Race Previews

Oakdale Fall Classic: Season Finale...

Wednesday, 23 September 2020 23:10

OAKDALE FALL CLASSIC DUATHLON - The final multisport event of the abbreviated 2020 season will happen next Sunday. Approximately 100 athletes are expected and weather is should be accommodating, with temps in the mid-50s at start and low 60s when the final duathlete crosses the finish line....

It's been an odd, unprecedented season to be sure, but the races that did take place--Big Lake, Green Lake, Clearwater, Young Life and both of the Square Lake tris--were goodies, and most of all, hope-inspiring for the 2021 season. Many opted not to race this year, and we hope that they will bring an elevated hunger into the next year. For those who did race, their whistles were whetted, but there weren't enough races to truly satiate the appetite, so they, too, should be anxious for the winter to pass and the spring multi season to arrive.

So you know, Fall Classic Du registration closes at midnight tonight, so you can still get in (REG.LINK). We'll be there. We hope you will be too.

Judi sent us a list of entrants yesterday. Here's a few predictions:

- DIANE HANKEE, winner here in 2019, Diane comes into the event as the clear women's favorite. Long recognized as one of our country's best amateur run-bike-runners, Diane's resume boasts 37 career multisport victories, approximately a third of which are duathlons, including Apple, Oakdale Spring Classic and Gear West. She has medaled in National Championship events on multiple occasions. Her PR on this course, which is identical to the Spring Classic race, is 1:10:58. Here in 2019 she finshed 3rd overall. We suspect she will match that on Sunday.

- We believe the Top 2 men's spots will go to DAVID KOPPEL and MICHAEL WEISSENBORN. David was having a breakout race at Big Lake when he and his bike were taken out by a car. He might have won that race had his luck been better.

Well, he's back and has someting to prove. Is he our favorite? Yes, but a prohibitive one. Weissenborn looked strong at Square Lake two weekends ago, and his resume features five wins. A closer look reveals that sprint triathlon seems to be his forte, whereas Koppel has proven himself at run-bike-run, as his 1:04:20 / 4th place at Oakdale in 2018 attests.

Next, the frontrunners for 2021 male Grand Master of the Year are enrolled. We're talking about TIM BROWN, 62, and LUKE HARNED, 67. Both of these guys regularly set AG records. Brown seems to have a slight edge for the GMOY at this point in time, thus Harned will need a big effort on Sunday. We expect Brown to challenge MIKE CONNELLY's stout 1:19:53 60-64M record. To stay competitive with that, Harned will need to knock a minute-or-more off the 65-69 record, 1:22:31 that he recorded last year.

We're anxious to see how all the races within the race shake out.

Here's some performance history:

TOP 3 - MEN

1. NATE HOFFMAN - 1:03:00 - 2014

2. KEVIN O'CONNOR - 1:04:58 - 2015 - MR

3. JOE JOHNSON - 1:05:09 - 2014

TOP 3 - WOMEN

1. SUZIE FOX - 1:10:33 - 2013

2. JENN SCUDIERO - 1:12:54 - 2016

3. MANUELA KNISPEL - 1:13:10 - 2015 - MR