Race Coverage
"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!
story lines
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Wednesday, 19 June 2024 00:10
storylines - Spencer - 50s - Becky & Thad - Whitney
Positive Takeaways ...
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Monday, 03 June 2024 00:10
By Brandon Lee
Chattanooga 70.3 race recap - I really do love racing in Chattanooga. This is my 4th race there in two years, and I’m drawn to that beautiful bike course through rolling hills, the great race support, and always stiff competition!
My lead up to this race was semi-conservative, we pulled back training volume some over the winter because it’s a Kona year and a long season! I felt fit coming into the race especially on the bike, swimming fitness is right where I want it to be right now, and there is some work to do on the run. But overall, I felt I could have a good day if I nailed my nutrition.
The swim went well, the current was not super strong, which I was happy about. Definitely have a better idea of where I need to be and what ti work on....
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...
Triathletes Impress at Earth Day...
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Wednesday, 17 April 2024 00:10
2023 EARTH DAY RUNS - A pair of prominent Minnesota triathletes turned in triumphant performances last Friday and Saturday at the 23rd edition Earth Day Runs, St. Cloud's largest endurance event.
As in 2022, weather conditions were, for lack of better words, not great. The two-thousandish dressed-in-layers participants once again were buffetted by arctic winds. On Friday evening 2022 Male Master Triathlete of the Year Andy Zabel pushed ahead of local multiple EDR winners Jonathan Stoltman, Morcelli Kombo and William Lindell to claim victory in the 5K, his 16:45 landing him at the finish line seventeen seconds in front of Stoltman....
