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Dan, Brooks & Brandon...

Tuesday, 07 November 2023 00:10

By Mav 

2023 Men's Masters –  Nominees - The Male Master of the Year honor is often one of the most challenging to come up with nominees for because of the depth and overall quality of racing, and 2023 was no exception. Below, in alphabetical order, are my nominees for the 2023 Male Master of the Year. Note: Just like with other categories, athletes need to have posted 3 or more great results to earn consideration:

Dan Arlandson: Dan, 46, from Burnsville, tends to focus on long course racing. Since Minnesota only has two long course races (Chisago and Square Lake 70.3s), many of those who focus specifically on long distance events are forced to race out of state. Thus, they rarely compete against their in-state peers, and this can make it difficult to compare resumes for Minnesota Multisport Honors purposes. But Dan deserves some love. In 2023, he placed second overall (1st master) at Chisago 70.3, posting a 4:20:45. He won is age group at 70.3 Gulf Coast in 4:20:37, and he also threw down a 4:31:10 (good enough for 3rd master) at Des Moines 70.3. While the MMH Committee would love to see Dan race some Olympic or Sprint distance events locally, we have to give credit where credit is due, and Dan had a fantastic racing season....

Brooks Grossinger: Brooks, 46, out of Mayer, is a perennial Master of the Year nominee, and for good reason. In 2023 he won twice (Clearwater Sprint and Northwoods), he placed second at Timerman Sprint (1st master), and was third overall at Apple Duathlon. Brooks beat almost everyone he raced, and he also raced fast. Goose considers 3 of his 4 nomination-worthy results as “outstanding”.

Brandon Lee: Brandon, 42, from Hugo, has been steadily progressing for a few seasons and finally broke out in 2023. He had a whopping seven nomination-worthy performances and raced every distance, from sprint to Ironman. Correction: He raced successfully at every distance. He placed second overall, behind Grossinger at Northwoods Sprint, 4th overall (1st master) at Buffalo Olympic, he posted a 4:23:59 at 70.3 Des Moines, and cracked the overall top-10 at Ironman Chattanooga in 9:03:58.