More than 500 competitors gathered at the North Beach of Lake Calhoun. Kayakers, canoeists, and even stand-up paddlers headed off at 9 a.m., on their journey through the Minneapolis Parks system. North Minneapolis resident Zach Handler won on the men’s side in a time of 1:34:43, while Plymouth resident Kim Rudd took the women’s crown in a time of 1:45:11.

“My husband Craig and I had a great paddle,” commented Rudd after the race. “We were the second canoe out of the water (behind Craig Stolen and Allan Shuros) and we never really looked back.”

In a day of repeat winners, defending champions Team Skillicorn won the family competition once again – with the whole family paddling, Mom Kelly running and Dad Brad and daughter Annie pedaling together on a tandem bike – turning in a blistering time of 31:53!

The Minnesota National Guard Team of Scott Hawks and Matt Pease won the True North Adventures Corporate Relay category, holding off two UCare teams for the title.

Team Fulton Brewing took the men’s title, with Team LOL (Ladies of the Loppet) taking the women’s relay title, and Team Cam-Lind-Oft taking the mixed team championship (note that Sam Oftedahl had the fastest overall bike time on the day – coming in at 28:52).

Some 25 kids 15 and under competed, with many of them completing the entire race. Eight-year-old Jasper Johnstone was the youngest competitor to complete the whole event – and received a chocolate bar for his efforts.

2011 Photos & Video

With some strong work by the Conservation Corps and the Park Board the run course is in good shape.

And the bike course looks to be in good shape as well. The weather people are predicting a short respite from our rainy season – with a brilliant day predicted for Saturday. The Conservation Corps and the Park Board did yeomen’s work over the past week and the bike course will run as scheduled except it will skip a few short single-track sections toward the end of the race course because of downed trees (between Plymouth Avenue and Highway 55). Expect a few rough segments in the bike course. Ironically, the worst segments are on asphalt – or what used to be asphalt paths – where falling trees from the tornado caused significant upheaval to the pavement. The final bike course is 7.90 miles in length.

Be safe and have fun!

For those already registered, pick up packets Friday evening at the Wirth Chalet or Saturday morning at the run/bike transition area/finish area. Note that because of ongoing construction at Wirth Beach, there is extremely limited parking at the finish and the packet pickup will be under the Loppet tent outside of the bike transition area.

Note that there is no race-day registration. Last minute registration is Friday night only.

The one piece of trail that is still subject to question is the first three quarter mile of the Tri-Loppet bike course – the portion that winds around Wirth Lake. With an ongoing construction project hung up because of the tornado, it is doubtful that piece of trail will be ready for the big event. Instead, bikers will probably have to head to the north, along the east side of Wirth Lake, before merging with the regular course near Highway 55. The status of this portion of the lake will be more clear by Thursday – but for now participants should assume a slightly modified bike course.

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After heavy rain Friday night, organizers were forced to modify the bike course – changing from the planned 7.5 mile route to a 2-mile loop on which participants biked two laps.

Bike Course Director John Schmidt made the decision early Saturday morning. “We checked out the course at about 6 a.m. and there were places where the bike started floating away – the water was literally waist-high . . .” Add in a few downed trees and it was obvious that the course would need to change. In the end, Schmidt arrived at a 2 mile loop that took competitors around Wirth Lake, but avoided the flooded out sections along Bassett Creek (which, unfortunately, meant cutting everything north of Highway 55).

While the bike course was a challenge, the rain actually helped the paddling. There had been a large bloom of weeds on the Chain of Lakes over the past week. With the rain, all that disappeared as the water levels quickly rose overnight.

“The paddling was awesome”, gushed Kate Ellis, part of the Nordic Babes racing team, that took top honors in the women’s relay category. “The new paddling course worked well – it was nice to add some distance on Calhoun before hitting the Lake Street bridge (where the course narrows for the first time)”. Other winners included

• Zach Handler, who repeated as the solo and overall champion (winning a Wilderness Inquiry trip on the Superior Hiking Trail)
• Elaine Nelson, who moved up from second in 2009 to take the Doubles and overall champion trophy on the women’s side (winning a Wilderness Inquiry kayak trip to the Apostle Islands)
• Allan Shuros, who won the doubles category, moving up from fifth place in 2009
• Amy Schultz, who won the women’s solo category
• Tri My Shoe (Mike Kurth, John Byington, Christine Foster and John Byington) – General Team category
• An unnamed team consisting of David Rhude, Nordic Ski Foundation employee John Swain and Rebecca Zadroga – Mixed Team
• The Quality Bike Parts Team, consisting of Brian Vaderah, Jeff Hainlen, Nick Graham and Paul Zeigle – True North Adventures Corporate Category

In the grand prize family team category, Team Skillicorn (Brad, Kelly and daughter Ann) beat defending champion When Pigs Fly. The Skillicorns were impressive all around, but their paddling and biking were particularly notable. Both their paddle and their bike were category best. And that is with nine year-old Ann duffing in the canoe and with Ann and Dad peddling a tandem bicycle together. For their efforts, the Skillicorns win a family trip to Tri-Loppet sponsor Maplelag Resort.

After the race, participants and spectators enjoyed Bellebottom – a great band that hams it up with 70s covers.