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Whistler athletes golden in Squamish tri

Triathletes net 12 medals
1328sqtri

The ninth annual Squamish Triathlon: A Memorial to Bob McIntosh, took place on Sunday morning under cloudy skies. There were a few showers before the starting gun, but otherwise the conditions were perfect for the Olympic-distance race.

The course was different this year. Following the swim leg on Alice Lake, cyclists made four laps of the major roads surrounding Don Ross Secondary instead of heading out and back on the famously flat Squamish Valley Road. The result was a course with a prolonged climb, some twisting downhill sections, sharp corners, and more contact with other riders. The new course was designed to make it easier to marshall, and cut down on reports of riders drafting one another.

Whether it will be used again depends on the feedback from racers.

The run course was also different, with two loops taking place almost entirely on the Ray Peters Memorial Trail (formerly known as the Cheekye Fan Trail).

Whistler was well represented in the race, with several athletes finding their way to the podium in the age categories. In total, 33 individuals and nine teams of three took part, a total of 60 athletes. Those athletes picked up five gold medals, one silver medal and three bronze medals in the individual age categories, and one gold, silver and bronze in the relay event – the best haul for the Whistler Triathlon Club and community yet.

Despite the more challenging bike and run, the top times were only slightly behind last year. The top racer, Revelstoke’s Andrew Russell, finished the 1.5 km swim, 37.5 km bike and 10 km run in one hour 56 minutes and 37 seconds. Benjamin Hoffman of Missoula, Montana was second, and the only other racer to crack the two-hour mark in 1:59:42.

The top Whistler racer was David Higgins, who finished sixth overall and first out of 42 athletes in the men’s 35 to 39 group with a time of 2:08:09.

Paul Suter also had a solid race, placing 15 th overall and first in the men’s 45 to 49 race in 2:13:15.

Hot on his heels was Bob Deeks, 18 th overall and second to Suter in the 45 to 49 category in 2:14:53.

Greg McDonnell managed to finish 24 th overall and fourth in the men’s 35 to 39 group in 2:18:32, making up for a slow swim with the 11 th fastest bike leg of the day.

Right behind, in 25 th , was Greg Sandkuhl, who crossed the line in 2:18:32 to place first in the 60 to 64 age category.

The top Whistler female was Emma Smith in 27 th overall and first out of 25 racers in the 25 to 29 race. She was also the second-fastest female in the race with a time of 2:19:41.

Nils Robinson was 38 th overall and fourth out of 30 athletes in the men’s 30 to 34 group in 2:21:58.

Dawn Titus was 50 th , seventh among women, and first in the women’s 45 to 49 age category in 2:25:02.

Woochan Jeong was 62 nd overall and 13 th in the 35 to 39 race in 2:28.25.

Guy Patterson finished in 2:31:51 and was eighth out of 30 athletes in the men’s 30 to 34 group.

Trent Argent was ninth in the same category in 2:33:19.

John Blok was fourth in the men’s 50 to 54 race in 2:36:02, followed by Chris Hodkinson, who was 24 th in the men’s 35 to 39 group.

A couple spots back was Tom Barratt who was third in the men’s 55 to 59 category in 2:37:32.

Catherine O’Neill was sixth in the women’s 24 to 29 group in 2:37:58.

David Rushbrook came in at 2:38:16, placing 14 th in the men’s 45 to 49 category.

Karen Blaylock was third in the women’s 45 to 49 race in 2:41:03.

Jannie Grobler was fifth in the men’s 50 to 54 group in 2:42:28.

Christine Cogger finished in 2:44:40, 11 th out of 33 athletes in the women’s 30 to 34 category.

Jackie Fulton was ninth in the 35 to 39 category in 2:45:54.

Steve Johnson was 16 th in the men’s 25 to 29 race in 2:47:02.

Brenda Baker was third in the women’s 50 to 54 race in 2:48:09, following up average swim and bike times with the 30 th fastest running leg.

Jennifer Leigh was fifth in the women’s 40 to 44 race in 2:55:32.

Andrew Campbell was 21 st in the 30 to 34 age group in 3:04:48.

Carrie Malysh was 18 th in the women’s 25 to 39 race in 3:09:21.

Michelle Payette was 18 th in the women’s 35 to 39 group in 3:11:52.

Janice Fraser was 13 th in the women’s 40 to 44 group in 3:21:03.

Shelley Quinn and Kimiko Taguchi were 17 th and 19 th in the same category with times of 3:26:59 and 3:28:27 respectively.

From Pemberton, Jason Simpson was 69 th overall, and 17 th in the 35 to 39 race in 2:30:24.

Natalie Morel was seventh in the women’s 30 to 34 race in 2:39:38.

Richard Pogson was 22 nd in the same category in 3:07:00.

Christine Stufano was 15 th in the 40 to 44 group in 3:22:19.

Garth Riess was 14 th in the men’s 50 to 54 race in 3:25:09.

In addition to 350 individual racers, 50 relay teams took part this year.

Whistler’s Second Time Lucky finished third overall and second among men with a combined time of 2:11:23.

Plan A: Just Give’r was eighth overall and third in the co-ed mixed category in 2:19:46.

The 99ers were ninth overall and sixth among men in 2:21:59.

Base Energy Team finished first out of 12 women’s teams in 2:26:50, ninth overall.

Chika’s Revenge were fifth in the women’s category in 2:34:29.

Team Gamble/Reynolds were sixth in the same category in 2:38:19.

Two Women and a Baby were 14 th among mixed teams in 2:46:54.

Epic Ride were one spot back in the mixed category in 2:52:04.

The Chicklets were ninth among women in 3:01:18.

From Pemberton, The Pikeys were ninth in the men’s category in 2:50:04.

Complete results are available online at www.raceheadquarters.com.