite not finishing her first ever Ironman triathlon in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.
She got pulled off at mile 17 of the run because she didn't make the marker in time.

"I did not know how to train in the heat and that was something that held me back," DeShaw said. "I remembering not crying because when they pulled me off I realized I had not earned it yet."

Will CY Be There? ...UPDATED AGAIN...

Wednesday, 26 June 2019 23:10

GRANITEMAN CLEARWATER OLYMPIC - Though the Graniteman Clearwater event will be 10-years old on Saturday, its Olympic-plus distance event has only been a part of the progam since 2015.

We use the terminology "Olympic-plus" because the bike portion is longer than 40K. How much? About 6K, or about 3.8 miles.

Here in the upper Midwest, triathletes love lots of bike miles. One is not going to find many sprint races in Minnesota with only 20K (12.4) bike routes. They're more apt to a find a 20-mile course, as in the case of Heart of the Lakes, or a 22-mile route, as at Chisago.

As a result, of course, athletes who typically post, say, a 3-hour time at Brewhouse or Minneapolis, will probably need another dozen minutes to go the distance at G-Man. So you know, the course records belong to established elites, BENNETT ISABELLA (2:09:31 in 2015) and KORTNEY HAAG (2:24:40 in 2017), but more typical winning times are in the 2:14 range for men, and 2:30 range for women.

Who do we think will lead the way on Saturday?  ...