by Dennis Dalman
led in the Sartell Apple Duathlon May 21 – with the father, Andrew Zabel, taking first place in the long-course male category and son Hudson taking third place in the male short course.
The winner of the long-course female category was Andrea Myers of Medicine Lake with a time of 1:50:52.
Zabel completed the grueling race with a winning time of 1:26:29. Son Hudson had a time of 57:30 in his race.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to win it after competing in it for so many years,” Andrew told the Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader the day after his win. “This race is right in our back yard, and Sartell is awesome in supporting it.”
Last year, Zabel placed second in the “Apple.” He has been a competitor in that event every year since 2009 and has competed in about 100 other duathlons.
Zabel, 42, is a property manager/realtor for Edina Realty. He and his wife, Kimberly, have five children. Son Hudson, who placed third in the Apple, is 16 and a student at Sauk Rapids High School. He works out in the gym five days a week and, said his father, he was “pumped” about doing so well in the Apple.
After winning the race last Saturday, Andrew didn’t pop open a bottle of champagne. Far from it. He went home and shoveled dirt for two hours.
“We’re building a patio on a house we bought last October,” he said. “We’ve been remodeling the whole house. It’s on 19th Avenue in Sartell.”
After shoveling dirt, Zabel did manage to meet with his parents at Sartell’s Blue Line Bar and Grill for a relaxing lunch. They drove from Long Prairie for the event, the city where Zabel was born.
All told, four other Sartell residents placed among the top five competitors for males and females in both race categories. Nolan Snyder was the first to cross the short-course male category with a time of 54:25; Alison Manderscheid placed fourth in the female short course; and in the long-course female race Alyssa Knese placed second and Judy Januschka placed fifth.
On a chilly, windy morning almost 200 runners-cyclists participated in the Sartell Apple Duathlon during its 40th anniversary. The staging area for the race (start and finish), as it has been for many years, were the grounds of Sartell Middle School, now known as Riverview Intermediate School.
The long course consisted of a 5k run and a 33k bike course followed by another 5k run to the finish line. The race goes through north Sartell all the way to St. Stephen and back to Sartell along the river road to the school.
The short-course race is a 5k run, a 15.5k bike route and then a fast sprint to the finish line.
There was also a Family Fun run-bike event held the night before the big race.
Other competitors placing in the top five of the long-course races were from Mayer, Rochester, Foley, Rice and out-of-staters from Boulder, Colo.; and Lincoln, Neb. Besides the Sartell duathletes among the top five in the two short-course categories were runners-bikers from Avon, Albany, Freeport, St. Joseph, St. Cloud and Fargo, N.D.
Before the start of the May 18 Apple Duathlon, Sartell resident Daryl Stevens commented about the event’s 40-year history to participants and spectators. In 1983, Stevens and Rich Schwegel of St. Joseph founded the race under sponsorship of the St. Cloud Hospital to promote heart health. In the first years it was a running race only but later added biking to become a duathlon.
The race, promoting health, was dubbed the “Apple” as a nod to that old adage: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
During its 40 years, the Apple came to be known far and wide, throughout the nation and the world, as one of the finest and best-organized duathlons anywhere.
Daryl Stevens and his wife, Pam, both avid runners/bikers, were the Apple race directors for many years besides competing in it year after year. This year, Pam joined the race; Daryl could not because of a recent surgical procedure.
Daryl had high praise for all of the volunteers who made the Apple such an annual success for four decades. He also praised the unwavering support from the city staff and the residents of Sartell. Another reason for its success, Stevens said, is race announcer Jerry MacNeil, who has handled the job masterfully for decades.
Rothford and Heather Corcoran are the current race directors.
In 2009 and 2013, the Apple was a World Triathlon duathlon qualifying event. It was also a USA Triathlon Regional qualifier in 2019 and 2020. Those events helped put the Sartell Apple Duathlon on the map as many of the world’s finest duathletes/triathletes traveled to Sartell to participate in the “Apple.”

Sartell residents Andrew Zabel and his son, Hudson, excelled at the Sartell Apple Duathlon the morning of May 21. Andrew was the winner of the male long-course race; Hudson placed third in the male short-course race.

Andrew Zabel of Sartell crosses the finish line at the Sartell Apple Duathlon May 21. He has participated in every Apple race since 2009 and took second place in it last year.

After running a 5k race, Hudson Zabel of Sartell grabs his bike to set off on 15.5k route during his participation in the male short-course race in the May 21 Sartell Apple Duathlon. He placed third in the race. His father, Andrew, won the male long-course race.