In wet but warm conditions the North Shore Triathlon took place on Monday, May 22 with a huge field of racers.
The format was sprint, with participants swimming 740 metres, biking 20 km and running 5 km.
Eight of the top-10 elite finishers were from the Victoria area, but Whistler’s triathlon community held its own with five first-place finishes in the adult age groupings, two athletes in second, one in third, and three others in the top-five.
Dave Higgins finished second overall and first in the men’s 35 to 39 age group with his time of 1:00:28, just 20 seconds back of first overall.
"It went pretty well," he said. "I really wanted to go under an hour, and I was 28 seconds short, but it was a good race. It was wet, so it wasn’t the greatest conditions, and that affected the bike, which is my weakest link. You really had to be careful going around the corners."
Higgins is a new father and has had to adjust his training schedule around parenting duties, but plans to focus on a half Ironman in June and the Kelowna Apple Triathlon in August.
Bob Deeks also had a solid race, finishing 15 th overall and second in the men’s 45 to 49 race with a time of 1:05:14. His swim leg was slow, 117 th overall, but he made up for it with the eighth fastest bike leg and a 20:13 run.
The husband and wife team of Paul Suter and Christine Suter paced one another to the finish, finishing 21 st and 22 nd overall with times of 1:06:14 and 1:06:16. Paul was fourth in the men’s 45 to 49 race, while Christine was the third fastest female and first in the 35 to 39 race.
Hot on their heels was Marie-Anne Prevost, who was 23 rd overall in 1:06:17, winning the extremely competitive 30 to 34 category.
Greg Sandkuhl showed his speed once again, placing 42 nd overall out of 342 adults and winning the men’s 60 to 64 category in 1:08:37. He was more than two minutes faster than the next racers in his age group.
Dawn Titus won the women’s 45 to 49 race, and was 14 th among women with her time of 1:09:00.
Claire Daniels was third in the women’s 20 to 24 race in 1:09:59, a solid result after moving up into the adult age groups.
Chris Hodkinson placed 13 th in the men’s 35 to 39 race in 1:14:25, one spot behind the first mixed relay team.
Trent Argent was 107 th overall and seventh in the men’s 30 to 34 group in 1:15:10. Although his bike and run legs were average, Argent proved to be unbeatable in the pool with the sixth fastest swim time.
Karen Blaylock was fifth in the women’s 45 to 49 race in 1:19:39, getting faster in each leg.
Diane Mombourquette was 12 th in the women’s 40 to 44 group in 1:27:02.
Wendy Watt was ninth in the 45 to 49 race in 1:29:52.
Brandi Higgins was 23 rd in the women’s 35 to 39 age group, but swam an extra lap because of a mistake in the lap counting. Ordinarily she is one of the fastest swimmers in the Whistler Triathlon Club.
Garth Riess was 10 th in the men’s 50 to 54 category in 1:47:00.
In the junior categories, 10 year old Lauren McIvor was fourth after swimming 75 metres, biking 5 km and running a kilometre in 20:52 – just over 20 seconds back of a podium.
For more on the Whistler Triathlon Club, visit www.whistlertriclub.ca.
