Race Previews

Racing For Ribs and Other Stuff

Thursday, 20 May 2010 12:39

There are four multisport events scheduled for this weekend--the inaugural Green Lake Duathlon and 3rd edition Faribault Family Fun Days Triathlon on Saturday, and the 6th Albert Lea Triathlon and the gazillionth annual Gear West Du, which kicks off the 12th (can you believe it?) season of Midwest Multisport Series racing. A combined 900 -1000 athletes are currently registered for these events, which means that there is plenty of room on these starting lines for additional participants. We recommend that you visit each race's website to learn more about what they have to offer and to find out if registration will remain open until race day. FFFD, GLD, GWD, ALT (The Albert Lea Tri will be previewed on Friday)

There are oodles (don't you hate that word!) of good reason to race this weekend. For those who haven't raced yet this season, hey, isn't it about time you knocked the rust off? And if you have raced already, here are some good reasons to go ahead and enroll in one of the weekend events.

* ADVENTURE STUFF- The Faribault (see yesterday's post) and Green Lake events are "road trip races" for the majority of our state's multi community, which reside largely in urbanesque locales, e.g. Twin Cities, Duluth, St. Cloud and Rochester. Minnesotans in general have a reverence for nature and rural life. Selecting a race in an "outlying" area allows one to do natural and rural stuff, which is very cool.

* LEGACY STUFF- The Faribault event is relatively new and only now marketing itself to more seasoned or serious triathletes, thus it is in the process of building it's legacy. The Green Lake race in bucolic Spicer is new, but it is produced by the same folks that stage the popular Green Lake Triathlons, which finished 3rd in the polling for Triathletes Choice Race of the Year two seasons ago. The success of the tri portends great things for the du and certainly jumpstarts the legacy-building process. Add to this that the GLD's post-race repast features baby back ribs yummiliciously prepared by the staff at Melvin's On the Lake, arguably the area's best eatery. That's a great way to build a legacy!

The event that benefits most from this legacy stuff is, of course, the Gear West Duathlon. Simply put, it's a great race that has been around forever. And it is a wonderful tune-up for the Apple Duathlon, one of America's truly iconic run-bike-runs, which is slated for the following weekend in Sartell. (Make sure you sign up for Apple, if you haven't done so already.)

* EXCITEMENT OF COMPETITION STUFF: Races don't need to be competitive to be exciting, but it sure doesn't hurt. There's no question that the event, thanks in part to this legacy business, that will host the most formidable field this weekend is the Gear West Duathlon. Have you see the start list? Wow! What a studly and studettely assemblage!

TOMORROW: GW's rockin' field!

FRIDAY: Payne & Janicki square off in Albert Lea. (Land Between the Lakes Preview)