Race Previews

North Mankato Stuff...

Saturday, 30 June 2012 02:30

North Mankato Preview - Between 200-225 athletes are expected to participate in the 15th annual North Mankato Triathlon on Sunday. This year's event will be produced by Final Stretch and will feature more "bells and whistles" than the race used to offer. The staging will be grander and the post-race amenities will be even more abundanter than in year's past.

Like what?

Steak burgers! That's what. We can't say for sure it there will be steak burgers, but that is the kind of stuff that FSI offers after all their races. Some folks do their events for the food....

And while there will be many cool upgrades on Sunday, we suspect that the competition itself will resemble that which unfolded in 2011.

Let us explain.

On the men's side, eight of the Top 10 finishers from a year ago are returning. Only Tag Downare, who was 2nd, and Jason Exley, who placed 10th are not currently enrolled. Here's how we think the recidivists will do:

1. Todd Landgraff - Yes, we think Todd will repeat. This will give him three victories here in the last five years.

3. David Lyon - "Hercules" is now 50, but he's still capable of reaching the podium here. We see him placing 3rd or 4th on Sunday.

4. Jesse Nelson -