Organizers cancel 21st annual Lake Minnetonka Triathlon after safety dispute

A longtime suburban triathlon has been canceled this year after race organizers couldn’t get on the same page with city officials over the event’s bike course.

Mike Rogers, chair of the Lake Minnetonka Triathlon, said a safety dispute with Excelsior officials led to the race’s cancellation. Rogers said he sent three or four bike-course plans to city officials as they voiced concerns more than two weeks ago.

Officials rejected those plans, making the event “impossible to host” in Excelsior, according to Rogers.

Rogers first participated in the race more than a decade ago. Later, as an organizer of the event, he created a nonprofit that funneled race donations toward local businesses, parks and underprivileged youth.

“The city, specifically the police chief, would not approve the bike race course. ... We can’t have a triathlon without an actual bike race,” Rogers said, adding that the event has never been canceled for city issues or a lack or racers. “Obviously a lot of people are disappointed. This race has been around for 20 years. We’ve given away, literally, all the proceeds the last number of years.”

Rogers announced the cancellation Tuesday evening and said Excelsior Mayor Gary Ringate was sympathetic to their concerns, but “we just could not get the city, specifically the police chief, to budge on their decision to not approve the bike aspect.”

The South Lake Minnetonka Police Department said that safety was the department’s top priority in evaluating the course.

“The timing of the cancellation comes after many months of correspondences, meetings with the event organizers, the fire department, the city and public safety departments. This decision was not made lightly, nor was this decision made solely by the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department,” the statement read.

“The policy of South Lake Minnetonka Police Department is that in the interest of public safety, any event that is a bicycle race will require a closed course. We are open to bringing this event back in the future if viable options can be achieved.”

Rogers said he may move the event to another city that could accommodate the events’ hundreds of participants and thousands of supporters.

Laura Holton, a community outreach coordinator for the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department, said open bike courses have become difficult to manage as urban areas grow. And the course in question extends outside the city limits, which brings “a lot of moving parts” that make it difficult to make safety plans.

Rogers said he understands officials’ safety concerns, because the city’s has evolved over the past two decades the race has been held.

“But it hasn’t changed from last year or two years ago,” he added.

A live band and thousands of supporters have flocked to Excelsior for the triathlon in the past, which hosts more than 600 participants and often sells out.

More than $2,000 in donations had been raised as of Wednesday morning, which support nonprofits like the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, Community for the Commons and Foster Adopt Minnesota. Those who bought tickets or merchandise will be refunded, and Rogers said residents who want a refunded donation can contact organizers.

“We try to make it an event for the city of Excelsior,” Rogers said. “It was a gift to the Excelsior community. It was a gift to the triathlon community, and it was a gift to our charity partners. So it’s a shame that it’s stopped, for now.”