Race Coverage
"You Really Have to Hang On Tight"...
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Sunday, 30 June 2024 00:10
By Brandon Lee
Graniteman Clearwater Sprint Race Report - Fun weekend of local racing. Saturday I raced a sprint distance at Graniteman (Clearwater, MN) and took 1st place overall. Sunday I raced Manitou Olympic in White Bear Lake, 2nd place overall.
Graniteman is a bit longer than standard distance sprint, I was very happy with my time of 1:06, just edged out Brooks Grossinger by 24 seconds. Hats off to you on another great performance bud!
My strategy was pretty simple. Swim, bike, and run as hard as possible for an hour, and let the dust settle. That’s sprint distance racing, and I’m always so humbled by this distance, you really have to hang on tight.
Didn’t feel great on the bike for the first 15 minutes, the air was super heavy as it had been raining all night, but I was able to push some good power and have a lead coming into T2. The run course is super tough, the first and last miles are a trail run with some punchy hills and the one mile of road running has some elevation as well. At the turnaround I figured I had about 45 seconds on Brooks and I just told myself to keep fighting, because I knew he was pulling me back, barely hung on for the win. You’re a class act my friend!
Fast Racing & Amazing Camaraderie...
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Friday, 28 June 2024 00:10
By Christel Kippenhan
Fast Racing and Lots of Fun in Omaha.
June 5 – 9, 2024 – USAT National Multisport Championships Festival, Omaha, NE
Super Sprint Triathlon Time Trial, Draft-legal Sprint Triathlon & Mixed Team Triathlon Relay
CliffsNotes
* Raced three National Championship races around Lake Glenn Cunningham in Omaha, NE within four days : Super Sprint Triathlon Time Trial, Draft-legal Sprint Triathlon & Mixed Team Triathlon Relay.
* Finished 2nd in my age group for both my individual races: Super Sprint Triathlon Time Trial & Draft-legal Sprint Triathlon.
Finished 3rd in the Grandmaster category (women 55+) for the Draft-legal Sprint Triathlon, just behind two amazing triathletes: Kelly Dippold and Steph Popelar....
Insane Splits & New Names...
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Wednesday, 26 June 2024 00:10
2024 Maitou Triathlon Coverage - MARCUS DUVAL's swim and bike splits at Manitou Olympic last Sunday were insane. The fact that a 41-minute 10K could still get him across the line in less than two hours on a course that had a little extra distance in both of the first two phases clearly illustrates this. And yes, he won by a substantial margin over the runner-up, who was elite master BRANDON LEE, the guy who won the Clearwater Sprint Triathlon the day before. Marcus' time was 1:59:46. Brandon's was 2:08:45, featuring solid splits throughout.
Third place went to lapsed triathlete ANDY WIBERG, now 45, whose last race prior to this season was Maple Grove Olympic in 2021. Andy competed in Ironman 70.3 Des Moines on June 9, where he finished 4th in his AG (4:36:55).
Winning the women's Olympic race was KRISTINA GEIGER. (2:26:51). We don't know much about her, but we think she might own a weirdly cool fish hat (photo). FYI, the MTN Guys love to see new people win races or rock high placings in our state's multisport races.
Love, Newbies and Breakouts....
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Monday, 24 June 2024 00:10
GRANITEMAN CLEARWATER. COVERAGE - JESSICA, 45, and JASON , 53, are in love, the capital L head-over-heels kind. Poor Jessica, though. Jason is training for Ironman and their time together is limited. Unless! Unless non-trathlete Jessica becomes Triathlete Jessica. Then they can train together occasionally, but also have a mutual interest to talk about at the end of the day. Jason knew that the best way to addict his fiance (we think?) to the tri lifestyle is to do a race together. When she crosses her first finish line, she will be hooked like a Netflix binge-watcher.
Jason Riley lstarted three minutes in front of his beloved at Saturday's Clearwater Sprint. He waited for her at the mount zone Then they rode and ran together the rest of the way, sometimes holding hands. Did it work? Heck yeah! She's a triathlete now. Okay, what they did was not exactly legal but it's hard to get upset when you're in the presence of true love.
KAITSEY BAKER was bursting with joy when she crossed the finish line in 2nd place at Clearwater Sprint. Her elation was infecious. Her family was awaiting her, as was her boyfriend. He had flowers. Who is Kaitsey Baker, you ask? We asked ourselves the same question. She's a tri newbie, and to say she has aptitude for this sport is like saying Caitlin Clark is a pretty good basketball player....
Sweet Moments & Great Performances...
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Friday, 21 June 2024 00:10
2024 Lake Minnetonka Triathlon - The 20th edition of this classic event had more than it share of great moments, perhaps the sweetest of which occurred during the pre-race meeting. The national anthem singer, Aubree, age 13, stood frozen in front of a a crowd of more than five hundred triathletes, plus their friends and families, and a host of volunteers. Poor girl. Then, at the gentle urging of event host MIke Rogers, some of the athletes began to sing. Soon the majority of the crowd was singing. Empowered, Aubree, with mic in hand, joined in. It was a beautiful moment and the post-song applause was thunderous. Some of us get misty at times like these...
story lines
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Wednesday, 19 June 2024 00:10
storylines - Spencer - 50s - Becky & Thad - Whitney
