Race Previews
Walker Preve...
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Wednesday, 26 July 2017 09:10
WALKER TRI PREVIEW - The 8th edition of the Walker Triathlon happens next Saturday. About 200 participants are expected....
Like most Minnesota sprint races, the tri is bike-heavy; a 17 mile ride bracketed by a quarter mile swim and a 2.8 mile run. The Walker area is incredibly scenic and the lake is the grandest of all of Minnesota's tri swim venues. Walker Bay on Leech Lake is "uge."
And the race vibe is playful and low ley. If you haven't done this event, we wholeheartedly encourage you to put it on your calendar.
Here is some historical data:
OVERALL COURSE RECORDS:
- LARRY HOSCH – 1:04:17 (2015) & CHERYL ZITUR - 1:12:23 (2014)
AG RECORDS:
- 0019 – PAT GRIFFITH – 1:11:08 (2012) & RACQUEL WOHLIK - 1:18:16 (2015)
- 4044 – TAGGART DOWNARE – 1:05:10 (2010) & CHRISTINE MITCHELL (2012)
- 4549 – BRIAN SEVERSON – 1:06:59 (2010) & CHERYL ZITUR - 1:12:23 (2014)
- 5054 – BRIAN LAVELLE – 1:10:28 (2013) & CHERYL ZITUR - 1:12:41 (2015)
- 5559 – BRYAN SWENSON – 1:17:56 (2013) & JAN HANDLOS - 1:26:53 (2012)
- 6064 – NEIL KING – 1:14:00 (2014) & JAN HANDLOS (2016)
- 6569 – J. RICHARD SIMPSON – 1:44:44 (2014) & JAN ALBERTSON - 1:42:09 (2014)
- 70+ VERA DEMARS – 3:34:21 (2012)
Next, let's make some predictions:
- 2016 Rookie of the Year nominee JOEL LAFRANCE, and 2010 Walker Tri runner-up DAVID LEWIS will duke it out for the Top Two spots.
- Three-time Walker champ CHERYL ZITUR is returning. And though she has an "achilles thing," we won't bet against her. She'll get a nice push from TIFFANY KARI, LEANNE BRONSON and JACKIE BACIGALUPI.
- CRAIG PETERSON, 55, is racing like a banshee this year. We think he'll slice several minutes off the 55-59M AG record.
- JACK HENNEN, 17, and TAYLOR LUNDQUIST, 17, are our picks to capture the junior titles. Taylor cracked the overall women's Top 5 last year and won her AG.
- Perennial Grand Master of the Year nominee (He won the GMOY in 2015) NEIL KING, 67, will torch the men's 65-69 record, giving himself two AG records in this event.
