Morning Star Staff
It was a lucrative trip to a lucrative country for Vernon’s Wurtele family.
The husband-and-wife triathlon duo of Heather and Trevor Wurtele both pocketed prize money at the recent $300,000 Dubai Challenge Series, which drew the top pro elite triathletes in the world.
Heather, 35, named Female Multisport Triathlete of the year by Triathlon Canada, was second in the women’s event, taking home $35,000US.
Trevor, 35, was a surprising eighth in the men’s field to earn $3,000.
High winds and waves in the Gulf of Arabia dictated a torturous 1.9-kilometre swim while pounding the riders on the 112k bike ride and 21k run portions of the race.
Heather used her cycling power to storm through the pro elite women and arrive in transition together with Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow.
She quickly passed Swallow and began to chase down world champion Daniela Ryf of Switzerland on the 21k run leg.
Ryf held on to take the win in four hours, five minutes, one second, with Wurtele in second at 4:09:21 and Helle Frederiksen of Denmark in third at 4:11:43.
Trevor surprised many of the world’s top male long distance triathletes to take eighth in 3:49:06.
Wurtele’s consistent progress has seen him move among the world’s elite group. Terrenzo Bozzone of New Zealand took first at Challenge Dubai in 3:45:45 while Tim Reed of Australia was second in 3:46:35. Trevor and Heather Wurtele are sponsored by Saucony, Cervelo, Enve, Aqua Sphere, Island House Nassau, First Endurance Nutrition, Smith Optics and Manitoba Harvest.
