Roughly 53 participants swam, rode and ran their way around Tyhee Lake in the scorching heat in the annual triathlon over the weekend.
In the standard distance, Peter Krause came in first finishing in 2 hours and 18 minutes, while Tina Haskins-Cochrane finished in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
In the sprint, Kyle Irvine finished in 1 hour and 11 minutes and Robyn Poulson at 1 hour and 21 minutes.
“When people do their first race, there’s a huge sense of accomplishment when they finish it,” said Jody Barber, race director of the Tyhee Lake Triathlon. “I think it’s a really enjoyable race experience, it’s a great goal to set.”
The race drew participants from Mackenzie, Kitimat, Houston and as far away as Lacombe, Alberta.
“We get people who are quite competitive and we also get beginners and I’m always excited when people use our race to introduce themselves to the sport,” said Barber.
This year, there were three distances to choose from: the standard distance, which involved a 1,500-metre swim, 40-kilometre bike ride and 10-kilometre run; the sprint distance of a 750-m swim, 20-km bike ride and a 5-km run; and the tri-a-tri distance with a 300-m swim, 10-km bike ride and 3-km run.
Racers could also participate in teams or individually.
Ron Lowe, who raced in a team, was the first person to cross the finish line during the standard distance bike ride.
“I know this course pretty well,” said Lowe, who has completed the bike ride portion of the race roughly a dozen times.
“It’s a very challenging course. It’s hard to get speed because there’s so many rolling hills and it’s also total asphalt, so it’s a bit bumpy. But it’s a fun course.”
They have also implemented a variety of race distances to draw a different range of athletes.
“They’re shorter races for people who want to try a triathlon out,” said Barber, adding that the distances helped draw people between the ages of 12 to 15.
Twelve-year-old River Stokes-DeYoung finished first in the tri-a-tri distance in just over 50 minutes.
“I wanted to try it out, I’ve never done it before,” said Stokes-DeYoung. “It was really hard, but I’m glad I finished it without hurting myself.”
As one of the youngest racers, Stokes-DeYoung said the last portion of the race was the most difficult.
“The run was the hardest part because after the big bike and a swim, it was really hard and I started to get cramps,” he said, adding that he will race again next year.