Race Previews

Love for Shorties...

Saturday, 02 June 2012 02:30

Race Preview - The Buffalo Triathlon is one of 21 Minnesota multis that feature both long (relatively speaking) and short course events. The longer events are traditionally more competitive than the shorter ones, which are largely, though not exclusively, designed to appeal to newcomers and recreational athletes.

This said, it should not be assumed that the short course companion events are not as cool as their longer course partners. In some ways they are, in fact, much cooler.

Take Sunday's Buffalo Triathlon, for instance. Approximately 440 of the total 1600 participants are registered for the long course (Olympic distance) race and 1042 have signed up for the short course (sprint) event. (The remainder are registered as relay entrants.) In general, the shorties significantly outdraw the longies.

What does this tell us?...

Perhaps, it tells us that for most of the sport's participants, the fun, fitness and social aspects of the racing experience outweigh the performance component. And short coursers get fed before the longer coursers do. That's important.

We don't want to leave the impression that serious athletes DON'T do short course races, or that elite level athletes avoid them. This just isn't true. Guys like Troy Anderson, Jesse Nelson and Tim Andrew are great athletes who enjoy going short. Joanna Hall, Tara Mackinen, Amy Klosterman and Jena Ogston are a few of the talented girls who seem to prefer the less lengthy contests.

A cursory jesse glance at the shorter companion races suggests that the two most competitive SC events are those contested under the banners of Heart of the Lakes and Buffalo. This weekend's Buffalo Sprint Triathlon promises to be as competitive as ever. Returnees include past champs Gilliam Auslander (2011) and Laura Swartz (2008) and perennial podium guy, Jesse Nelson (photo L).

The point of this post is to highlight the fact that short course companion events don't receive their fair share of love. Going forward, MTN promises to devote more words to these great events.

Here's some historical stuff:

Buffalo Sprint Top 5 Times: Men

1. Eric Ellingson - 56:13 (2008)

2. Troy Anderson - 57:13 (2011) - Masters Record

3. Aaron Ray - 58:05 (2008)

4. Nathan Hoffman - 58:07 (2011)

5. Anton Pshon - 58:09 (2006)

Buffalo Sprint Top 5 Times: Women