Race Coverage
Superior Stuff, Man...
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Tuesday, 26 August 2014 06:10
By Warren Peece
SUPERIOR MAN III – Last season’s Superior Man won the “Race of the Year” award. Did this year’s event live up to that legacy?
It sure did. In our opinion, SM III was superior to SM II in almost every regard.
It helped that the weather was cooperative. Temps were 30+ degrees cooler than in 2013, and though it was windy and even rained intermittently, the participants didn’t complain. Most of them were too busy setting personal bests, albeit unofficial ones.
A significant portion of the field cheered when Race Co-Director Clint Agar announced that “a current thing” necessitated a .3 shortening of the swim course, though eventual runner-up Marcus Stromberg, who is totally anal when it comes to measuring training and racing distances, would insist later that the choppy yet fast (swimmers swam with the current much of the way) route was, according to his GPS, actually .37 short. Thus the total...
Kris & Christina Throw Down...
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Tuesday, 26 August 2014 00:10
LIFE TIME TRI - MAPLE GROVE - A huge field (1500+) and ideal racing conditions (cloudy with mild temps) contributed to exciting racing on Saturday at spectacular Weaver Lake Park in Maple Grove.
The fast times, though, were more a result of heavy-duty pulling and pushing on the race course than field size and cooperative weather.
The men's Olympic was highlighted by Kevin O'Connor pulling eventual winner Kris Spoth to a personal best victory, one which earned him (Kris) his yet unclaimed three "Fun Size" Snicker's bars, provided by MTN. Climbing the seemingly Alpsian hill that took the athletes on their second 5K lap of the run course, it was clear that...
"Dad, You Don't Look So Good"....
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Monday, 25 August 2014 00:10
By JP Fahey
HITS - WACONIA FULL DISTANCE RACE REPORT - “I awoke last night to the sound of thunder, how far off, I sat and wondered!” No die hard triathlete sleeps well the night before their next triathlon. What would the weather be like? The forecast called for high 80s with high humidity, an older triathlete’s nightmare. Saturday August 16, HITS 140.6 Full distance triathlon, Lake Waconia, Waconia, MN. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 run, a 140.6 miles of pure bliss and hell! This was the first ever race in the Midwest sponsored by the upcoming East Coaster HITS. Also this was the first time there has ever been a 140.6 distance triathlon race conducted in MN.
As we prepared our gear in T1, we looked across the calm waters of Lake Waconia with the majestic Coney Island as a back drop. The temp was near 70, foggy, overcast and humid. The 70.3 and 140.6 participants started together at 7:00 am. Lake Waconia, although green this time of year, was very refreshing. The overcast skies held until about 1:00 pm, letting the athletes push their bikes to the limits. The sun burnt off the forgiving clouds and turned the HITS marathon course into an oven! High temps and high humidity make for cramping and walking during the run! ...
Rocking Out in Duluth & Baxter...
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Sunday, 24 August 2014 21:45
SUPERIOR MAN III - The half was won for the third straight year by SEAN COOLEY, whose time was silly-fast (4:02). FYI, his new girlfriend is an elite distance runner and looks a lot like actress Amy Adams. SUZIE FOX (4:44) lived up to her favorite's status, as did DAVID PHILLIPS and NICOLE CUENO (photo L with Race Director CLINT AGAR) in the companion 41.2K tri.
Photos and more words on Tuesday. RESULTS
LAKES COUNTRY TRIATHLON - The overall titles were earned by THOMAS ANDERSON III, who finished 7th the day before at Life Ttime Tri - Maple Grove Sprint, and MICHELLE ANDRES. JACQUELYN BACIGALUPI, who's enjoying a breakout season, held off SARA RONDORF for the runner-up spot.
MATT RADNIECKI and MICHAEL MCCONKEY completed the men's podium. RESULTS
Maple Grove Tri Stuff....
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Saturday, 23 August 2014 13:17
5th Annual LIFE TIME TRI - MAPLE GROVE TRIATHLON - With almost 1600 entrants this was the largest multisport event staged on Minnesota soil this year. Great competition and cooperative weather resulted in fast, exciting racing. As he did in 2012, Iowa transplant KRIS SPOTH won the men's Olympic race, doing so in a personal best 1:57:59. CHRISTINA ROBERTS led from the get-go for the women. She turned in a PR - 2:11:25.
The Maple Grove Sprint was won convincingly by BRIAN SAMES (56:59) and CHERYL ZITUR (1:04:43).
SPOTH and DIANE HANKEE were crowned 2014 Life Time Minnesota Series champions.
Photos and lots more words will post on Tuesday. RESULTS
Drafting in Detroit...
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Saturday, 23 August 2014 00:10
By Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)
About a month ago, thinking forward to next year, I had emailed USA Triathlon to find out more about draft legal triathlons as a potential way to get into ITU racing. As a strong swimmer and biker, I may not be the ideal draft legal racing candidate but I didn’t want to write it off. I got a response that informed me there would be a draft legal race in Detroit in two weeks. I was competing at USAT Nationals in a week and planned to race the following Sunday at the YWCA women’s tri, both of which I still wanted to race.
Since I don’t own a draft legal bike, I sent an email to Kevin O’Conner and Hannah Sullivan at Gear West right away. Almost immediately I got a response that they could definitely help me get setup to race. Last minute planning is not my style but within 24 hours I was registered for the race, had a flight and hotel booked,...
