Race Coverage

"A Joy From Start to Finish"...

Monday, 23 July 2018 23:10

By Jason Goepfert

Moose Lake Tri Race Report - In deference to pleas from the good folks at MN Tri News, I’ve been signing up for more races to support the local scene, especially some of the smaller races that might not have the support that larger organizations do.

One of those was the Moose Lake Tri, held this past weekend in (charming! easily accessible! welcoming!) Moose Lake. Even with construction on 35W, it only took about an hour and a half from the Cities to get there on race morning.

It was a joy from start to finish.

Race-day signup was a breeze, with friendly volunteers excited to see everyone show up. Transition was open and relaxed, with a definite local vibe. For those with higher-end equipment, there was a lot of oohs and aahs and friendly ribbing. Not a lot of those sideways competitive stares seen at larger races....

The pre-race announcements gave a quick lesson on the history of the race. Fun fact – I met the founder of the race by happenstance while filling up on gas after the race. Now the proprietor of Ma & Pa’s Fry Shack in Kettle River (looks delicious), he said just he and a few buddies saw the lake and said, “what the heck” so they swam it, then ran afterward. One of the guys used to swim it along with his dog (attention race directors – sounds like a potential new category!). Adding a bike leg after that, they decided to officially make it a triathlon about 15 years ago. When timing fees and liability got to be too much, they handed it off to the Chamber of Commerce and are happy to see it continue.

Back to the race. The swim was spot-on for distance, and while the water clarity wasn’t great - it’s a very iron-y lake - there were no weeds to speak of. They send the swimmers off in 3 waves, with your choice of which one you want to be in, with the guidance that speedier swimmers should go in the first wave, intermediate in the second, and the rest of us in the third.

The bike is a one-loop course with the first few miles being on paved DNR trails. Once it curves around to public roads, the fun starts. The roads were really well-maintained with few, maybe even no, potholes. There is a modest grade for a few miles, then a long, curving, relatively tough hill. After that, it’s almost all downhill with a speedy 5 miles or so into town. Really fun bike leg.

There were volunteers at almost every stop or corner, some of them pretty cheery, excepting the few typical teenage types that pointed with one arm while swiping through their phone with the other.

The first half of the run is slightly uphill, heading to the turnaround and water stop next to the Correctional Facility. If the fact that you get to turn around and head downhill for the last half isn’t motivation enough, the prisoners working out on the other side of the fence just might be.

The finish was supported by a large trove of local residents and family, with many staying around to applaud the medal-winners.

Colin Stemper took the win by putting together the day’s fastest bike and run splits. His time was a couple of minutes shy of last year’s winner, though to be fair, in past years the swim was a little short. Hannah Pierskalla, a former collegiate swimmer for Pitt (I think!) took the women’s crown, boosted by the day’s best swim, which makes total sense.

The race is well-done by experienced, friendly, and motivated volunteers. They do a great job spotlighting the beautiful natural surroundings of Moose Lake.

They’d like to grow the race to maybe 100 participants in the future, not much more than that, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to. For next year, it’s a most worthy addition to the calendar. RESULTS