The third weekend in May saw the kickoff of the Minnesota Triathlon season with races in Blaine, MN and Albert Lea MN. The weekend started out Friday evening with the 8th annual Stay out of the Sun Run in Rochester. We had members at all three races.
Blaine Sprint Triathlon 2013
Reported by Michael Licatino
Despite some pretty awful weather conditions, the Blaine Sprint Tri 2013 was a well-organized, well-supported, fun first race of the season. Athlete parking was directly adjacent to the transition area, so don’t expect a long haul with gear and bike in the morning. Transition was arranged by swim wave and there was ample space. Racers were split into approximately 13 waves, mainly by age group. Each wave consisted of around 25 athletes. Water temp was a hot topic before the start of this year’s race; actual temp race morning was around 59 degrees. The swim start was a beach start and the swim course was well marked and contained only two right-hand turns. There was an estimated 50-75 yard run on a paved surface from the swim finish to transition. The bike course was a two lap affair. With mostly straight roads in front of you and no hills, the course was fast. Riders had to navigate one roundabout and five 90-degree right hand turns on each of the two laps of the bike course. Second lap bike traffic mixed with first lap riders at the transition area, so watch for merging bikers at this point. The run course was a winding 3.5 mile tour through neighborhood streets. The course stuck primarily to either the paved trail or neighborhood sidewalks. It was a bit difficult to keep track of where you were in relation to the lake and transition, but the finish comes up quick once you pass mile three. Runners are dumped out of the neighborhood and back onto the trail for the final run to the finish. While post-race festivities were cut short due to weather, spectators and vendors were still present at the finish. Overall, Blaine was a fun experience and a race I see myself signing up for again next May. If you’re looking for an easy-going race with a fast course, this one’s definitely for you.
Results:
Name
|
Swim
|
Bike
|
Run
|
Total
|
Age Group
|
Michael Licatino
|
8:35
|
46:14
|
25:28
|
1:22:45
|
4/31
|
Josh Weigel
|
11:21
|
48:14
|
29:32
|
1:30:32
|
7/28
|
Land Between the Lakes Triathlon (Albert Lea, MN)
With the chilly March-ish weather, only the brave showed up for the Land Between the Lakes Triathlon in Albert Lea on May 19. Race day saw rain before and after the event, but mostly just cloudy during it. Kristina Sinnott sent us this report:
The swim was COLD! You certainly need a wet suit. This year there were waves and choppy water, so very difficult to sight, swim, and breath. The bike course was a 14 mile loop gentle rolling hills, one big one out of transition then the rest are mixed throughout. There was a great tail wind coming out for the first 6-8 miles, but you had a feeling you were going to pay for it. The 4 mile run around the lakes is like a trail run on pavement, with a mile or so of road running where running on the embankment of the road which can throw your feet off a bit. This is a nice race to begin the season, a quick sprint, with a lot of weather dependent components so you never know what to expect.
Congratulations to Chap for taking out the overall race win and to Sonja on her first Tri!
Results:
Name
|
Swim
|
Bike
|
Run
|
Total
|
Overall
|
Chap Achen
|
5:41
|
34:08
|
24:22
|
1:06:00
|
1/74
|
Chris Frisch
|
10:33
|
39:49
|
25:51
|
1:19:20
|
7/74
|
Kristina Sinnott
|
8:44
|
47:52
|
34:15
|
1:33:36
|
34/74
|
Justin Meunier
|
8:35
|
50:27
|
36:21
|
1:40:19
|
47/74
|
Sonja Kranz
|
18:13
|
1:00:13
|
44:27
|
2:08:41
|
70/74
|
Stay out of the Sun Run
Unlike last year's uncharacteristically hot and sunny SoS Run, the eighth edition of the event this year had us once again watching the radar through the day to see if it would stop raining before race time. We were lucky and the rain stopped a couple hours before the 6:30pm start and the conditions were quite nice for a run. The event features a 5k and 10k race and a 5k un-timed walk with proceeds supporting melanoma research. The race draws quite a crowd with 600+ runners and walkers, including many TriRochester members.
Results:
10k
|
Time
|
Overall
|
Age Group
|
Bob Miller
|
38:42
|
3/175
|
3/16
|
Jeremy Ekman
|
41:29
|
6/175
|
2/13
|
Jen Schrandt
|
43:47
|
12/175
|
1/44
|
Ed Younk
|
46:45
|
25/175
|
22/69
|
Nick Rogness
|
47:50
|
30/175
|
7/13
|
Andy Koch
|
55:06
|
81/175
|
10/13
|
5k
|
|
Overall
|
Age Group
|
Rob Mitchell
|
17:38
|
1/413
|
1/38
|
Darin Napton
|
20:26
|
7/413
|
1/23
|
Grant Wass
|
21:24
|
11/413
|
1/21
|
Kris Koepp
|
21:37
|
17/413
|
5/38
|
Carter McKenzie
|
21:46
|
22/413
|
3/21
|
Ann Moyer
|
22:08
|
25/413
|
2/99
|
Diana Koepp
|
23:02
|
35/413
|
2/56
|
John McKenzie
|
23:13
|
37/413
|
2/23
|
Jason Fischer
|
23:22
|
39/413
|
8/38
|
Jenny Shulha
|
24:17
|
49/413
|
5/99
|
Kelly O’Hara
|
29:46
|
157/413
|
12/17
|
|
|
|
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