Race Previews

Carolina Road Trip...

Wednesday, 14 May 2014 06:10

USAT LONG DISTANCE DUATHLON NATIONALS - The 2014 Long Course Duathlon National Championships will take place in Cary, North Carolina next Saturday. The event, consisting of a 32-mile bike leg bracketed by 5-mile runs, will qualify American duathletes for the Zofingen (SUI) Long Course World Champs next September.

Several of Minnesota's best duathletes will be racing in Cary.

Who?

Suzy Fox, Diane Hankee, Brendon O'Flanagan and Patrick Parish. Maybe others.

Fox was the Minnesota Duathlete of the Year in 2013 and was arguably the fastest amateur female run-bike-runner in the US last season. After her mechanical DNF at Oakdale last weekend, she is anxious to race....

Hankee has already raced in two dus this season, winning both times, once in CR time, the other just seconds off the course best.

Though O'Flanagan earned a Most Improved nomination last season, he has been beset by various health issues over the last few years. We are unsure how he will perform next Saturday, but we're confident that he'll earn a Zofingen slot, whether or not he chooses to accept it.

Patrick Parish is a two-time Duathlon National Champion, once as an amateur (2012), once as a pro (2013). We believe he will win in Cary, but we're not sure if the event qualifies pro athletes. We suspect that the first amateur finisher will be crowned National Champion.

On paper, either Fox (photo R) or Hankee could win the overall women's title. We wouldn't be surprised if they both made the overall podium. Our research suggests that their closest competition will come from two-time USAT DOY Gail Kattouff of South Carolina, whose husband is a really, really cool guy, Glenda Adams of Texas, who finished 2nd behind Suzie at Apple last year and earned a USAT DOY HM, and Lisa Bouhler, who is a British citizen living in Florida.

MTN plans to post results as soon as they are available. We will also post a story, hopefully a race report from one of the Minnesota participants, next week.