Race Previews

COLT XI Stuff....

Thursday, 03 May 2012 02:30

COLT Preview - The Chain of Lakes Triathlon, aka "COLT," is about to launch into it's second decade on Saturday. Cool, huh!

That's right, this will be the 11th edition of the annual Tri Minnesota Series kick-off event. The weather on May 5 in "Alex," short for Alexandria, is expected to be breezy with highs in the mid-60s. The UV index should be "5" and the moon on the evening before the race should be "Waxing Gibbous," whatever the hell that means. Temps should be in the low 50s at the start, and as they say here in Minnesota, "you could do a lot worse."

For those of you who haven't done this fine event before, it consists of a 600 yard pool swim at Discovery Middle School, followed by a 13 mile bike ride in the rolling hinterlands, and concluding with a 2.8 mile run on paved trails and residential streets....

Sounds tempting, doesn't it. Too bad. Registration closed earlier this week.

Now, it's time for MTN's ridiculous PREDICTIONS. Here's what we think will happen on Saturday in Alex:

- The lovely and statuesque Amy Woolsey (photo R), who is really good at math, will be the tallest girl in the women's Top 10.

- Insanely handsome Fotis Bazakos (photo L) will have the most exotic, foreigny-sounding name in the field. Sounds sorta "Greekish / Russiany," doesn't it?

- Neither course-record-holder Michelle Andres, nor three-time champ, Jen Lenarz, who has got to be Minnesota's prettiest cop ever, will win on Saturday. This is because these girls will be elsewhere doing other stuff.

- Angie Hop will spend a good part of the race weekend hanging-out with friends and family. The transplanted Twin Citizen grew up in Alex, you know.

- 2003 COLT winner, Sarah Foley, who has won 10 Tri Minnesota Series races in her career, will race on Saturday. Sarah will use the race as an excuse to get away from her 8-9 children, whom she loves dearly but needs, for the sake of her sanity, to get away from