FEATURES

Observations & Stuff...

Tuesday, 07 March 2017 23:10

 - NEW MASTERS - MATTHEW PAYNE and DIANE HANKEE are turning forty this year, and we expect them to uphold the world class standards set for men by TONY SCHILLER, BRIAN BICH and KEVIN O'CONNOR, and, for women, JAN GUENTHER, all of whom have finished at, or near, the top of the Team Minnesota rankings a time or two since entering Masterhood.

- SCHEDULE STUFF - At last glance, there were 61 adult multisport events on Minnesota's 2017 multisport calendar. This list includes ...

a few popular border state events, like Outland Challenge (SD), Pigman Sprint (IA) and Shell Lake Tri (WI).

At its peak five or six years back, there were 83 races on the schedule.

Though the numbers are down, there are still some overloaded weekends. It would be groovy if some of the races were able to reschedule, though we understand the obstacles that can prevent that. Still, here are the weekends we'd like to see altered:

July 8 -9: On Saturday -  Timberman, Life Time - Minneapolis, Graniteman-Clearwater. On Sunday - NO RACES scheduled. The Saturday races are iconic and deserve maximum attendance. If one or two of them would move to Sunday, OR, the following Saturday (7/15), which has no in-state races, then all of the races would have a better chance of prospering.

August 12-13: Saturday races include Lake Marion, Northwoods and Rainy Lake. Sunday races include Green Lake, North Mankato, YWCA Women's Tri. This weekend has six races while the next weekend (8/18-19) has only one event, Young Life Tri in Detroit Lakes. It would be great to see some movement here.

August 26-27 - Five races--Chequamegon Fat Tire, Maple Grove, My First Tri, Lakes Country and Superior Man--are scheduled, but only one, Hopkins Royal, is slated for the next weekend. It would be nice to see at least one of these events relocate.

- ALSO - We encourage Minnesota's triathletes and duathletes to entice at least one friend or family member to do a multisport race or two next season. And we would like to see millennials, who appear to race less often than their older, veteran counterparts, to add a race or two to their schedules. We expect to see an upturn in race attendance in the next two seasons, and this trend could be bolstered by the recommendations made here.