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Northwoods XXII: Records Should Fall...
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Wednesday, 06 August 2025 00:10
22nd NORTHWOODS TRIATHLON PREVIEW - This year's men's field is clearly the deepest in the two-plus decade history of this race. On only one prior occasion--2017--had three men managed to break the 1-hour mark on NW's scenic .25 - 14 - 5K course. Five guys could slip under 60 minutes next Saturday. Who are they?
JOSH BLANKENHEIM - NW's defending champ, Josh recorded the fastest rookie effort--58:26-- here in 2024. He's coming off a record-setting performance at Brewhouse, and a win on Saturday, would be the 20th of his multisport career.
MITCHELL CLAYTON - Mitch has been barking with the Big Dogs for the last two seasons. A sub-1 hour effort on Saturday would likely secure a "Most Improved" nomination at season's end.
BROOKS GROSSINGER - Brooks has won this race 18 times, owns the course record (57:38 in 2013) and has dipped under the 60-minute mark 14 times. Enouth said....
Diane's Back!
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Tuesday, 05 August 2025 00:10
38th BREWHOUSE TRIATHLON - Lots of storylines! Here's four of them:
- ELAINE NELSON's triumphant return to tri racing.
- JOSH BLANKENHEIM's Long Course record.
- SHYANNE MCGREGOR's 2nd consecutive outright win in the Sprint competition.
- BREWHOUSE's super-awesome volunteers.
Elaine - During her absence from the triathlon scene in 2023 and 2024, we worried that Elaine, inauguably Duluth's all-time most successful female triathlete, had retired. We couldn't be happier that our fears were unjustified. Last Sunday she raced at Brewhouse Olympic and did what she had done eight times before, i.e. won by a convincing margin. The W was the 28th of Diane's tri career dating back to her Rookie of the Year campaign in 2010.
Josh B - Duluth's premier male triathlete since the retirement of the great BRIAN BICH, Blank not only won the BHO for the 3rd time, he lowered SPENCER SYVERTSON's 2024 course record, a mark that looked like it might...stand for a long time, by 38-seconds. Josh is now the first man to break 1:50 (1:49:39) on BH's .75 - 24 - 5 course. The 2024 Master of the Year, Josh is the current frontrunner for that honor this season. He needs one more elite level performance to lock that in, and we are confident that his return to Northwoods next week will make that happen....
The Layton Boys Strike Again...
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Sunday, 03 August 2025 00:10
2025 GRANITEMAN BIG LAKE COVERAGE - Big Lake's LAYTON BROTHERS are occasional triathletes. VERY occasional. But when they show up, look out. In 2022 OWEN, age 16, won the Big Lake Sprint by just under a three-minute margin. He had also raced in the hometown tri in 2020 (age 14), where he finished 38th. Nice improvement.
Owen's brother KADE, 20, raced in this year's Granitman BL Olympic race, an event he entered in 2023 and managed to finish 11th. Last Saturday, though, he won the race outright by a 58-second margin over a gaggle of tri vets. Neither of the Layton brothers has raced in more that three triathlons in their lives. Very cool. We recommend that they get serious about swim-bike-run because their respective aptitudes are clear.
While Kade's W was a pleasant surprise (as was his brothers a few years back), the Top Two women in the Saturday's Olympic race were very prediicatable. Winner of more than 50 tris and dus in her stellar career, BECKY YOUNGBERG outsplit the field in each discipline en route to her victory, with AMY PREUSSER finishing comfortably in 2nd place. Amy's 2025 scorecard now features two wins, two 2nds and a 4th.
Also predictable were the winners in BL's Sprint competition, with ANTHONY HIRSCHMAN (Scott Ramsom photo), fresh off a victory at Lake Rebecca, claiming the men's title for the second straight year. Seven-time Minnesota Master of the Year...
Crazy Chop Swim, WOWIE Bike, Pro Run...
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Saturday, 02 August 2025 00:10
By Paige Schulz
IRONMAN 70.3 Boise Recap! - 2nd OA. 1st AG. 4:35 for a 5 minute PR on an honest course.
Swim: 39:04 (Long course – watch pace 1:40/100 yds). People were losing their cool and hanging off the support paddle boards within 100 yards from the crazy chop. I felt like I was moving pretty well. Though that may have been more up and down through the chop.
Bike: 2:25; 23.2 mph. WOWIE. Is it the @ventumracing @envecomposites setup? Is it my engine? It must be both. I ran out of gears many times, so time to get bigger chainrings. I nailed my nutrition (carbs = 82 g/hr) and felt strong the whole way.
Run: 1:25 (Short course? – watch pace 6:35/mile). My run time was in the mix of all the pro women.
My mantra the whole run was repeating “You ran a 2:53 marathon.” I stayed on top of my nutrition again with 3(!) gels on the run, and I never even hit the coke train. (carbs = 64 g/hour.) My pace was even the whole run, which maybe means I should push a bit more the first couple miles right off the bike? ...
"Heck of a day"...
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Thursday, 31 July 2025 00:10
2025 CHISAGO LAKES 70.3 - JOE ADRIAENS (photo) is a "podium machine," two of which had happened at the CL 70.3, but wins have escaped him. Until now. Though he came into last Sunday's Chisago Lakes 70.3 as the favorite, we recall that two weeks ago he was favored at Timberman Olympic, yet settled for 2nd because MICAH WARNING had a breakout performance
Was that going to occur again? Maybe. A herefore unknown could upset Joe's plans, and there is a guy, a former Iowan who went to college at Gustavus and now lives in Phoenixville, PA named EAMONN MCCULLOUGH, who had great junior results and has a few sub-2-hour Olympic results. His half IM PR is solid (4:29), but but doesn't stack up to Joe's 4:13.
Well, Eamonn led early, his collegiate swim background serving him well. It soon looked like McCullough was gunning for a PR on a day when PRs are very tough to come by.
Joe is a quiet, patient guy, and...
