Race Coverage
Josh's Bike & Tiff's Fast Feet...
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Sunday, 21 July 2024 00:10
11th Buzz Ryan Triathlon Coverage - One notable record was rewritten this morning at the 11th Buzz Ryan Sprint. JOSH BLANKENHEIM, 44, lived up to his favored status with a win and a Masters Record, 48:44, which shaved 1:50 off Todd Struckman's MR, set in 2018. Enhancing Josh's mark is the fact that according to published splits, the swim course was a bit long.
CHRISTEL KIPPENHAN, 59, who set an AG record at Timberman Sprint last weekend, turned in a performance that likely would have bettered the AGR she set here in 2022 if today's swim had been the advertised length. Nevertheless, Christel finished a satisfying 3rd overall in the women's race.
Blankenheim's margin of victory over runner-up JASON CRISP, who placed 2nd at Timberman Olympic eight days ago, was just over a minute. Past Buzz champ MITCHELL CLAYTON took 3rd, 24-seconds after Crisp....
Living Up to Expectations...
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Tuesday, 16 July 2024 00:10
TIMBERMAN SPRINT COVERAGE - In ech of the four previous editions of this race, the battle for the Top Step was between TARA MAKINEN and BETTINA KEPPERS. Makinen, who has six career wins here, won in 2021, and Keppers won in 2022 and 2023, though her margin of victory last year was only 14 seconds.
Tara opted not to race in this year's Sprint, choosing instead to race alongside her son in the Super Sprint, so it appeared that Bettina would not need her best effort in order to pick up her sixth career Timberman Sprint victory last Saturday.
But that's not how she races. Though basically unchallenged, she rocked her second fastest time ever here, bettered only by the course record she set in perfect conditions back in 2019. Outspliting the women's field in two of the three disciplines--she was especially dominant on the bike--she finished in 1:03:33.
Bettina, 41, set an AG record shaving almost aminute off Makinen's 2019 40-44W mark. CHRISTEL KIPPENHAN, 58, also lowered an age group record, one she set in 2022, doing so definitively. The old AGR was 1:06:44. On Saturday, she posted a 1:05:29, which landed her in 2nd place overall in the women's race. Like Keppers, Christel excelled on the bike....
Climate Changes & Dark Horses....
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Sunday, 14 July 2024 00:10
TIMBERMAN OLYMPIC COVERAGE - A windy morning agitated Sugar Lake. A brief downpour was endured on the bike course, though not at the venue, where ithe rain was light and transient. As five-time T-Man winner JAN GUENTHER, now 65, articulated on Facebook, the post downpour weather was sultry. Climbing temps and humidity greeted athletes after they dismounted their bikes. But their were few, if any, complainers, because this is Timberman, an event like no other.
A cursory look at the entrant led us to anticpate a dynamic women's race, with ELENA JASPER poised to show two-time champ HEATHER LENDWAY that the gap between them was shrinking fast.
A more thorough look would have revealed that there was someone else in the women's field who deserved to be taken very, very seriously. Her name is RACHEL WERKING (photo). She's a 26-year-old Wisconsinite and pro aspirant who placed 7th at the 2023 USAT National AG Championships, where her time was only 17-seconds slower than Lendway's.
HL outswan the entire field as expected. The second woman out of the water was Werking, who was 1:08 behind the leader. Heather entered T2 with a 2:22 lead on Rachel, and though the soon-to-be 40-year-old..
Reasons to be Happy....
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Wednesday, 10 July 2024 00:10
By Doobie Kurus
Average Jo Race Report - In my quest to visit/participate in the various triathlons in MN, I was happy to have last weekend available in my schedule to do the Average Joe/Jo Tri in Perham. If you're not familiar with this race, you're not alone, even though it's the 19th edition of it. Aside from it being listed on MN Tri News and the Hopkins Royal Tri websites, it's tough to find. In fact, the race itself doesn't even have a website, just a FB page. So, not much information to glean, like the race day schedule, course maps, etc. With knowing that, I wasn't expecting much in terms of a race day experience. Still, I figured for $50 to register, what have I got to lose? I drove up on Friday afternoon, and enjoyed the numerous small cities along the way, like Big Lake, Sartell, Royalton, Little Falls, Motley, Staples, and Wadena.
Hasselhoff Running & Public Drooling...
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Friday, 05 July 2024 00:10
By Brandon Lee
Manitou Race Recap - First double for me last weekend, even though these are shorter races, the intensity is much higher, and the Manitou Olympic was another 2 hours of near red line on Sunday.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t carry any fatigue over from Saturdays sprint, but overall I felt pretty strong. The weather was so nice, and the sun was bright over WBL Sunday morning. It felt like it had been 10 days since that big orange thing in the sky revealed itself. That same sun was directly in our eyes for the first 600 or so yards l, and I had a lot of trouble sighting, nonetheless I felt very loose and fresh in the water, it was like a cold competition pool feeling and you can definitely push a bit harder and not worry about overheating. I was caught off guard at the end of the swim, it’s very shallow and my David Hasselhoff water running skills are not up to par. Hamstring cramped in transition but was able to peel out and get on the bike. I knew I had my work cut out for me as Marcus Duval was probably 3 minutes ahead at this point.
The bike course was fantastic, pretty much in my backyard and I ride these roads all the time, so I had a good tactical plan and knew where the hills were and when to push hard on the descents. Started to run out of gas at mile 20, but kept on pushing....
"You Really Have to Hang On Tight"...
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Sunday, 30 June 2024 00:10
By Brandon Lee
Graniteman Clearwater Sprint Race Report - Fun weekend of local racing. Saturday I raced a sprint distance at Graniteman (Clearwater, MN) and took 1st place overall. Sunday I raced Manitou Olympic in White Bear Lake, 2nd place overall.
Graniteman is a bit longer than standard distance sprint, I was very happy with my time of 1:06, just edged out Brooks Grossinger by 24 seconds. Hats off to you on another great performance bud!
My strategy was pretty simple. Swim, bike, and run as hard as possible for an hour, and let the dust settle. That’s sprint distance racing, and I’m always so humbled by this distance, you really have to hang on tight.
Didn’t feel great on the bike for the first 15 minutes, the air was super heavy as it had been raining all night, but I was able to push some good power and have a lead coming into T2. The run course is super tough, the first and last miles are a trail run with some punchy hills and the one mile of road running has some elevation as well. At the turnaround I figured I had about 45 seconds on Brooks and I just told myself to keep fighting, because I knew he was pulling me back, barely hung on for the win. You’re a class act my friend!
