L'Etape San Antonio, Castell Grind, Brazos Bend highlight big week
T.E.N. is a year old now. We made it!
Hello endurance athletes,
Another big weekend of events all around the state and we’ll cover a number of them below. Sorry if we don’t get to yours!
This week is our one-year anniversary on Texas Endurance News, pretty exciting. With a couple hundred subscribers via the literal newsletter or the T.E.N. Facebook page we are pretty excited, especially since we’ve recently seen an uptick in subscriptions.
If you would like to get us something for our birthday, how about sharing and / or telling our fellow enthusiasts about us? Thanks!
The goal for year two is to do more original reporting and photography and really grow subscriptions.
Now, on with the news, with so much going on, we’ll be a little brief on each event to work in some social reports.
L’Etape San Antonio
Earlier this year we wrote about this event in San Antonio put on by the Tour de France. It was also a piece of the city’s annual Fiesta celebration, which includes Fiesta Fit.
The event seems to have been a big success with more than 3,000 cyclists participating, including Spurs legend and recent NBA Hall of Fame inductee Manu Ginobili, who took on the 25-mile course.
Manu has apparently become quite the cycling enthusiast since retiring.
The marquee event was the 100-mile race, won by Spencer Jones in 4:25:03, edging out Juan Antonio Llamas by a fraction of a second at the line.
For the women, Annie Bathalter won in 4:49:28 with a 45-second gap over Brandee Burnot.
Le Tour legend Alberto Contador was there, he came in 3rd in the 100-mile race. He also attended a promotional group ride, video below.
Here’s some cool drone video from the 100-mile start.
Here’s the official highlight reel from L’Etape.
The race looks like a really good time, complete with KOMs and sprint sections.
Registration is open for L’Etape San Antonio 2023 here.
Castell Grind
One of the most popular gravel grinders out there, the Castell Grind takes place in Castell, which is on the Llano River between the city of Llano and Mason. Looks like the “Full Grind” 100K race had 219 participants.
First place female was Katie Kantzes, a pro road cyclist and medical researcher at UT. She finished in 3:07:20. Top male was Chase Collins, from Dickinson and a regular on gravel podiums in Texas. He finished in 2:53:42, just three seconds ahead of second place Chris Carlson.
Some great photos from the event by Pam LeBlanc here.
And a few Instagram images below.
Brazos Bend 50
The Brazos Bend 50 (which includes a 100K) was another big endurance event last weekend. Topping the field in the 100k was Corpus Christi’s Caleb Vargo, who clocked a 8:52:24 and for the women Olmito’s Amanda Eaton took the win in 11:16:48.
On the 50 miler side, Megan Smyth took the overall win, in 7:37:16 with Erica Pierce hot on her tail to take second overall about a minute and half later. For the men, Jose Carlos Sarmiento from Guatamala, was top male and third overall with a 7:46:21.
These don’t appear to be the official times just yet, they are from the live tracker, so things could change.
The course seemed especially busy with alligators this year. They are typically on the move in the spring.
Meme of the Week
Featured Events
Gator Bait Adventure Race | Adventure Race | Huntsville State Park | April 23
Ironman Texas | 140.6 triathlon | The Woodlands | April 23
Jailbreak 100 / Jailbird 55 Gravel Challenge | Gravel ride 100 or 55 miles | Huntsville | April 23
Wild Canyons Ultra | 100, 75, 50, 25, 10, 5 kilometer trail runs | Caprock Canyon | April 23-24
Cal Tri San Antonio | Variety of multisport events | New Braunfels | April 24
Gator Bait Trail Race | 5K, 15K, 13.1 trail runs | Huntsville State Park | April 24
Texas MS150 | 2-day ride, various routes | Start from several cities, end in Austin | April 30-May 1
Texasman Triathlon | Sprint, olympic, X-50 distance triathlon | Valley View | May 1
Texas Switchback | 26.2, 13.1, 10K, 5K trail run | Johnson City | May 7
Gravel Locos | 30 - 150 mile gravel grinder | Hico | May 12-14
Texas State Time Trial Championships | Individual and team trial race | Hempstead | May 14
Bike MS: Round Up Ride | 2-day ride, various routes | Frisco top Texas Motor Speedway | May 14-15
Buffman & Squeaky Triathlon Festival | Olympic, sprint, kids triathlon | Ransom Canyon Lake | May 15
Sylvan Beach Triathlon / Duathlon | Olympic, sprint, tri and du | La Porte | May 15
OTB Cyclery Enduro at Cameron Park | Enduro bike race, various classes including e-bike | Waco | May 20
Possums Revenge | 69M, 52M, 56K, 17M, 8M AND 4M trail runs | Possum Kingdom Lake | May 21
Fort Worth Triathlon | Olympic, sprint, relay tri and du | Forth Worth | May 22
CapTex Triathlon | Olympic, sprint, super sprint, tri, relays, aquabike | Austin | May 30
Texas Trail Running Festival | 26.2, 13.1, 10K, 5K, Youth 1 mile trail runs | Krause Springs | June 4
Rattlesnake Gravel Grind | 111, 66, 32 mile gravel grinder | Sweetwater | June 17-18
Cypress Tris & Trails Fest | Tris, trail runs, MTB, youth and doggie splash and dash | Cypress | July 23-24, 30
Blazin’ Saddle 75 | 75M, 100K, 40M, 20M ride | Granbury | August 6
WRATH 24/48 Texas Endurance Runs | 24 / 48 Hour timed run | Forth Worth | August 12-14
Hotter’N Hell 100 | 100M ride, crits, gravel, MTB, more | Wichita Falls | August 26-29
Media We are Consuming
RunSignup Endurance Industry Assessment and Business Update (Endurance Sportswire)
Is Zwift's Anti-Doping Policy enough to eradicate cheating culture? (Cycling News)
Lululemon Rolls Out Resale Program to All US Stores (Footwear News)
Cycling-British cycling suspend transgender participation policy (WTVB)
How math – and eating while running – can help you complete your best marathon (Houston Chronicle)