Race Coverage
Insane Splits & New Names...
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Tuesday, 25 February 2025 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.
Sweet Moments & Great Performances...
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Saturday, 22 February 2025 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...
Gems & Sheeshes...
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Wednesday, 19 February 2025 00:10
By Spencer Syvertson
Lake Minnetonka Triathlon Race Report - The Minnetonka triathlon is a gem! It’s unique because of the large turnout (400+ racers) but it’s not a super intense race like other large events. The amount of people having a good time riding their cruiser bikes was impressive!
Thanks to the MTN coverage I was able to set some goals coming into the race. I was excited to see Preston Youngdahl on the start line. I watched him wipe the field at Timberman last summer and I was eager to reduce the gap this time around.
My swim was solid and I found myself just a few seconds behind the lead as I exited the water. I pride myself on my T1 and used that to take the lead onto the bike.
After strapping in I gave myself a minute to catch my breath and wait for Preston take the lead. My riding has greatly improved so I wanted to give myself a shot to ride with him as long as I could.
Great Racing at Trinona XIV!....
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Sunday, 16 February 2025 00:10
Trinona Coverage - Road construction has forced the alteration of Trinona's intermediate bike course for the last two years. The route is approximately five kilometers shorter than the standard 1.5K - 40K - 10K. This explains why the frontrunner's threw down such fast times yesterday. It shoulld be noted that Trinona's bike course, full distance or shortened version, is seriously challenging. Most would agree that Trinona's international bike course is the toughest in our region....
Word of the Day: TETRAHEDRON...
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Thursday, 13 February 2025 00:10
By Doobie Kurus
The 5th annual SWIM-Off to Summer was our largest field ever with well over 200 registered and coming from all over the midwest. It was also our most competitive one to date. Just getting into the event was competitive, as it sold out back in April this year. Race day conditions were ideal, as the Friday rain storms gave way to overcast skies, similar air/water temps, and calm water. Those that stuck around afterwards enjoyed burgers and ice cream sundaes, plus lots of fun treats people brought to share. The only issue of the morning was me confusing people as I described the race course and using interjecting "tetrahedron" every other sentence as a reference to the shape of the buoys. I'll get that cleared up by next year!
In the .3 mile (sprint) distance race, Greg Breheim (6:43), Tyler Gerst (8:10), and Kyle Sweeney (9:40) came in 1, 2, and 3 respectively for the men. Linda Green (7:20), Bryce White (8:08), and Allison Brunner (10:14) came in that way for the women....
Clayton & Warning Break Out at Clear Lake...
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Monday, 10 February 2025 00:10
Photo - Mitchell Clayton and Noah Billings
Tri Clear Lake Sprint Coverage - A few days ago we predicted that Rochester's NOAH BILLINGS would three-peat as men's champion in today's Tri Clear Lake Sprint. The two-time Minnesota Junior of the Year raced hard, beating his 2023 time, but ultimately settled for 2nd behind another former Minnesota JOY, MITCHELL CLAYTON, also of the Med City, whose 58:23 might be an amateur record here. Our research shows that only pro triathlete Wes Anderson (IA) had posted a faster time (57:47 in 2018) at Clear Lake.
The performance was arguably the finest of Clayton's multisport career and we are currently trying to talk him into filing a race report.
We also predicted that Minnesotans GRACE BUSCH (Mankato) and CHANTAL NACK (Minneapolis) would finish 1-2 in the women's Sprint competition. We're happy to report that we were almost correct. Busch, our state's Junior of the Year in 2022, rocked an amateur record 1:03:25, which was good for 4th pllace
