Race Coverage

Metric Tons of Love...

Friday, 22 August 2014 00:10

YWCA of Minneapolis Women’s Tri 2014 Race Recap...

By Nicole Cueno

Last Sunday, the Seventh Annual YWCA of Minneapolis brought at least 1,050 women, a metric ton of love, and more smiles than anyone could count, across their finish line at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. The race, known both for fielding a strong open wave and catering to all level of female athlete, did not disappoint: records were broken by top competitors and hearts melted at the tear-jerking Friends and Family finishes.

Heather Lendway, continuing her streak of wins and smashing course records was the unsurprising winner in 1:03:16 on the sprint course (500y swim, 15.5 mi bike, 5k run). She lowered the previous record by an astonishing 4:09, set by Claire Bootsma in 2011, after not only winning USA Triathlon Nationals the previous weekend but after racing just the day before at the U25 Elite Development Draft Legal Race in Detroit, MI. Look for her race reports on both that race and the YWCA of Minneapolis Women’s Tri later this week.

Lendway was followed by another Lendway. Lisa Lendway crossed the finish line in 1:10:52. For the special family awards at the YWCA of Minneapolis Women’s Tri, they made for unmatchable competition in the family Sister-Sister Awards. Gaby Bunten (1:11:04), Claire Bootsma (1:11:43…post and pre-overnight RN shifts), ...

and Ann Snuggerud (1:13:20) rounded out the top 5. Ann and her daughter, Ellie (age 15), took the Mother-Daughter competition title. The final special family award, Life Partners, went to first-year triathletes Sue Haller (age 53) and Kris Peterson (age 54).

Crowd favorite and oldest individual competitor Judy Rykken once again won her age group (and likely set a new record) after moving up a category to the 75-79 age group. The 70-74 age group was won by Annliv Bacon (photo), a first-time triathlete at age 72 and longtime member of the YWCA of Minneapolis. The YWCA of Minneapolis Women’s Triathlon had 374 first-time triathletes finish, 243 women finishers age 50+.