Race Previews

Epic Matchup!

Wednesday, 18 May 2016 00:10

GEAR WEST DU - Last year's Minnesota Triathlete of the Year, Suzie Fox (photo L), was also our state's premier female duathlete, and a USAT DOY HM. She won five run-bike-runs and podiumed in two others. One of her wins was at the Gear West Duathlon, a race she also won in 2013. (She did not race at the 2014 edition of that annual classic.) On paper, she comes into Sunday's GWD as the women's favorite.

It's possible that Suzie's stiffest challenge next weekend will come from a woman who has only done one prior du, and that was at least a decade ago. Her name is Nicole Cueno and she is well known as one of our state's premier distance runners. She's qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials at time or two and was Minnesota's Female Runner of the Year in 2015. ....

She's also famous for being the director of the YWCA Women's Tri, arguably the best women's triathlon in America.

Nicole (photo R) is a low-volume triathlete, and when she does race, she excels. She's posted three wins and four other podium finishes in the last two seasons. Her lack of racing volume is all that has kept her off Team MInnesota.

As an elite runner, she appears doomed to become a national-level duathlete. After all, she gets to run twice in the same event.

Based on their splits in their last confrontation--Heart of the Lakes last July--Nicole has about a 20-25 second/mile advantage over Suzie on the run, and Suzie's advantage on the bike is just over a 1 mph. This suggests that Cueno will gain 2:20ish over the 9Ks of running. Suzie's bike gain over the 26Ks will, according to our calculator, be just over two minutes.

It's possible that transition speed will determine the women's outcome on Sunday. Suzie has experience and muscle memory on her side. Nicole has the luxury of doing what she does best twice.

This matchup is going to be epic.