Race Coverage

Sometimes Your Fears Are in Your Head...

Wednesday, 28 June 2017 09:10

By Julia Weisbecker (juia-gobiggreen.blogspot.com)

Liberty Race Report - Saturday June 10 was the Liberty OLY. I have done this race umpteen times. I have raced the half iron distance in rain, hail, sleet, and high 40 deg temps. Not fun. I Remember running 13.1 miles on calves that were so cold, that my legs were literally trashed for 2 weeks after. Not fun....

Nate & Nicole Keep Winning...

Monday, 26 June 2017 09:10

Photo (L-R) - Jordan, Christina, Nathan, Julie

LAKE WACONIA XXVIII - If the season ended today, one of the frontrunners for Female Triathlete of the Year would be NICOLE HEININGER. (The other would be DANI VSETECKA.) Nicole has won three of the five races she's entered thus far, and placed 2nd and 4th in the other two.

Nicole's most recent victory was recorded last Sunday at Lake Waconia, where a monster bike split sealed the deal. She was cresting Cemetary Hill on foot before her closest challenger, DIANE HANKEE entered T2.

Heininger kept pushing. She didn't let up. When she crossed the finish line she had more than two minutes to recover befor Hankee, who, in deja vu fashion, was relentlessly pursued by CHRISTINA ROBERTS. In the end, Hankee's margin over Roberts was only nine seconds. (In 2016, Diane's margin was 11 seconds.)

Exciting stuff.

The win was the 12th of Heininger's young career, and her 2nd at the LWT. She also was victorious here in 2014.

Fourth place was earned by two-time LWT winner SUZIE FOX. Fifth was taken by 58-year-old JAN GUENTHER, who's 1:32:58 was nothing short of superhero-ish; the AG performance of the day, hands down....

Gratitude & Panic Attacks...

Sunday, 25 June 2017 09:10

ED. Lake Waconia race coverage will post on Tuesday.

By Dani Vsetecka (4irowasisters.blogspot.com)

Apple & Madison 70.3 Race Reports - “Is this real life?” This is the question I’ve had to repeatedly ask myself for the past few days. It’s difficult to put into words to describe the range of emotions I’ve felt. Disbelief, joy, exhilaration, nervousness, and most of all: gratitude, gratitude, and more gratitude. My last two races (the Apple Duathlon and Madison 70.3) have far exceeded my expectations and I can hardly believe what’s actually happened. The outcomes came, but more importantly so has amazing time with family, the opportunity to build friendships, and feelings of self-assurance.

The highlight of the Apple Duathlon was getting to slap my nephew's hand coming out of T2. All three nephews, my sister, my mom, and I spent the night before the race in my parent's RV basically on the race site the night before. We had a blast "camping" and getting to spend the 4 hour trip (2 hrs each way) talking to my sister is a rarity these days when most our time together involves chasing three energetic boys. :) I surprised myself in the race by not being afraid to push hard when I needed to and even though I came away with the win by only 25 seconds, I was happy to redeem my 2nd place and 22 second deficit the year before. Results - HERE

Going into Ironman 70.3 Wisconsin two weeks later, I was equal parts excited and nervous. I signed up and booked a hotel the day registration opened while lying on a beach one day after Ironman 70.3 Miami. Being such a close midwest race, a lot of my friends were also racing and I couldn't wait to be there with a fun group. But keeping an eye on the forecast earlier in the week, I got a little uneasy. A high of 92 degrees and up to 30 mph winds. Woah. I wasn’t sure if I had acclimated to heat this ...

The Hartland Express....

Tuesday, 20 June 2017 23:10

Photo - Ironman / farmer / philanthropist Jeff Dahle.

ROCHESTERFEST COVERAGE - As JEFF DAHLE, 54, from Morristown, approached the finish line at Sunday's RochesterFest Olympic Triathlon, the announcer referred to him as "Minnesota's fastest farmer triathlete."

The announcer was wrong, and Dahle let him know it via a Facebook message, saying in effect that MITCH BREKKE is actually the fastest triathlete/farmer. Dahle referred to Brekke as "The Hartland Express."

As luck would have it, The Hartland Express WON this year's RochesterFest Olympic, the third win of his young multisport career. His margin of victory was substantial, too: 4:35.

As for Dahle, he still deserved rockstar treatment, and not only for being, perhaps, the 2nd fastest famer/triathlete in Minnesota, but for being the most generous one. Last Sunday he brough a bag of Fun Size candy bars that took two hands to lift. Anyone on the venue, participants, volunteers, spectators, vendors, you name it, who desired a Twix or a Snickers or a Milky Way could have as many as they wanted....

Ansbaugh's Arrival...

Sunday, 18 June 2017 14:10

Photo - 45-49W winner JODY QUESNELL, who is a HOOT, and race founder / director ROSS ROGNEY

LAKE MINNETONKA COVERAGE - When 2010-11 LMT champ and 2016 runner-up STEVE SANDER, who is currently sidelined by medical stuff, watched NATHAN ANSBAUGH take a one-minute lead on five-time champ BROOKS GROSSINGER with him out of T2 on Saturday, he immediately insisted that Ansbaugh would not be caught. We weren't so sure, though. To us, it seemed possible that Brooksie could run him down, a feat that required a per-mile-pace that was twenty-seconds faster than Nate's.

Brooks had proven himself here and elsewhere year after year, whereas Ansbaugh had yet to truly show us what he is capable of, though his 2016 podium efforts at Gear West Du and Heart of the Lakes suggested that he was flirting with stardom.

In the end, Sander was totally right. Ansbaugh not only held on for the win, his first on Minnesota soil, Grossinger only outsplit him on the run by eight seconds.

Has Ansbaugh "arrived?" Sander thinks so, and we agree....

Mixed Memories & Fleeting Redemption...

Saturday, 17 June 2017 23:10

By Nicole Heininger (from Facebook)

LIBERTY RACE REPORT - Liberty 70.3 was a race I wanted to come back and "redeem" myself. I have a lot of memories good and not so good here and although I've done well here before, I thought I could do better. Unfortunately with strong winds and HOT temps, this was not the day for that. Swim was rough, choppy water made for a butt kicker. Winds on the bike proved to kick my butt even more as I struggled to find any speed at the beginning. It didn't help I didn't pay attention to winds and rode with my front HED Jet 9 wheel

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