The weather wasn’t perfect, in fact it was the first time in at least 15 years that there was rain, but that did not deter the Tyhee Lake Triathlon from continuing to be one of the summer’s favorite events for the area’s athletic community.
A lonely loon was dipping into the lake for some breakfast and seemed a bit put off that these strangers were perhaps going to chase away some tasty tidbits.
Over 125 athletes of a wide range of ability gathered at the favoured local picnic and beach party site to give their abilities a test in a range of distances in what has become one of the fastest growing fitness activities.
With it’s culture of fitness the local area has been a perfect place for the sport to continue it’s growth. The athlete list this weekend included families in the team categories, it included a strong component of both genders and a wide range ages. While there were some very exciting races throughout the day, pushing oneself to individual limits and attempting to press beyond previous results was more important than who beat who.
In addition there was the Try-it event for individuals who had not yet done a triathlon and the Duathlon. The Duathlon is an event which has a running leg, a cycling leg and a running leg.
For the first time, the event had a visit from the Triathlon BC officials. Their intent was to ensure that the event was being run in the proper way and that all rules, especially those concerning safety, were being followed.
“I’m very impressed with the organization and running of the event,” said Mike Romaniuk of Triathlon BC.
“It’s being run very well and some of the aspects of the organization are excellent.”
Event organizer Ali Howard was pleased with the turnout.
“We’ve had more teams in the past but this year we had a lot more individuals,” she said.
In one case, the rain came at a good time.
“I was in a tight race and I started to cramp up,” said Rob Miller . “I was able to get some water as it ran off my face and then I was OK.”
Miller went on to be the overall winner of the event.
Following is a list of winners in the various events:
Short Distance Events Winners
Women’s Open- Jennifer Quehl; Women’s Masters- Lara Collingwood; Men’s Junior- Konrad Thummerer; Men’s Open- Nicholas Dawe; Men’s Masters- Matthew Thomson; Team- Opus
Olympic Distance Events Winners
Women’s Open- Kaileen McCulloch; Women’s Masters- Helene Fleury; Men’s Open- Andrew Wille; Men’s Masters- Rob Millar; Team- McBike
Try-a-Tri- Events Winners
Youth Women- Stephanie Arronge; Open Women- Cheyanne Murray; Youth Men- Connor Murphy; Open Men- Alan Baxter
Duathlon Events Winners
Open Women- Tara Holmes; Masters Women- Kirsten Lo; Masters Men- Liam Overstall
