Race Previews

A Bunch of Stuff...

Thursday, 08 September 2016 23:10

There's a lot of cool stuff going on this weekend, and lots of cool stuff happening in the coming weeks. On Saturday, is the Square Lake Triathlon, the race that extended Minnesota's tri season from mid-August (Turtleman) to mid-September. As a result, a ton of great new events--Northoods, YWCA Women's Tri, Lake Marion, Lakes Country, Maple Grove, Superior Man, St. Croix Valley--were scheduled in the gap period. The Square Lake Triathlon, Uncle Randy's gift to our multisport community, will celebrate its 17th anniversary tomorrow....

Also on Saturday, is the five-year-old Blaine Triathlon, which the MTN Guys recommend highly. We'll be at Blaine and are anxious to witness the battle between Bismarck's Marnie Walth, 47, and local masters star Cheryl Zitur. It's our belief that one of these talented ladies will win. For the guys, we think that Chris Tatton will successfully defend his 2015 men's title.

On Sunday is our favorite 140.6: Ironman Wisconsin. We are anxious to see how Minnesotans fare. History tells us that the women of our state will be highly competitive, not only in the AGs, but at the front of the race.

In the AGs, we're picking two-time IMOO amateur overall champ Jan Guenther to destroy the 55-59W course record. We are also picking Beth Hassler to take home the 60-64W title, perhaps even in CR time.

In the overall standings, we hope to see Angela Kidd and Kelly Trom in the women's Top 5. Both are capable and strong performances would strengthen their chances for post season MMA nominations and spots on Team MInnesota.

We also believe that Sheena Dauer and Kristin Gustafson will crack the overall Top 10 in the women's race.

It saddens us that Suzie Fox, IMOO's bronze medalist in 2015 who we love with all our heart, is not at full strength. She's got a thing with her body that makes running difficult and painful.

Also, MTN will  start announcing the offical MMA Nominees next week. The awards will be presented at the 18th Minnesota Multisport Awards Party (Featuring EMMA Bingo) at Gear West Bike & Triathlon in late October or early November. The date will be announced soon.

And voting for "TRIATHLETES CHOICE RACE OF THE YEAR" will get underway on Spetember 19.