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.