Max King's winning time at the St. Albert Triathlon was better than expected.
"I've never had good luck in St. Albert so I'm happy how I did in this race," said the 18-year-old from Sherwood Park after finishing first overall in the sprint distance in one hour, one minute and 28 seconds Sunday morning. "It was a good race all in all."
Last year King placed fifth overall at 1:05:01 as the second fastest U19 male.
This year the Edmonton Triathlon Academy competitor beat out Ryan Kohlenberg of St. Albert, the 2008 and 2010 winner, for top spot on the podium. Kohlenberg was second overall at 1:02:22.
"At the end I had enough of a lead on the run," said King.
He was first swimmer out of the pool at the Fountain Park Recreation Centre, after completing the 750-metre distance at 9:36. His 33:30 clocking on the 20-kilometre bike was fourth best in the event. On the five-km run the graduate of Bev Facey High School was the quickest at 18:22.
"In the swim I just went hard and I ended up coming out of the water first," King said. "With my bike I wasn't too sure how it would be but I've been training hard. I had a four-hour ride last weekend, 120K, so I biked hard and I ended up keeping my lead.
"On the run, with last year's races I had trouble with my asthma, but this time I had a good run and held it until the end."
King is a big fan of the bike course.
"It's nice. I'm not very good with the turns. I just like going out and back like this one."
Kings credits his coach, Kevin Clarke, for Sunday's success.
"Definitely it's been the training through him. We've been improving my swim and my bike. The guy is awesome."
The five-foot-eight King is a natural runner, so most of his workouts have been in the water or on the bike.
"When I'm having a good day I definitely like the run the best," he said.
The triathlon was a tune-up for the junior elite nationals in Kelowna this weekend.
"We wanted to see where I was at. My coach thought I was training pretty well," said King, who grew up doing Kids of Steel races since the age of six. "This is definitely good to check where I'm at without having any problems."
Late bloomer
Next to the age-group medals that were handed out after the race, the biggest award was presented to Robert Mollot of St. Albert. The 52-year-old marketing manager for a medical supply company was the recipient of the Late Bloomer Award, which recognizes the oldest competitor who finished his first triathlon.
"I was absolutely shocked when they announced my name, but honoured. I felt really special," Mollot said. "When they said the oldest competitor I thought they would be talking about someone in their 70s, not me."
The award was established in memory of Frank Hayday, who was also a late bloomer in the sport. The owner/operator of Karl Hager Limb & Brace for 30 years died of mesothelioma on Jan. 21, 2011. His triathlon career started in 2001 at age 56. The next year the St. Albert Roadrunners and Triathlon Club member represented Canada at the world age group championships in Cancun. He also qualified for worlds in 2003 and 2004 but didn't participate because of an injury. He qualified again in 2005 and raced in Hawaii.
This year's triathlon was also dedicated in Hayday's memory.
"From what I've heard he was a very courageous man who battled cancer," MoIlot said. "I wish I would've met him. I probably would've been inspired by him."
Mollot decided to give the St. Albert Triathlon a shot with his fitness level at an all-time high.
"I had done some running about 10 years ago and then I got back into it. I did a five-K earlier this year, then I did a 10K run for cancer, the underwear affair. I thought I would never be in shape like this again so I decided to try it. I started to practice swimming and Anna Lee, who is a swim coach [at Fountain Park pool] really helped me. Without her I would've probably quit but she was great with encouragement and I want to thank her a lot."
Mollot placed 115th overall out of out 132 finishers at 1:46:13 for 10th place in the men's 50-59 division.
"I was nervous a little bit but I was more excited. I was just going to go out there and really enjoy myself. I wanted to do my best but the most important thing was just to have fun and finish," he said. "I'm going to have to do a second one now. What I'm actually aiming to do, if my body holds up, is the Lavaman in Keauhou. That's going to be a bit of a task. It's double the length. My hope is to do this one next year for sure but maybe, just maybe do a full size one."
TRI TIMES: In third place for the second year in a row was Stephen Bourdeau of St. Albert at 1:03:55.
The fastest female was Wietske Eikelenboom of St. Albert in the 50-59 division at 1:10:29 for 12th place overall.
There were 26 participants who finished the try-a-tri (250m swim, 10-km bike, 2.5-km run). Seven sprint relay teams also competed.
For the complete results, visit www.resultscanada.com.
