Race Previews

Did Ross Save America?

Monday, 06 May 2013 03:10

(Photos - Are these pics of the same guy?)

Event Previews - Two duathlons are slated for Saturday, May 11. One is 12-years-old, the other is celebrating its second anniversary. If you're totally into cycling, we recommend that you check out the younger race. It's a bike-run-bike contest with seven times as many bike miles as there are run miles. The race is in Fergus Falls and it's called the Central Lakes Cycle Duathlon. Last year's race was won by local stud, David Jensen, and Alexandria studette Angie Johnson....

Link HERE to learn more about the Central Lakes Cycle Du.

The other race, the 12-year-old one--12 regular years equal 84 race years, same as with dogs--is the Oakdale Spring Classic Du and it will be staged at Lake Elmo Park Reserve. The venue appears to have been designed for duathlon and the event always draws a large (400-600 participants) and talented field. The entrants list on the website hasn't been updated since April 2, thus we don't know all of the fast people that will be there, but we were certainly impressed with the early listing which featured the names of at least twenty credentialed athletes, including women's defending champ and CR-holder, Suzy Fox.

The MTN Guys are anxious to see how certain people fare at Oakdale on Saturday. Last year's men's runner-up was Kyle Serreyn, who narrowly missed claiming a spot on Team Minnesota last season (he placed 11th in the voting). We suspect that this will be a big year for the 22-year-old physician-to-be. He owes part of his success to his dad, who cuts his (Kyle's) hair and insists that doing so has a devastatingly positive effect on his performance. Kyle, however, demands that his dad, who's name is Paul but Kyle calls him "Dad," use the #2 clipper attachment. Paul, aka "Dad," fervently believes that the #1 will yield superior results from both an aesthetic and performance standpoint. If Kyle goes with the #1, we think he has a good chance to win on Saturday.

Others we will have our eyes on include Thunder Bay's Jon Balabuck who didn't race last year because of a "health thing." He's an awesome athlete who missed all of the 2010 season, too, but whose first race in 2011 produced an amateur course record at Buffalo Olympic. Our point is that if Jon races, he will be one of the faves.

We're also anxious to see Ross Weinzierl because we like him a lot. We once teased him, saying that he bore a slight resemblance to actor Randy Quaid, which wasn't the greatest compliment in the world. In truth folks, the studly, furry, and yes, handsome, Rossy W. resembles Gerard Butler. Have you seen "Olympus Has Fallen" yet? It is awesome! Seriously! In it Gerard Butler single-handedly saves the President and America from a North Korean terrorist guy who is even more diabolical than the current real dictator guy with the truly bad haircut.

We dare you to watch that movie and not say, "Gee, that hero guy sure looks like Ross Weinzierl."

To find out more about the Oakdale Du, click HERE.