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Kids of Steel, Try-a-Tri draw a crowd

Although weather probably hurt early registration, the promise of sun on Saturday brought out a lot of last-minute entries and pushed numbers for the 2008 Kids of Steel and Adult Try-a-Tri triathlons to well over 100 entries.
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All Ages Just short of 200 runners took part in the 17th annual Whistler Valley Trail Run this past Sunday. Photo by Justa Jeskova, www.coastphoto.com.

Although weather probably hurt early registration, the promise of sun on Saturday brought out a lot of last-minute entries and pushed numbers for the 2008 Kids of Steel and Adult Try-a-Tri triathlons to well over 100 entries.

The events were based out of Meadow Park Sports Centre, starting with the swim leg in the pool, moving on to an out-and-back bike leg on Alta Lake Road, and finishing with a running leg on the Valley Trail.

For the 8-9-year-old girls, who swam 100 metres, biked 4.5 km and ran 1.5 km, Vancouver’s Annelise Lapointe was the top athlete, finishing in a total time of 25 minutes and 20 seconds.

Natalie Winter of Abbotsford was second in 33:17, followed by Isobelle Williston of Garibaldi Highlands in 37:04. The top Whistler athlete was Aoife Gannon in fourth place with a time of 37:41.

For the 8-9 boys, Whistler’s Nolan Welsh was first in 25:23, followed by Eli Chappell of Garibaldi Highlands in 26:52 and Anders Farr of Whistler in 27:24. Just off the podium was Whistler’s Fraser Doak in 28:00.

For the 10-11 girls, who raced the same distances, Jaria Tompkins of Whistler was first in 25:41, followed by Mikayla Martin of Garibaldi Highlands in 27:05, and Gabrielle Smith of Whistler in 28:38.

The 10-11 boys podium was all Whistler, with Tyler Welsh first in 20:55, followed by Taylor Derynck in 22:52 and Thomas Cankovic in 23:42. Goh Sato was fourth in 26:24.

The 12-13 girls swam 300 metres, biked 10 km and ran 3 km. Sarah Look of Burnaby placed first in 50:56, followed by Sierra Farr of Whistler in 51:04. Lauren Doak and Christa-Mae Lawrie of Whistler were third and fourth in 57:00 and 58:30.

For the 12-13 boys, Sam Morris of West Vancouver was first in 40:18, followed by Marc Leroux in 49:54. Whistler’s Ryan Grills was third in 53:53.

Athletes 14 and older did a 500-metre swim, followed by a 14 km bike and a 4 km run. For the 14-15 girls, Elsabet Lapointe of Vancouver was first in 58:38, followed by Sofi Leroux of West Vancouver in 1:06:58.

Kai Riess raced alone for the 14-15 boys, finishing in 56:40.

In 16-18 girls Kayleigh Robertson of North Vancouver was first in 1:03:31, followed by Whistler’s Bronwyn Laurie in 1:10:26. Zach Barry-Paul of Maple Ridge raced alone for the boys, finishing in 1:06:52.

The adults race included a 300-metre swim, followed by a 14 km bike and a 4 km run.

Vanessa Wilson raced alone in the 20-24 age group, finishing in 1:23:00.

In 25-29, Lindsay May of Pemberton was first in 1:03:07, followed closely by Whistler’s Jen Carroll in 1:03:27 and Christina Matthews in 1:15:32.

In 30-34, Pemberton’s Carlee Howell placed first in 1:02:19, followed by Lori O’Hare of Whistler in 1:05:23. Melanie Bigney was third in 1:07:37.

In 35-39 it was Karen Dickenson of Vancouver first in 1:01:31, followed by Astrid Grandi of Whistler in 1:05:45, and Jill Beamer of Vancouver in 1:06:10.

In 40-44 it was an all-Whistler podium with Alli Van Gruen first 1:02:05, followed closely by Diana Thaxter in 1:02:45, and Gail Gafka in 1:05:48.

In 45-49, Corinne Cowden of Whistler was first in 1:04:42, followed by Mary-Ann McKinnon of Vancouver in 1:12:22, and Heather Clifford of Whistler in 1:12:54.

Andrea Westcott raced alone in 50-54 but finished ninth overall in 1:03:09.

In men’s 25-29, Pascal Kirouar of Whistler was first in 1:05:14, followed by Blair Mantin of Vancouver in 1:25:50.

In 30-34 Jordan Myers of Vancouver was first, as well as first overall with a run leg of just over 16 minutes. His total time of 51:17 was more than 13 minutes faster than Shayne May of Pemberton, who was second in the category in 1:04:23. Christopher Schuld of Vancouver was third in 1:08:39.

In 35-39, Danny Ng of Whistler was first in 1:02:02, followed by Michael Groot in 1:03:07. Rob Syverstsen of Burnaby was third in 1:12:31.

The event was hosted by the Whistler Triathlon Club, with help from volunteers and sponsors in the community. The goal of the club is to one day bring a Triathlon B.C. sanctioned Olympic distance triathlon to Whistler.