Race Previews

Immune to the Stuff...

Wednesday, 17 June 2015 09:10

LAKE MINNETONKA PREVIEW - There are only 2-3 multisport events in Minnesota that seem to be impervious to those trends that have been adversely effecting race enrollment in recent year. Northwoods in an example. An even better one, better because it is twice as large as NWT, is Lake Minnetonka.

Sure, LMT takes a little longer to fill up than it used to, but it continues to get its target 600-650 participants. This year, the 12th edition of the race, is no different. In fact, it may have accepted a few more registrations than their 650 limit.

Why is this race special. Why is it immune to the pernicious trends?

We're not sure, but we think that the fact that it is an excellent event in every way has something to do with it. Ross and Tina bust their respective humps to make their participants happy and resolute about returning, and they are (happy) and they do (return). In fact, the LMT recidivism rate is as high, if not higher, than "destination" races like Northwoods and Timberman.

And speaking of recidivism, eight past champions--Brooks Grossinger, Brett Lovaas, Patrick Parish, Steve Sander and Tony Schiller for the men; Jan Guenther, Heidi Keller-Miler and Sarah Mercer for the women--are returning....

For grins, we are picking the Top 5 men and women for Saturday's race. We hope to be at least 50% correct. The last time we did this we got most  of the names right but only 20% of the places.

MTN's TOP 5 Men:

1. Patrick Parish

2. Brooks Grossinger

3. Eric Hendrickson

4. Andy Wiberg

5. Brett Lovaas

NOTE: The wild card is lapsed tri star Sam Janicki. If he demonstrates some of the form he displayed in 2010-11, he could finish as high as 3rd on Saturday.

Before we list the women, we need to point out that the men's field at last week's Cap City Tri was the deepest of the year thus far. Lake Minnetonka's women's field is arguably the most talent-dense group we've seen so far in '15, for a tri, that is. Buffalo Olympic would be a close second. (As for duathlons, The Apple's women's field was off-the-chart talented.)

MTN's Top 5 Women:

1. Christina Roberts (photo Top L) - If Christina, last year's runner-up, can match her outstanding 2014 time (1:11:14), we believe she'll win on Saturday.

2. Suzie Fox - We loved the way she raced in Iowa last week, suggesting that her injuries are healing, or that she has a monster pain threshold.

3. Kortney Haag - We've been dissecting Kort's races this season. She's one strong run split away from a major win.

4. Lisa Lendway - She's anxious to get back into the thick of things after her recent bike crash. If she's close to 100%, she could win.

5. Catherine Lee - Cathy will downplay her ability to be competitive here, but she's always raced well at LMT. Her muscle memory should push her to a sub-1:14.