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No Clear Favorites & Youthful Exuberance,,,
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Saturday, 26 June 2021 00:10
By Tim Bontrager
The Fairmont Triathlon successfully returned to racing after a 1-year hiatus due to COVID. This course, known for it’s “Switch-Side” swim, flat bike, and friendly run is a jewel for racing. On this day, mother nature was kind and race conditions were very good on the plains of southern Minnesota. A breeze from the north made the return leg of the bike more challenging but it kept the run at a very comfortable temperature. As a result, we saw fast times for many athletes during the run.
With perennial winner DAVID HOLDEN taking the year off, there was not a clear favorite heading into the men’s Olympic race. A trio of Twin Cities residents ended up taking the podium. TIM BONTRAGER followed his early-season TriByKnight victory by leading the race from start to finish, winning with a time of 1:57:49 and notching his second win of 2021. Behind him, an exciting race developed for second between 2019 “Most Improved Triathlete” ANDREW KERSHAW and cold-weather specialist MICHAEL TATE. Despite literally bursting out of his wetsuit during the swim (Impressive calves or a poorly made wetsuit? We may never know…), Tate was able to catch Kershaw on the bike and led coming out of transition. Undaunted, Kershaw passed Tate part-way through the run and never looked back. Kershaw took second with a time of 2:01:13, while Tate finished third with a time of 2:04:34.
A similarly exciting race developed for first in the women’s Olympic triathlon. JULIE BUSCH, winner of the 2018 and 2019 Fairmont sprint, put in an impressive swim and was the first woman out of the water. 2nd out of the water, 2020 Green Lake winner SARAH WENSINK had a two-and-a-half-minute deficit as she was getting on the bike. She clearly had her work cut out for her! Wensink managed to overtake Julie late in the bike course and then put the race away with a sub 40-minute 10k, winning the women’s race with a time of 2:21:38. Busch held on to second with a time of 2:32:04, and Rochester native MARTHA STELTER took 3rd with a time of 2:40:05 on the strength of a consistent swim and bike.,,,
2021 Graniteman Clearwater Preview...
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Thursday, 24 June 2021 00:10
GRANITEMAN CLEARWATER PREVIEW - The 12th edition of the event's Sprint race, that is, since it moved to its Clearwater venue, and its younger (6th) Olympic-distance companion is happening on Saturday, and once again, it will be exciting and competitive. The list we perused had 299 names, though it did not designate whether the athlete will be sprinting or Olympic-ing. So, we'll be guessing.
Time for predictions and comments.
On paper, the clear favorites in the Olympic race are JOSH BLANKENHEIM and KORTNEY HAAG. Blank has 12 career multisport wins and will be making his Clearwater debut on Saturday. What impresses us most about Josh is that he seeks out the most competitive fields, thus his win total is a bit deceiving. He's been Duluth's top male triathlete since the retirement of BRIAN BICH in 2017.
Kortney on the other hand owns a win and a 2nd at Clearwater, and had also won at Big Lake, doing so in record time. A victory for Kort would be the 23rd of her triathlon career...
Fairmont, Bertam Blast & Des Moines...
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Wednesday, 23 June 2021 00:10
FAIRMONT TRIATHLON - A pair of fast teens won this year's Sprint tri last Saturday, while the Olympic race featured a terrific performance by men's winner TIMOTHY BONTRAGER. We love to see sub-2-hour clockings and Tim rocked a 1:57:49, which reminds us of the fast times that DAVID HOLDEN used to turn in there.
ANDREW KERSHAW's 2:01:13 second place effort was also pretty dang impressive.
Bontrager's Winners Circle mate was Iowa's SARA WENSINK, who dominated the women's competition.
Back to the Sprint, which was won by 15-year-old phenom NOAH BILLINGS, who had to run down South Dakota's KEVIN MITCHELL, a multiple winner here. The victory was Billings second of the year.
The women's Sprint was won by GRACE BUSCH, 18, who has been impressing us since she was a 13-years-old, yet hadn't raced often enough to be included in the JOY conversations. Busch outpaced tri-vetrean TERESA VAN HYFTE (SD) for her 58-second win.
This year's tris had 50 finishers. RESULTS
BERTRAM BLAST - Pre-race faves JAKE KEEHAN and recently surgerized BETTINA KEPPERS lived up to their billing last Sunday in the 5th edition of BB Off Road Triathlon. Conditions were surprising accommodating. The forecasted rain kept some volunteers from showing but almost all of the 120+ sign-ups made the morning trek to wilderness-y Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park. ...
Heather and Curt Are Back! Kyle is the Real Deal...
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Monday, 21 June 2021 00:10
LAKE MINNETONKA TRIATHLON COVERAGE - Heather and Curt are back! Kyle is the Real Deal! Henry is on the Rookie of the Year radar! These are some of the storylines defining last Saturday's Lake Minnetonka Triathlon, which as always was an excellent event.
Let's start with HEATHER LENDWAY's triumphant return to triathlon after a four-year hiatus. She performed like the Heather of yesteryear; like the Athlete of the Decade Heather.
Where was the rust? Your guess is as good as ours.
Her swim was the third fastest of the day, just seconds behind the men's leaders. After crushing the bike, she entered T2 in fourth place overall behind the eventual men's podium. A great run split (18:44 / 3-mile) eventually landed her in 5th place overall. She was only passed by one male athlete, a former college track and cross country star at UMD named HENRY JESSEN, who is also a decorated swimmer, and, according to our research, has done only one prior triathlon. If this is true, we have our current frontrunner for 2021 Rookie of the Year.
Back to Heather. Placing 5th overall, her time was a ridiculous 1:07:57, a clocking that is second only to the course record 1:04:53 she set in 2014, the year she won both Nationals and Worlds and was named US Athlete of the Year. ...
New Triathlon for Women...
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Saturday, 19 June 2021 00:10
By Doobie Kurus
Hey everybody! I wanted to let you know about a new event I’m putting on this summer. It’s called the 4WOMEN Tri, and it will be held at Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, MN on Sunday, August 22nd. It’s named 4WOMEN because it’s being dedicated to 4 important women in my life (my wife and 3 daughters). They’ve been participating and helping at triathlons for years, and now it’s their turn to help create an event of their own.
Plus, as you probably guessed, this event is FOR women. My mission is to create additional safe, welcoming, and inspiring opportunities for women, like my wife and daughters, to engage in and enjoy multisport activities and fitness in general. If you’ve ever done the Hopkins Royal Tri, many things will be familiar, like a laid-back atmosphere, personalized race bibs, and bottle “trophies”! We’ll be offering a sprint distance, as well as a mini-sprint option....
