Race Previews

The Pride of the Med City....

Saturday, 16 June 2012 02:30

(Great Matt Fulton - Minnefotamoments.com - Photo. Two of the three pics in this post are Matt's.)

RochesterFest Preview - The 5th edition of the RochesterFest Olympic and Sprint Triathlons is Sunday. It's always been a great event and we've no doubt that this year's races will be groovy, too.

Without further "ado," which feels like it should have two Os, doesn't it?, here are MTN's chronically untrustworthy predictions, starting with the sprint race.

- We predict that two-time RST champ Jesse Nelson will duke it out with 2012 Blaine winner Brandon Ordway for the title. Ordway's come a long way since last season, when he finished 17th here. He beat Jesse by one place at Oakdale and two spots at Falls Du. We think that trend will continue....

- We suspect that the women's winner in the sprint hasn't registered yet. If we're wrong about that, we suspect that Sawra Maurer will out-duel Jenny Shuhla for the W. Why? She had a baby last year, so she's got extra oxygen and beneficial stuff in her blood right now.

- We also predict that Ross Williams will swim really fast, and Erich Heneke won't. Eric will kick rump on the bike and run, though.

On to the Olympic race...

- Carol Marston will set a new 50-54W record and she will smile almost constantly.

- Scott Ransom will win the 50-54M category and talk to people about Ironman stuff after the event.

- Mario Minelli will win the 40-44M division. He will also eat a few CLIF Bars after the race. Crunchy peanut butter, probably.

- Several young female spectators will think that 22-year-old Joe Dalton, who should crack the overall Top 10-15, is cute.

- Mike Colaizy (photo L) will lower his own 60-64M course record and hold hands with his lovely wife Beth after the race. His hair will look good.

- St. Paul pro David Thompson will win the race by a corpulent margin. His record time will be in the 1:50-52 range.

- The top male amateur will be Patrick Parish, who will slightly lower Sam Hauck's sturdy three-year-old amateur CR (1:55:48).

- Nick Madrinich will have the fastest swim split. He will also get his dad, who is a totally cool guy, a great Father's Day gift. Twins tickets, perhaps.

- Rochester's phenomenal Ruth Brennan Morrey will keep her string of course record victories in tact. This entails that she'll go faster that Cathy Yndestad's 2:13:01 race record, set back in 2008.

Looking for a great race this weekend? Then we hope to see you at Foster Arend's Park in Rochester on Sunday. RACE INFO & REG.