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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....
Happy Tin Anniversay...
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Wednesday, 04 June 2014 00:10
LIBERTY OLYMPIC PREVIEW - Saturday will mark a very special occasion: the 10th, or "Tin or Aluminum," anniversary of the Liberty Olympic Triathlon. If you're thinking of getting Mark at Final Stretch (Liberty's producers) a gift, we suggest you get him some Reynold's Wrap or siding for his house.
On such an auspicious occasion, we thought it would be cool to predict this year's overall podium, not just the winners. Remember, we do this for sheits and giggles, so don't make monetary bets based on our picks.
For the guys, we believe that three-time Minnesota Master of the Year nominee, David Holden will win for the 2nd time in the four years that the event has been staged at Lake Rebecca. We hope he can match his awesome PR (1:53:32) on this course.
Joining Holden in the winner's circle, we think, will be Kortney Haag (photo). If she does this--we're predicting a course record effort from Kort--she will become the only athlete in Liberty history to win both the half (she owns the CR) and the Olympic.
Our picks for runners-up is the husband/wife team of Scott and Andrea Myers. Thirdsies, in our opinion, will be claimed by Mike Ladendorf and Gaby Bunten....More stuff on page 2.
Great Racing in Soggy Buffalo...
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Tuesday, 03 June 2014 06:10
BUFFALO XI - Slightly more than two-thirds of Buffalo's 1100ish enrollees (800ish) showed up at soggy Sturges Park last Sunday. Some were prepared to race despite inclement weather, others had faith that the rain would cease, or at least lessen. These sturdy folks were rewarded with very raceable weather. An hour or so before Wave 1, the storm system that had buffeted the area for the last 24-hours, pushed off to horth and east. The next system, which was sneaking in from South Dakota, wouldn't arrive for another two and a half hours, and what did come was weak and brief. The result for the faithful 800 was a great racing experience, one that produced some awesome performances.
May Athlete of the Month, Matt Payne, was in a league of his own on Sunday. A solid swim and a huge bike split kept his pursuers out of sight. Despite taking an estimated 20-seconds to rescue a turtle on the run course--Matt is a well-known Turtle-o-phile--he arrived at the finish line 4:20 ahead of co-favorite Jon Balabuck of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Matt had time to drain two cans of PBR before his Canuck counterpart made his effort official....
Trinona 2014 Preview Stuff...
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Tuesday, 03 June 2014 04:10
RACE PREVIEW - Since its inauguration in '09, TRINONA has been a Top 5 finalist for "Triathletes Choice Race of the Year." In 2010 and 2011 it actually won the award....
Lofty Expectations...
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Monday, 02 June 2014 00:10
(Minnefotamoments PIc - A woman with awesome abs crosses the shady finish line at the 2012 Liberty Half.)
LIBERTY HALF PREVE - We're really excited about next Saturday's Liberty Half, which will be celebrating its 9th anniversary and its fourth year at the Lake Rebecca venue. The field is strong and, weather permitting, we could see overall and several AG course records fall.
There are at least five registered guys that can dip under 4:10, a feat that has never been accomplished at Liberty. In fact, only one dude, Matt Payne (4:07:39 - 2013), has cracked the 250-minute mark in the past. This year, however, we wouldn't be surprised to see Matt, former Canadian pro Danny Morwood (PR-4:07), four-time IM winner Dan Arlandson (PR - 4:06), 2013 Libert Runner-up Patrick Peacock (4:12:06) of Winnipeg, and Brian Sames (PR - 4:16 on a long course), who almost caught amateur champ Payne last year at Chisago, do that.
Jason Crisp, Kyle Serreyn, Justin Manning, John Heinlein and Chap Achen will provide a sturdy push. If all goes well, these guys should post times in the 4:11 - 4:20-range.
We don't expect to anyone to break Kortney Haag's CR-4:35:45, but we do expect a great race with a record number of women breaking 5-hours, which is to say, we think that more than six women will dip under the...
