Race Coverage

Weekend Event Coverage...& Stuff...

Tuesday, 28 February 2012 02:00

* THE ICEMAN COMETH - The 2012 Iceman Triathlon, which is really a quadrathlon--xc skiing, mountain biking, running and sledding--was staged at Lincoln Park in Grand Forks last weekend. Nearly 90 athletes participated. Unsurprisingly, ND's numero uno multisportsman and total horndog, Sean Cooley, cameth across the finish line firsteth for the dudes. Comething in firsteth for the girls was Alison Kelly who has blond hair, lives in Bismarck but grew up in West Fargo and has 366 Facebook friends. RESULTS

* Life Time - Maple Grove - The best-attended of the first three 2012 Life Time Indoor Tris was held last Sunday at LTF's Maple Grove club. Eighty one swim-bike-runners participated. Leading the way was Nick Shultz, who grew up in Cokato and likes "30 Rock" and "Bananagrams."...

His other interests include napping and pizza. Placing second overall was women's champ, Laure Williams. We were unable to dig up any Facebooky stuff on her, but we did find stuff about the girls' runner-up Kelly Tamm. Kelly is very pretty, likes dogs and is a darn good water skier (photo L). "Snaggle Toof" is one of her favorite bands. Like most of us, Kelly likes Peter Spencer a lot. RESULTS

* Mankato YMCA Indoor Tri - A very nice lady at the Mankato YMCA has promised to send us results and photos from last Saturday's indoor triathlon. As soon as we receive this stuff we will update this post. The nice lady, her name may have been Mabel or Elizabeth, we forget, said that the event went well and was especially pleased with the turnout for the kids tri.

* A Letter From Amy -

This June 23, 2012 marks the seventh annual Croixathlon, a sprint triathlon fundraiser for YMCA Camp St. Croix in Hudson, WI.

Sure, this race has been voted one of the Top 5 'Races of the Year' by athletes like you for the past two years running, and sure, the venue is amazing; weed-free swim, river valley bike route, traffic-free trail run. And sure, there is that unique signature challenge of a 400-yard uphill sprint from the river. But seriously, we don't want you comin' around if you are boring.

Quite simply, this race is a celebration. Not long after you drive up, you will catch the spirit of playfulness. Our volunteers are happy, efficient and wickedly witty. Everywhere you look there will be a big smile and a helping hand, but be prepared to be hassled for your shaved (or unshaved) legs, tight shorts, bed head, techie bike or mountain bike. No one is exempt.

Some racers have confessed that our pre-race meeting is the thing that keeps them coming back for more. Where else would you belly-laugh while listening to race rules? And where else would you start rooting for first-timers and old-timers while playing a game? Then when you are all good and riled up, you turn to face the "beach path."

We take pride in the safety of our bike, swim, and run events with the help of our friends at the Wild River Tri Club. There are no weeds in our swim event, there is no loose gravel (or road kill) on our bike event corners, and the wildlife is plentiful on our wooded trail run. Every time racers come through the transition, they know they are getting closer to the finish line where they'll be served some more laughs, fellowship and camaraderie.

Our fastest racers receive wooden medallions. The quickest beach path sprinters become the King and Queen of the Hill and get a crown and cape to strut around in. And the rest of us? Well, we all eat ridiculously amazing chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, bananas. And smile so hard our ears hurt.

It's a great day, perfect venue and a true blast. For many of us, it has become a "can