Race Coverage
"...It Was Time to Drink Some Coke"...
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Friday, 10 May 2024 00:10
By Steven Wert
Texas 70.3 Race Report - Signing up for an early Spring can be a very risky move living in Minnesota, but when you have a mild Winter it can lead to great success. So the expectations and goals were set high for Texas 70.3.
Swim: The swim is always an adventure. I was feeling confident going into the swim, but as soon as I got in I felt like crap and was taking in a ton of salt water. My head started playing games and was thinking this was the worst swim of my life and that all my goals for the day were done for. So I just started going through the motions just to get it done. When I got to the mat, I was shocked to see that I just set a PR on the swim. My mood quickly changed and we were on a mission.
Bike: We couldn’t ask for a better day to bike along the Gulf of Mexico. No headwinds and just a slight crosswind with clouds at first and the sun coming out halfway through. The goal for the day was sub 2:20 so we just went for it. The miles were clipping along and I was making...
"Dumb Windy"...
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Tuesday, 07 May 2024 00:10
ED. We posted a story of Corey's win at Neosho Sprint last Wednesday. Here are Corey's words about that experience.
By Corey Nygaard
I have never raced this early in a season before. In the Midwest, April racing just isn’t a thing, heck racing in May is barely a thing! I was in southern Missouri visiting my girlfriend and decided it would be a fantastic opportunity for me to do this race in a town about 15 miles south of Joplin. If anyone from Missouri reads this, I am sorry I do not consider you Midwest.
The weather is always on our minds for any distance race, this one was no different. All week long it rained every single day, like clockwork. Two days prior to the race I drove an hour further south to ride in Bentonville, AR. It was wet but it didn’t rain, so I considered it a success. The day of the the race was – a term my sister and I like to use- “dumb windy”.
I got a small warmup ride in before the race to see the course and the one significant hill. Very glad I did so I knew what to expect. The swim was in the Neosho YMCA pool and it was a snake pattern which is...
Soul Food & Unnecessary Squat-Popping...
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Saturday, 04 May 2024 00:10
By David Carney
Ironman 140.6 Woodlands, TX - Race Report - Ironman is a BEAST but so good for the soul. The purpose of this event was to heal and make a better tomorrow for myself, this happened. Thankful and Grateful for the gift of sport.
Quick share - This build was full of real life challenges and goodness. My Physical growth and fitness is fleeting; on the flip, my Spiritual, Mental, and Emotional growth has No Limits, let's focus a lil more on these 3.
Swim - No excuses ever, I started swimming 14 days prior to event as them ribs were just not ready. Calf cramp 5 minutes in and 300 yards to swim exit had me laughing, water was easy for a legit swimmer but I found it violent as I smiled more. Felt controlled here and came out a lil foggy in 1:20:04 which for me is not to shabby. Calf cramp never showed it's face again....
A Mohawk in Osage Country...
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Wednesday, 01 May 2024 00:10
NEOSHO SPRINT TRIATHLON COVERAGE - Who is going to be one of Minnesota's breakout athletes in 2024? We think that Alexandria's mohawked COREY NYGAARD will. He's coming off his best season ever in '23, one in which he won two of the three Minnesota tris he entered, but because those races were not among our region''s most competitive, it was difficult to measure him alongside our state's established elite men. But his performance last week at the Neosho Sprint Triathlon in southwest Missouri gives us reason to believe he will be barking with the big dogs this season. He won the 88-finisher race, which consisted of a 300-yad pool swim, 12.5 mile bike, 5K run, in convincing fashion, handily outsplitting the competition in each phase. His eventual margin of victory over runner-up MARIO MINELLI was 6:01. If that name seems familiar, it should. Mario, aka "Super Mario" is a decorated multisportsman who relocated not long ago from Kasson, Minnesota to Bella Vista, Arkansas....
Exciting Racing at LCT...
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Friday, 26 April 2024 00:10
Additional Lakes Country Coverage - As in the Maple Grove Olympic Triathlon, the runners-up at Lakes Country truly shined. SPENCER SYVERTSON was first out of the water in first into T2. He then ran hard, turned in a sub-1-hour effort, which is a big deal at LCT, after which he waited for pre-race favorite / defending champ JOSH BLANKENHEIM, who as a late registrant launched the wave after Spencer. The fact that Josh was stringing together 5:30 miles, however, made his repeat victory inevitable.
JASON CRISP filled out the men's podium, his second Top three at LCT.
Similarly, in the women's race it was the eventual runner-up, who happened to be a newbie with strong running credentials, who set the stage. MELISSA GOBLE's first tri produced a solid swim, a promising bike split and her signature brisk run, which surprisingly was bettered by eventual 3rd placer MATA AGRE. Goble (photo) was first to finish, followed 28-seconds later by Agre. Both women waited for superior...
Bontrager & Illgen Break Out!
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Tuesday, 23 April 2024 00:10
14th Maple Grove Triathlon Coverage - With 1000+ sign-ups and just under 900 finishers, this year's Maple Grove Triathlon was the second largest tri in Minnesota this year, surpassed only, and slightly, by the YWCA Women's Triathlon.
Twas a perfect day for racing at Weaver Lake Park on Sunday and great performances were plentiful. In the Olympic race the pre-race favorites did what they do, though perhaps not as convincingly as usual. Men's winner PRESTON YOUNGDAHL turned in a amateur course record effort--1:53:55, bettering Wade Cruser's prior best by 23 seconds, yet his margin of victory was only slightly more than a minute over runner-up TIM BONTRAGER, whose 1:54:59 appeared to have been a breakout effort, especially when you look at the list of talented guys he outraced, several of whom he'd never beaten before.
JOE ADRIAENS (1:56:15), JAKE KEEHAN (1:56:57) and elite collegian NATHAN KIM (1:57:41) secured the three-five spots. Seven men broke two hours.
Unsurprisingly, HEATHER LENDWAY won the women's Olympic race in a fine time, 2:05:07, but it was her runner-up that turned in arguably the most impressive women's performance of the day. UW-Madison's RACHEL ILLGEN placed 4th here last year in 2:16:22. This time, tough, she, like...
