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Rock 'n Roll, Lang Hunt & Donut Rumors...

Monday, 06 February 2023 00:10

1st TRI WEST OLYMPIC & SPRINT - There are lots of great reason's to do Tri West on July 24. Here are seven goodies: 

- It's NEW! And like, say, getting a whiff of the interior of an impossibly shiny 2022 Borton Volvo V60, you'll notice that "new race smell" when you arrive at the venue. But wait a minute, you say. "Isn't this race a contuation of last year's Gear Western Half & Olympic. Nein! After the demise of Liberty and Superior Man, the 2021 event was designed to give our region's athletes another quality long distance option. Unfortunately, the only available date turned out to be too close to Chisago's date. Chisago, of course, is our state's largest and most entrenched 70.3. Besides, Tri West's mission is to attract ALL triathletes, hard-core and recreational alike, not just serious long-course enthusiasts.

- Not only that, it has a COOL NEW LOGO. If you sniff your commemorative t-shirt you'll notice its "new logo smell." (Okay. The smell thing was overdone. Sorry.)

- Tri West is a PERFECT TUNE-UP EVENT for Age Group Olympic & Sprint Nationals in Milwaukee two weeks hence, or even the abovementioned Chisago race on July thirty-oneth.

- VENUE - If you've raced at Liberty, or last year at Gear Western, you know that Lake Rebecca Park Preserve is a "premier" racing venue. If you have never visited or raced here, you gotta check it out on Sunday, the 24th....

- '80s & 90s ROCK 'N ROLL - Why in heck do so many races have dance covers as their musical backdrop? Yuck! This will not be the case at Tri West. Nosirree. Because the average age of most endurance racers - runners, triathletes, skiers etc.--is in the mid-to-late 40s, this means that most race participants developed their musical preferences in the 80s and 90s. So, deferential to that fact and that the 80s and 90s produced some truly amazing music, Tri West participants will enjoy high-energy Rock 'n Roll from that period.

- LANG HUNT will be there. Do you know Lang? He is one of the coolest people  you'll even meet. And he isn't the only wonderful human being that will be there. Elizabeth Swartout, aka "Betsy 9-Toes," who is aguably the female version of Lang Hunt, will be there too, and like Lang, anxious to make new friends. Our point is that Tri West is a wonderful social event and there will a plethora of cool people on hand to meet and befriend. (Cathleen McGinnity will also be there. She's like Sara Lee pastries. Nobody doesn't like her.) 

- DONUTS - It's been rumored that donuts will be available at one or more aid station. This means that some of them might have sprinkles. And we hope to see many of you at Tri West on the 24th.