Race Coverage
The Off Season is Overrated...
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Saturday, 18 March 2023 00:10
By Tim Brown
Can we all agree that winter is too long and the tri season is far too short up here in the tundra?
Given that this was one of those magic years in which I transitioned from oldest to youngest in my age group, I decided to ditch the off season. This race season started with a trip down to Miami / Homestead Florida for the Clash 70.3 Triathlon. Clash Events (clashendurance.com) are held at some of the country’s most notable motor speedways. Clash Miami offers a professional triathlon race, sprint tri, bike relay, and half iron triathlon races. I signed up for the 70.3 held on Sunday, March 12th....
Part II - Fun. Not Fun. Fun Again. Then the Best Feeling in the World....
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Wednesday, 15 March 2023 00:10
By Jennifer Martone
Ironman World Championship Race Report Part II - Sooooo…race day (I’ll leave out a lengthy description of my day-before the event way-too-loose stools, and bad choice to order an incorrectly cooked chicken club sandwich, for another conversation. Suffice to say Pepto Bismol was a savior). I got out of bed up at 3am, ate my almond butter-honey-english muffin and Skratch pineapple flavored drink, made sure my timing chip was adhered to my ankle, and made my way to Kailua Bay via a pre-sunset drop off from Brent and Sam to the pier bike transition area. Our gear bags and bikes were dropped the day before, during what felt like a red carpet parade, including a 20 second survey by Ironman staff, answering questions on the brand names of all my gear. I made my way to one more biffy before joining the 50-55 AG swim corral, scheduled to start at 6:55am. Upon leaving the grassy knoll, I heard another woman say to her husband “not sure about race day karma but the woman next to me in the biffy just shit her pants”. It wasn’t me, I just peed, I promise....
Part I - Limiting Exposure...
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Sunday, 12 March 2023 00:10
By Jennifer Martone
Ironman World Championship Race Report – Kona, Hawaii 2022 - Finding “the spirit of Aloha within,” that’s what those of us competing on the world’s stage were asked to do as we navigated through the barren lava fields, along with the strong wind, heat and sun on October 6thand 8that this year’s World Championship Event. For so many athletes, this race was a few years in the making. The last time Kona hosted Ironman was in October 2019, meaning that three years of qualifiers were split into two separate race days, with women racing Thursday, and [most of the] men on Saturday. Moving forward, Ironman plans to continue this 2-day event format, with more women receiving qualifying slots in 2022-23 to even out the gender numbers, a somewhat polarizing topic.
Our trip to the Big Island began at MSP airport where I met Caryn Herrick and Peter Wikman at the gate prior to boarding (I actually met Peter’s very sweet mom first, and then introduced myself to the speedy MN royalty triathlete couple as we traded Godspeed sock friends), and they coincidentally ended up in the seat across from me on the first leg of the flight to Honolulu. They are the cutest and friendliest couple. Peter’s AG was assigned to the Thursday race, along with some of the older male AGs to even out the numbers this year. David Swanson, another veteran triathlete, who I first met back at IMFL in 2012 was also on our flight. Always easy to pick out the Ironman athletes with their ripped calves, backpacks, and caps.
My husband Brent, son Sam, and I booked a condo in Waikoloa, about 35 minutes north of all the action. This was somewhat intentional, as I thought it might be too overwhelming to be right at game central. Looking around at athletes from all over the world with zero percent body fat, incredibly buff bodies, and $15,000 bikes can be intimidating. I took the advice from Matt Dixon’s Purple Patch Podcast to limit my exposure and think of this event as a “long training day at the end of a vacation”. A good way to remain calm, and not overdo it in the days leading up to race morning. His advice proved to be spot-on. Brent, Sam, and I took a little day trip to the lush Hilo side of the island on day 2, splashed around in the beautiful ocean on day 3, and took...
Inspiration and Family Fun....
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Saturday, 04 March 2023 00:10
By Doobie Kurus
4WOMEN TRI RACE REPORT - It started with someone telling me, "The weather looks great this weekend for the 4WOMEN Tri!" Well if a flashflood, down trees blocking my street, and winds blowing my transition area and buoys around is great, I don't want to see what horrible weather looks like!
Fortunately, our volunteers were able to pick things up and put them back in order in time for the wave of rain, I mean racers to arrive. We had over 150 women registered and joining us from 5 different states, and as far away as Michigan. Our oldest competitor was Judy "T-Rex" Rykken (age 84) and our youngest was Denali Perusse (age 3!), and they both made it a family thing! Judy, an inspiration for many, got her daughter, Anne Rykken, and granddaughter, Allie Rykken, to join her this year. Anne was bestowed the coveted #1 bib, for working to overcome her somewhat recent Parkinsons Syndrome, and viewing triathlons as a way to manage it, and engage in healthy activities with her family. We decided to give Anne #1, Judy #2, and Allie #3, which was pretty close to how they finished in their age group (Anne 3rd place, Judy 1st place, and Allie first place). Denali on the other hand was a willing participant with her mother, Yari, who does physical activities to help raise awareness for her daughter's list of medical issues, such as cerebral palsy, perinatal stroke, and cortical visual impairment. Being a preschool special education teacher myself, I welcomed the opportunity to find a way to make this happen. To find out more about Denali, go to: https://pledgeit.org/milesforlittlebee ...
Records for Ted and Heather...
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Wednesday, 01 March 2023 00:10
Photo - Two-time MGO winner Ted Treise with freakishly handsome 2010 champ Devon Palmer.
MAPLE GROVE OLYMPIC COVERAGE - TED TREISE is a pro, and he certainly has been racing like one in 2022. When not competing in national and interantional 70.3 events, he has been busy torching regional course records, many of which have stood for many years. It started at Buffalo Olympic (1:53:40). Then he threw down a barely believable 1:51:39 at Tri West. Then yesterday he sliced a pudgy 5:16 off Wade Cruser's course record at Maple Grove Olympic, his 1:49:05 arguably the the best performance by a Minnesota male triathete on Minnesota soil in the last several years.
HEATHER LENDWAY used to be a pro. After a three-year absence, she returned to racing and her results have been pro level, especially her performance at Maple Grove yesterday, when she blew away the women's course record. Her 2:01:30 was jaw-dropping, and lowered the women's seemingly untouchable, i.e. untouchable during Lendway's apparent retirement, at least, CR--Becky Youngberg's 2:05:01 set in 2018--by 3:31. HL's time would have won the overall title in three of the twelve editions of this race....
There Will Be Blood...
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Tuesday, 21 February 2023 00:10
By Michael Weissenborn
Turtleman Race Report - Friday Night, Before the Race. Text conversation:
Friend: Do you have a cute outfit picked out for racing?!?
Me: It's a tri suit. I bought it a few years ago.
Friend: So is it a cute outfit?!?
Me: It will be at the end of the race – when it's covered in sweat, snot, blood, and gels.
Friend: *shocked emoji face*
Little did I know how prophetic that conversation would be...
