Race Previews

An Original...

Monday, 06 July 2015 06:10

TIMBERMAN PREVIEW - Timberman, Minnesota's original "Destination Triathlon," will celebrate its 31st birthday on Saturday (July 11). Like most races, it struggles to get its numbers of yesteryear, but unlike most races, it manages to come dang close to doing so. This means that, despite current trends, Timberman is "hanging in there" better than most events. Still, the MTN Guys want to encourage anyone who has not committed to a race on the weekend of July 11-12, to make the trip to Sugar Lake. Especially those folks who have never done this "experience" before. It's not just about the race. You don't just pop in, race and drive home. At Timberman, you also swim, fish, golf, barbecue and pontoon (verb form), as well as eat and drink at Otis' Grill, which has an awesome deck and is located on the north edge of the transition area.

It's a "destination" event....

Now for race history. Doug Davis and Brooks Grossinger have each won the Timberman International-distance race four times. This is Brooksie's favoritest race and he has what he needs to do there dialed in. Yes, he's our pick to become the International event's first five-time champ. FYI, he owns the men's race record on T-Man's current course, a 1:54:24.

Brooks isn't the winningest Timberman participant, however. That distinction belongs to Adam Himes, a five-time T-Man Sprint champ. Adam is returning, of course (Timberman is his favorite race. Notice a theme here?), but he is not our pick to collect victory #6, though he was until yesterday. We just learned that John Shelp has enrolled in the sprint. He's out pick.

Though Suzie Fox (photo R) isn't enrolled yet, and is currently traveling and doing out-of-state family stuff, we believe that the "Lure of Minnesota's North Woods" will be too strong for her to resist. We expect her to be on the starting line on race day, and we expect her to win for the 3rd consecutive year. A victory would be her 7th of the season, marking her as our state's winningest triathlete thus far in 2015, and 29th of her multisport career.

The women's sprint race on July 11 will feature a plethora of successful recidivists, including five-time winner Tara Makinen. Will she win again? We think so, and she'll get a great push from perennial Top 3-5ers, Jena Ogston, Heather Johnson and Shauna Joas.

Late registrant Kerri Persons, who placed 3rd in the Olympic-ish race here in 2013, will also be a factor. Heck, she may even win.