BY DENNIS CHASE
dchase@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY — A lot has happened since Jonathan Kuck won Leelanau County's M-22 Challenge last June.
The 20-year-old earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic speed skating team, won a silver medal in team pursuit in Vancouver, and then finished second overall in the World All-Around Speed Skating Championships.
Kuck is back and ready to defend his title Saturday in the M-22 Challenge, a three-event triathlon that tests abilities in biking, running and kayaking.
"I do a bit of biking, a bit of running as cross-training for skating," Kuck said. "I'm not that into swimming, so I wasn't interested in doing real triathlons. But with kayaking (as a substitute for swimming), I thought it would be interesting. I had a lot of fun with it."
The race, which starts in Glen Arbor, will have a sold-out field of 300 entrants. Kuck's silver-medalist teammate, Brain Hansen, is also entered.
The race includes a 17-mile bike race around Big and Little Glen Lake, an approximate two-mile run — that features a trek up and down the Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park — and a two-mile paddle in Little Glen Lake.
Kuck won the inaugural race a year ago in 1 hour, 9 minutes and 37 seconds — 29 seconds ahead of Ohio's Mark Durno.
So how was Kuck, a student at the University of Illinois, drawn to the event?
"I was up here (Northport) on vacation with my family," he said. "I signed up for it to have fun — and I'm doing the same this year."
Kuck is coming off a spectacular winter season. He teamed with Hansen and Chad Hedrick to win silver in the team pursuit.
"It was a lot of fun to compete in the Olympics and represent the U.S.," he said. "To get a silver at our first Olympics — Brian and I were only 19 at the time — was pretty exciting. The team pursuit is a fun race. We're competitors with each other, but we're also friends. We get along. So it's fun to race with each other rather than against each other."
Team pursuit was just added to the Olympics in 2006.
"Three people skate (per team)," Kuck said. "You work together by drafting off each other. When the third skater crosses the (finish) line, that's when the clock stops. You have to stick together throughout the race. It's a lot more efficient (drafting). It's really important to stay in line with the other skaters who have similar technique and really copy them rather than getting out of sync. You have to work together. It's a team effort."
Kuck followed up that performance by placing second overall at the World All-Around Championships. He won the 1,500, took third in the 500 and was fourth in the 5,000 and 10,000.
