Race Coverage

Faith Rewarded...

Monday, 15 July 2013 03:10

Life Time - Minneapolis Tri - It was more a matter of faith than just patience.

Apocalyptic rains, lightning and wake-the-dead thunder had the 12th annual Life Time - Minneapolis' Triathlon's entrants scurrying for cover. Many of them waited out the storm in their cars. Others went home. Everyone, the stayers and the goers, knew that course flooding would necessitate a "Plan B." The 1800--or-so stayers had faith that event management would figure something out; that the race would go on. More than that, those people believed that the producers of this

Simply put, the 12th annual Life Time-Minneapolis Triathlon retained its luster. It was, as always, a world class experience. MTN applauds Hassan--the Race Director who was a totally nice guy and we never did learn his last name--and his amazing staff and volunteers for doing what needed to be done. julia

Let's talk about the races, okay?

Though MTN is dedicated largely to covering the amateur side of our region's multisport scene, we have a deep interest and fondness for Minnesota's pros--David Thompson, Ruth Brennan Morrey, Devon Palmer, Patrick Parish and Dan Hedgecock (has Claire Bootsma retained her pro duathlete license?)--as they are accessible to the community and profoundly effect how we consume the products and resources of our lifestyle.

On Saturday, rookie pro Patrick Parish faced his stoutest challenge to date and acquitted himself nicely. He placed 13th in a field of 20 male professionals. Had he still been an amateur, he would have won the Elite Amateur competition by a 1-2 minute margin. (FYI, the pro courses consisted of a two-loop half mile + swim, 15 mile bike and 5K run. The amateurs swam a single quarter mile loop. Thus PP's 1:09:31 translated roughly to 1:03-and-change had he swam only one loop. The EA winning time was 1:04:27.)

Dan Hedgecock also turned in an impressive effort. Finishing 11th (1:07:02), he missed a paycheck by one place. Darnit!

For the Minnesota amateurs, Athlete of the Decade Cathy Yndestad won for an unprecedented 7th time. The victory was the 62nd of her illustrious career. Women's runner-up was super sophomore Heather Lendway. Enjoying her most successful season since 2010, Diane Hankee finished an impressive 4th. Julia Weisbecker, 47, (photo R) earned the Elite Master title, placing 6th overall in the women's race. We definitely see a Master of the Year nomination for her at season's end.

As for Minnesota's guys, Marcus Sromberg led the way, placing fourth. Honorary Minnesotans Sean Cooley Grand Forks, ND) and Jon Balabuck (Thunder Bay, ONT) took 6th and 9th, respectively.

Here are the Tops 10s and the non-open-class AG winners. We combined the results of the International and Sprint participants since they raced the same distances on Saturday. NOTE: Demonstrating the wide-reaching lure of this event, nine states and Canada were represented in the men's Top 10. Conversely, seven of the Top 10 women were Minnesotans. Our girls rock!

susan 1. Kipp Kinsley (SD) - 1:04:27 & Cathy Yndestad (MN) - 1:12:32