Race Previews

Beans and Bagpipes and Not Having to Drink Light Beer...

Friday, 29 July 2022 00:10

BREWHOUSE PREVIEW - The definition of a true "Classic," Duluth's flagship triathlon will celebrate it's 35th  edition next Sunday. It will also be the 10th anniversary of its "new" spectacular venue at Island Lake, a 15-minute drive north of the multi-nicknamed town, e.g. the Zenith City, the Air-Conditioned City (because of Lake Superior's cooling effect in the summertime), Portland of the Midwest etc.

As expected, sharing the same weekend with Nationals has leeched some BH regulars, still, the race should field between 350 and 400 participants. This is happy news. (The 2023 Brewhouse will not go head-to-head with the Age Group Championships.)

The list we perused, which is almost two weeks old, suggested that SHYANNE MCGREGOR will continue to dominate the Sprint race, though BETTINA KEPPERS will keep her honest, and ELAINE NELSON should notch her sixth W on this course, despite what we assume will be some post Chisago 70.3 aches. LISA FILZEN should land on the Olympic podium for the second consecutive year. We predict that she will set a new BH personal best.

JOSH BLANKENHEIM was not on the list we saw. If he's not going to Milwaukee, we think he will do, and win for the 4th time, his beloved hometown tri. ...

Past Sprint men's winners MIKE WARD and KRIS NISULA will go at it once again. Coming in with seven BHS wins, Ward appears to have youth and experience on his side, but Nis came out on top the last time these talented guys faced each other. Should be epic!

We're hoping that some of the Buzz Ryan frontrunners, e.g. MICHA WARNING, MATT WELCH, MICHAEL KARAU, TIFFANY KARI, KATIE BENZIGER--return to Island Lake. That would heat things up rather significantly.

As with Buzz, participants are encouraged to include some personal information on their applications, stuff that the announcer can use. (How cool is that! More races should adopt that feature.) Here are some of the comments that might get some airplay next weekend:

- We learned that MARK ANDERSON's new titanium hip will make it's triathlon debut at BH. Very cool.

- JOE DENNIS is racing for "All the single moms!" - Good on you, Joe!

- DYLAN KOTZ HALE's preferred post-race libation is "Coconut Water," while SHAINA,  and husband SIMON, MCCORMACK prefer Guinness. Shaina plans to finish well ahead of her spouse and consume his Irish stout, as well as her own.

- And speaking of brewski, JESSE PIWELL does triathlons, "So I don't have to drink light beer." Right on.

- KATE BRINKERT wrote "My boyfriend convinced me  to train for this in only three weeks." This relationship may find itself on shaky ground on Sunday afternoon.

- Apropos of nothing, PATRICK CARROLL, a podium contender in the Sprint, is an "Enjoyer of beans."

- DANIELLE FRESHWATERS's (great photo!) wonderful comment: "I can ride a unicyle, play the bagpipe and make really good muffins." You want to party with Danielle!

There were lots more great comments that should get repeated on Sunday. You still have time enter, if you haven't done so already. What will BH's announcer have to say about you?  RACE WEBSITE