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Tuesday, 19 July 2011 03:10

* RACINE STUFF - Elite St. Paulian Sam Janicki (photo) made his half IM debut at Racine 70.3 on Sunday. After satisfying swim (28:33) and bike splits (2:18:46), Sam admitted that his run time (1:39) "needs a lot of work." Still, his 4:29:38 was a very encouraging rookie effort. He placed 27th overall / 12th amateur and 4th in his 25-29 AG. Don't be surprised if The Sam-inator anchors his next half with a 1:20-25 run.

FYI, he's scheduled to race at Chisago next weekend.

MTN congratulates all the Minnesotans who accepted the Racine 70.3 challenge. And please stay tuned for Jennifer Martone's race report, which will post later this week...

Like Sam, Jen (photo) lost her half IM virginity on Sunday. RACINE RESULTS

* VIAGRA FOR BIKE TIRES - A flat tire at RochesterFest kept Claire Bootsma off the top step of the podium. Not so at Lake Geode last Saturday. Slogging, albeit slogging very quickly, over the final 16 miles of the 40K bike course on a flaccid tire, Claire Bear, who sometimes sticks out her tongue when she rides (it's so cute!), still managed to hold 20mph and win the race by a seven minute margin. LAKE GEODE RESULTS

* TONKA TRUCKING - The inaugural TriTonka Adult Triathlon was staged last Sunday. Eighty one athletes competed in the sweltering conditions, with Hudson, Wisconsin's Brian Zeuli winning by just under a minute over Jon Webster. Forty-five year old Beth Trautman was the women's champ. Her margin over runner-up Rebecca Karnes-Toth was 49 seconds. Both Brian and Beth cracked the Top 20 in their respective genders at Lake Minnetonka.

We don't know if the Facebook photo of a Beth Trautman that is posted here (L) is the Beth Trautman who won TriTonka, but we hope it is.