Race Previews

Buffalo XI Predictions...

Sunday, 25 May 2014 06:10

Photo - We found this cool art on the Buffalo Triathlon's Facebook page.We had to post it.

RACE PREVIEW - The popular Buffalo Triathlon will enter its second decade next Sunday. Brett Oden has ambitiously crafted an awesome event which consistently lures 1500 participants to beautiful Sturges Park. Though this year's registration is down slightly, thanks largely to our relentless and endless winter, we predict that the current trend of summer-like weather and the fact that Buffalo Lake has been warming up like a banshee will cause a nice bump in the enrollment over the final days leading up to the event.

Yes, we think it will ultimately field 1500 folks. (Help us make this happen, okay!)

Let's make some more predictions:

- Jon Balabuck (Thunder Bay, ONT) and Matthew Payne own the two fastest amateur times at TriBuff. Jon's CR is a 1:56:06, set in 2011. Matt's 1:56:40 was alo posted in '11. Jon and Matt are returning and we believe that they will duke it out for the Top Spot in the men's results. A win for Payne would keep his undefeated streak (in 2014) alive. We think he'll prevail....

- We predict that local star Marcus Stromberg will earn the final spot on the men's overall podium.

- Our clear choice to win the women's Olympic race is Duluth Elaine Nelson. In only nine career starts, Elaine has amassed seven wins, a 3rd and an 8th. FYI, the 8th place finish was at Nationals in 2012.

(NOTE: We looked at a start list and could not determine which athletes were enrollend in the Olympic race and which were doing the sprint. We know the athletes mentioned in this post plan to race in the Olympic contest. We apologize for not predicting the top finishers in the sprint. We will say this: Of all of the tris in Minnesota that feature Olympic and sprint events, TriBuff consistently fields the most competitive of the companion sprint races.)

- We predict that Bill Corcoran and his Graniteman Events Crew will do an awesome job promoting and perpetuating the legacy of this special race. INFO & REGISTRATION