Despite some last minute course changes to make the bike stage a little shorter, the 2011 running of the Xterra Canadian Open Championship went pretty smoothly on Sunday, Sept. 4.
For athletes doing the full Championship distance the day started with a 1.5km swim in Alta Lake with a short running section between laps. From there it made two laps of a west side bike course that included Whip Me Snip Me, Rainbow Flank, Bob's ReBob, Get Over It, Bart's Dark Trail and A River Runs Through It. A section of Bob's ReBob, Emerald Forest and the start of River were cut from the course at the last minute. The run leg was 12km, including North Danimal, Beaver Pond, 99er, Mid-Danimal, Lower Sproatt and A La Mode, 99er, Mid-Danimal again and then lower Lower Sproatt to the finish at Nita Lake Lodge.
The men's race was once again a two-way battle for first between Josiah Middaugh of Vail and Edmonton's Mike Vine. In the end, Middaugh would take the win by close to two minutes with a time of two hours, 38 minutes and 46 seconds. He was eighth out of the water, third fastest on the bike and second fastest on the run.
There was some jockeying on the first lap of the bike course, but by the end of the first bike lap Middaugh was in front.
"It was a pretty awesome course (this year)," said Middaugh. "They took out all of the road, all of it was on the trail, in the woods, and it was action-packed - really technical from start to finish, which was pretty exciting. You had to stay pretty focused."
Middaugh said it helped to get in a few practice rides on the bike course before the race, but he still had no idea where the other riders were.
"I just tried to ride things clean," he said.
"It was hard to tell if you were putting a gap or not. On the run course I figured Mike Vine would be running hard because it's a good course for him."
Vine came out of the water five spots behind Middaugh and was slightly slower than Middaugh in both the bike and run leg to finish in 2:40:34. Seth Wealing of Colorado - second in the swim and first in the run - was third in 2:43:26 with a slower bike leg.
The top female once again was Vancouver Island's Melanie McQuaid, who came in 14th overall in 3:05:41. She was 16th overall, male and female, on both the swim and bike leg, but fell off the pace slightly in the run.
McQuaid said she was trying for the win, while also trying to conserve energy for next weekend's Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas, which includes a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run.
"I felt really strong, especially on the bike," said McQuaid, who has three world Xterra titles to her credit as well as numerous other wins in both road and off-road races.
While Whistler is probably the most challenging Xterra course in the world these days, McQuaid doesn't think that's a bad thing.
"The race draws people with good technical skills and that can take advantage," he said. "It was a true trail run, and a true mountain bike-style of course, where in other races we might be doing a triahtlon on dirt roads. It's good to show the variety and showcase the skills. There was a guy who passed me near the end of the run, and he was running down these steep hills like he was sprinting on a flat - that shows real mountain skills."
Squamish's Brandi Heisterman was second in the Pro Female category with a time of 3:15:37.
For her the hardest part was the swim.
"I haven't swam more than 20 minutes in 10 years," she said. "I usually only swim when I'm pregnant and since it's been a few years since my last one I haven't been in the pool much at all. I did go out a few times to get ready for this race, but it was definitely my hardest event."
Heisterman, getting bumped around in a group of swimmers in the deep water, had a minor panic attack but forced herself to calm down and just enjoy the race. She came out of the water almost six minutes back of McQuaid, sixth overall among the pro women, but had worked her way back to second overall by the end of the first bike lap.
She was slightly slower than McQuaid on the bike, having to pass a lot of people, and a few minutes back on the run to finish in 3:15:37. Danelle Kabush was the third pro female in 3:17:34.
"It was tough, but it was so much fun doing something a little different like this," said Heisterman. "It was a little difficult barging my way through on the bike, but I felt awesome on the bike. The run was really hard, but you had to focus on every step and it kind of flew by. I was expecting Danelle to pass me at any time because I knew she'd be coming up fast."
Kabush was fast, almost seven minutes faster than Heisterman on the run leg, but Heisterman put in a good lead of almost 12 minutes on the bike leg after catching Kabush on the first lap.
The top Whistler athlete in the race was Adam Ward, who was 16th overall and first in the Male 20 to 24 category - earning a spot in the Xterra World Championships in Hawaii this October, which he plans on attending again this year.
While the race was in his hometown, he said it was still a challenging and technical course.
"It was survival out there," he said. "I know the trails, but it's still tough. I felt great on the bike, but the run was just about surviving. There were so many hills and I was just trying not to roll my ankle, because I'm recovering from an ankle injury."
Ward was on course for 3:08:27.
Mike Conway placed third in the Male 30 to 34 group in 3:23:47, while Duncan Munro - who had been hospitalized at Ironman the week before for dehydration and heat stroke, and was bitten by a dog while coaching a mountain bike camp a few days later - was fourth in the category in 3:27:08. Munro said he purposely went slower, preferring to enjoy the race than risk a third trip to the emergency room in seven days. "I went out to have fun and finish a race, and that's it," he said.
Daryl Wood of Squamish was seventh in Male 40 to 44 in 3:33:36.
Peter Henderson of Squamish was eighth in the same category in 3:47:50.
Whistler's John Minton, in his first triathlon, was 10th in the Male 40 to 44 in 3:56:33.
Whistler's John Blok placed first in Male 55 to 59 in 4:06:47, also earning a spot in the world championships.
Heather MacIntosh of Squamish was seventh in women's 35 to 39 in 5:14:25.
There was also a shorter Sport category with a 750-metre swim, 15km bike and 6km run. John Connor of Salmon Arm was the fastest athlete with the third-fastest swim, fastest bike and fastest run to finish in 1:41:03. Whistler's Trevor Hopkins placed second overall in 1:49:28, winning the male 30 to 39 race in the process. He was followed by two other Whistler athletes - Bun Kulatkowski in 1:59:10 (first in the 20 to 29 age group) and Glenn Hartrick in 2:02:53 (second in 30 to 39).
Todd Carter of Whistler was first in the 50 to 59 category in 2:07:29.
Candice Drouin was fifth in 30 to 39 in 2:43:04. Sylvie Pare was sixth in the same group in 2:46:39.
Whistler's Victoria Saunders was third in the duathlon (full bike and run) in 4:59:04.
There was also a trail run. In the 12km run Whistler's Mark Schmidt was first in 25 to 29 in 1:02:47, Hannah Garcia was first in women's 35 to 39 in 1:05:20, Ashley McMillam was first in men's 35 to 39 in 1:07:02 and Walter Wallgram first in 50 to 54 in 1:09:46.
Also finishing from Whistler were Jim Budge, Kassia O'Connor and Holly Janenko.
There was also a 6km run with seven athletes taking part. From Whistler, Sarah Colpitts, Avery Newman and Scott Waller were fifth, sixth and seventh in 1:20:31, 1:20:34 and 1:29:08.
Complete results are online at www.raceheadquarters.com.
