Race Coverage

Sunday Race Capsules...UPDATED...

Sunday, 01 June 2014 15:06

BUFFALO TRIATHLON - The weather wasn't nearly as yucky as was anticipated. The grey, dank conditions didn't slow down Matt Payne, who set an Olympic course record. Elaine Nelson took the women's Olympic title. John Heinlein held off Brain Sames in the Sprint. He was joined in the Winner's Circle by Cheryl Zitur. RESULTS

PIGMAN SPRINT - 2007 US Athlete of the Year, Daniel Bretscher, a 7th-year pro from Mount Vernon, Iowa, held off David Thompson for the win. St. Paul's Heather Lendway (photo) annihilated the women's course record. RESULTS

UPDATE: MTN received this email from Kevin O'Connor concerning David Thompson's race at Pigman:

So you know, David had a big lead and was set to win and set a new course record but got a flat with four miles left of the bike. He rode it in but was passed by Daniel and couldn't reel Daniel in on the run. Heather was, as expected, a total stud. The race was a ton of fun, another total success.

More words and photos about BUffalo will posy on Tuesday. Pigman coverage will appear on Friday.

More Stuff on next page...

The Greatest Performance in Apple History......

Monday, 26 May 2014 03:10

By Tyler Buckintine (sctimes.com)

Training sometimes takes up an average of 15 hours of his week and he spends a lot of time on the road competing at duathlons and triathlons around the nation.

"My profession is being a professional triathlete and I basically started racing pro right after grad school," Thompson said. "I just race and I travel a lot. It's a lot of training. It flexible but there's no days off. I also do daddy daycare."

Thompson hadn't participated in the Apple Duathlon since 2010, the last year of his four-year win streak. He also won the race in 2004 and 2005....

Long & Waterless...

Sunday, 25 May 2014 00:10

USA Triathlon Web Release (usatriathlon.org):

CARY, N.C. — Amateur multisport athletes Albert Harrison and Laura Kline bested a field of more than 400 competitors to claim the overall titles at Saturday’s USA Triathlon Long Course Duathlon National Championships, held in conjunction with the Cary Du Classic presented by the Happy Tooth.

Harrison (Boone, N.C.) finished the 5-mile run, 32-mile bike, 5-mile run course in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 21 seconds to win the overall and men’s 25-29 age group title. Jeff Wilson (Copley, Ohio), also in the men’s 25-29 age group, was second in 2:14:44, and Marc Warner (Crozier, Va.) was third overall, winning the men’s 45-49 title in 2:15:24. Patrick Parish (Bloomington, Minn.) posted the fastest time of the day in 2:13:00, but as an elite (professional) athlete does not qualify for age-group awards or national titles.

Kline (New Paltz, N.Y.) was the top finisher on the women’s side, earning the overall title as well as the women’s 35-39 division title in a time of 2:28:53. Diane Hankee (Lino Lakes, Minn.) finished in 2:29:09 for second overall and in the women’s 35-39 division, and Hannah Hanson (Frederick, Md.) claimed the women’s 34-39 title, rounding out the overall podium in 2:29:33....

Awesome Apple...

Saturday, 24 May 2014 02:00

The 32nd Apple Duathlon was nothing short of awesome. It was won for the seventh time by pro David Thompson. Brooks Grossinger finished 4th and claimed the amateur men's title.

Pro Ruth Brennan Morrey nuked her 2012 CR and former Rochesterarian Dani Fischer (photo L) was Top amateur in the 4th fastest time in race history (1:32:43). James Hannon (55-59M) and Pam Stevens (60-64W) rewrote their AG's course records. Words and photos are coming soon. RESULTS

Devon's Double...

Saturday, 24 May 2014 00:10

By Devon Palmer (palmertri.wordpress.com)

RACE REPORTAGE - It was a mixed weekend. After Falls Duathlon and another du the weekend after I took a full week to train. This weekend I tried a double, racing a sprint tri Saturday and the Gear West Duathlon Sunday. In the past the only double weekends I’ve done were with the Firehouse 50 team time trial on Saturday then a tri on Sunday. That went poorly the first year I tried it in 09 and fine the second year in 2010. The double was a nice push and I felt really strong a couple weeks later both times.

Saturday the sprint tri was fun but frigid. The swim was 51 degrees. That’s brisk. I felt like throwing up the first few minutes. The rest of the swim I just wanted to get the heck out of the water. I did not swim well at all. Heather...

Cold Water Makes You Slower...

Wednesday, 21 May 2014 06:10

Photo - Winners Heather Lendway and Devon Palmer doing some post-race glow-basking.

BLAINE TRIATHLON - Cold water makes triathletes slower. This was especially evident at the 3rd annual Blaine Triathlon last Saturday. Racing conditions were semi-ideal, except for the water temp, which was announced as 51.4-degrees. Some said it didn't feel that warm.

Mercifully, the swim was shortened from by a little more than a hundred meters, from .33 to .25.

How does cold water make one slow, you inquire?

It makes you shiver and your hands don't work, and your feet get numb and you can't talk good. Transition times are doubled, or tripled, or worse. Then it's hard to ride fast. Doing so only makes you colder and your teeth chatter harder and you get those convulsive shivery spasms that can make you crash if you already have lousy balance and negligible core strength.

Then you have to run on dead feet that make clumpy noises against the asphalt.