Race Coverage

New Kid...

Tuesday, 23 May 2023 00:10

APPLE DUATHLON COVERAGE - Men's Race - ANDY ZABEL's second straight Apple win, the fifteen multisport victory of his career,  was decided on the bike. He was ten seconds behind leader/future tri star MICAH WARNING (photo) when he saddled-up coming out of T1. That time was erased quickly. He then outrode is closest challengers--Warning and BROOKS GROSSINGER, by an average of 1.5 and 1.1 mph faster respectively. A solid second run was all he needed to seal the deal. His final finish time was 1:25:55, a 34-second improvement on his prior best on this course.

Grossinger had almost a two minute lead on Warning entering T2, but that would not be enough to hold off Warning, a former Winona State track and cross country runner,  who outsplit the field significantly in the final phase. 

Warning, a relative newcomer to tri and du, finished 2nd in 1:28:21. That he held his own against Zabel, 2022 Minnesota Master of the Year, and Grossinger, owner of 39 tri and du wins thus far, and doing so on a road bike, was all the fuel he needed to optimistically pursue his next...

two goals. The first is to purchase a tri bike; the second, to podium, perhaps even win Trinona Olympic, his hometown tri, on June 11.

Other great performances on Saturday were turned in by 4th place STEVEN WERT, whose Apple debut produced at 1:33:58, MATTHEW TRUTNA, whose only other multisport race was at Northwoods in 2013. An accomplished distance runner, Trutna finished an impressive 6th.

Notable age group performances were turned in by TIM BROWN, 64, in 1:39:51, and LUKE HARNED, 70, who threw down a 1:53:07.  RESULTS