Race Previews
Payne Seeks 2nd BOUS Title...
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Thursday, 19 June 2014 00:10
BEST OF THE US - On Sunday, the new "open-to-all" Capitol City Triathlon will also host the 2014 BOUS Championship. Staged at Lake Phalen in St. Paul, both events promise to be outstanding, excellent in every way.
Both races will be somewhat more "intimate" than was originally hoped. Sharing the weekend schedule with SEVEN other multisport races, all of which will be more intimate than they wanted to be, and all of which are worthy of your entry fee, made this inevitable.
But races don't need to large to be great. They don't need to be be large to be exciting and significant....
Capitol City Course Report...
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Wednesday, 18 June 2014 02:20
By Jeremy Sartain
Greetings all,
I checked out the Capitol City (and BOUS) bike course today, Tuesday June 17th. It is in FANTASTIC shape and is scheduled for sweeping by the city in one area where construction has occurred at Johnson and Phalen. There are no significant potholes or other hazards. The police have confirmed their positions and we have solidified volunteers in their positions to assure a safe and fast bike course.
The lead lifeguard at Lake Phalen was testing the water when I went by. It is in great shape in regards to not showing anything gross living in the water. The City of Saint Paul has worked very hard the past few years to create appropriate foliage around the lake to...
Weekend Mini-Preves...
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Wednesday, 18 June 2014 00:10
ROCHESTERFEST OLYMPIC & SPRINT - We hope that these excellent races, the pride of the Rochester community, get a giant enrollment bump this week. Heck, we hope that happens to all of the weekend's events.
PREDICTIONS: We think that Chap Achen, who is coming off a great Masters Record-setting effort at Trinona, will win the men's Olympic title. We think that either Julie Hull or Bridget McCoy will share the Winner's Circle with him.
We're anxious to see how fast Chris Lam, now 17, goes in the Sprint. He won last year. He's very talented and the MMA Selectors wish he'd race more often. Yes, we think he'll repeat as champion. WEBSITE
MANITOU SPRINT TRIATHLON - Based on the registration list we saw, we believe that 2013 Most Improved award winner Brian Sames will collect his 8th career win. Ukranian transplant Lydia Novotny hasn't won a multi since early July in 2012. We think that will...
Epic Amenities...
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Tuesday, 17 June 2014 06:10
CAPITOL CITY TRIATHLON - The MTN Guys think that it's a major bummer that last weekend's racing calendar was so light--three races in which less than 200 Minnesota athletes raced. (A large percentage of those that raced at Fairmont and Canby were from South Dakota and Iowa.) Next weekend there are EIGHT multis, only one of which--Lake Minnetonka--will pull in the numbers of prior years.
The new Capitol City race (Sunday) will not be large, perhaps 200-250 entrants, but organizers are confident that it's execution, courses and amenities will make the event an "Instant Classic." ...
One of Minnesota's Premier Venues...
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Monday, 16 June 2014 05:10
LAKE MINNETONKA PREVIEW - With 600+ entrants, the LMT will be the best-attended of the EIGHT Minnesota multis that are slated for next weekend. A consistently outstanding race at a premier venue (Excelsior Commons on Lake Minnetonka), the 11-year-old event is one of a child's handful of races that appears to be impervious to the current trends that affect race attendance, things like long course popularity and that newer triathletes, i.e. those who have come into the lifestyle in the last 6-7 years, race less frequently than their more grizzled veteran counterparts.
Also in LMT's favor is its astonishing recidivism rate. A higher than normal percentage of its participants return to this race year after year.
This is certainly apparent when you look at its list of past champions. Saturday's event will feature eight of them, four men--Brooks Grossinger (2013, 2012), Brett Lovaas (2009, 2006, 2006-BOUS, 2005), Steve Sander (2011, 2010) and Tony Schiller (2008)--and four women--Heather...
New Bri Turns 9...
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Thursday, 05 June 2014 00:10
(Photo - Matt Payne's bike. FYI, this pic has nothing to do with the New Bri preview. We're posting it because we think it's cool.)
RACE PREVE - Can you believe it? The New Bri Tri will celebrate its 9th anniversary this Saturday. Despite the fact that it shares the weekend with a pair of perennially well-attended races--Liberty and Trinona--it will, as always, have a nice turnout (400+) thanks to its high percentage of annual recidivists.
High recidivism rates means that the organizers are doing something right.
Last week, we peeked at New Bri's registration list. No favorites on the men's side leapt out at us. We suspect that several local eite males have since sign-up up, or will do so this week.
The women's field, on the other hand, is deep and has probably gotten even deeper since we looked at last week's list. Based on what we saw, we are willing to make the following predictions:
- The women's tittel will go to either Cathy Lee or Sarah Mercer....
