Race Previews

Doubled Attendance & No Cooley...

Wednesday, 16 August 2017 09:10

YOUNG LIFE TRIATHLON PREVIEW – There are signs, subtle though they may be, that triathlon attendance, which has shrunk significantly since 2011, has begun an upswing.

A great example of this is the Young Life Triathlon in Detroit Lakes, the 14^th edition of which will happen this weekend. For the last few years, the event, which features both Sprint and Olympic-distance races, has averaged approximately 200 finishers.

This season's YL races should have more than twice that many finishers. The registration list that the race director, a cool guy named JASON LONEY, shared with us had almost 400 names on it, and the races could grow by as many as fifty more participants by race time.

This makes us very happy....

Sure, the YL races are the only multi on Minnesota soil this weekend, bracketed by last weekend's five-race plus Nationals schedule, and next weekend's list that includes Maple Grove, Superior Man, Lakes Country and Chequamegon Fat Tire, but favorable scheduling wouldn't account for a 100+% increase in enrollment, right?

We hope we're seeing a trend.

This said, it's time for MTN Predictions, which we do for funzies and to stimulate conversation. Here are some observations and prognostications:

SEAN COOLEY WILL NOT WIN THIS RACE FOR THE 6^th STRAIGHT YEAR! There is a very good reason for this. He has decided not to race in Detroit Lakes this season. His focus this year is on half IM success, with Superiorman and 70.3 Worlds being his competitive priorities.
We predict that a late registrant from Bismarck, North Dakota, will win the women's Olympic race. Who? Either course record holder MARNIE WALTH, or her mentor, and former YL champ, MELANIE CARVELL.
The race for 1^st place for the Olympic men will come down to a battle between BRANDEN SCHEEL (photo R) of Fargo, and DAVID LEWIS, of Nevis. Lewis is having a strong year, reaching the podium in three of his four starts. Scheel, however, has won two races in which he has beaten Lewis by an average of 1:13. We'll go with Branden for the win on Saturday, but not by much. David appears to have gotten stronger with each race he's done in 2017.
We think a late registrant will win the men's sprint, but emerging junior star TAYLOR LUNDQUIST, 17, will take the women's title. She kicked off the month of August with her first career victory at Big Lake Sprint, then followed that up the next day by obliterating the Junior course record at Brewhouse Sprint.
Taylor's 14-year-old sister SIMONE has also been impressive this season. We see her cracking the Top 5, maybe even the Top 3.

The Young Life Triathlons are great events staged at an awesome venue. We encourage everyone who has never done these tris, to correct that as soon as possible. RACE WEBSITE