The male and female winners at the 26th annual sprint distance triathlon Sunday hail from St. Albert.
Mark Brown was the top finisher in his hometown race at 58 minutes and 54 seconds and the fastest female was Wietske Eikelenboom at 1:12:44 for 19th place overall out of 192 competitors in the 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and five-km run.
"It's pretty awesome," said an excited Brown while inhaling a post-race ice cream treat. "This race has a lot of support and a lot of volunteers and it's very well organized. It's really nice to see how well the community gets into this race every year."
Eikelenboom, 53, was delighted by her time.
"I was thrilled. As I'm getting older I'm still holding my time pretty well," said Eikelenboom, who joked this wasn't the first race where the male winner was less than half her age. "My goal today was just to go as hard as possible and see where I finish. It's also all about who else shows up because you never know who else is there."
Brown, 25, was clocked at 9:56 in the pool as the No. 1 swimmer and was No. 2 on the bike at 31:32 and the run at 17:27.
Doug Wickware of Calgary was the runner-up at 1:00:02 while going 10:45 swimming (No. 4), 30:40 biking (No. 1) and 18:38 running (No. 4).
"My swim went well. Doug was catching me on the bike on the turnaround, I could see him and he was reeling me back in so I really had to hammer it back in. I'm a little bit faster runner than Doug so I knew if I just keep my cadence up I'd keep the gap but he did start behind me so I was a little concerned. The run course is pretty hilly so it's pretty tough but overall I had a really good race," Brown said. "This is an important race but it's not one of my biggest races of the year but I'm still happy I had a good time."
Last year, the St. Albert Catholic High School alumnus placed second overall at 1:01:19 behind his head coach at the Edmonton Triathlon Academy, Kevin Clark, who crossed the finish line at 59:18.
This year Clark placed third at 1:00:23, followed by Luke Hanson, a U19 standout from St. Albert, at 1:02:13.
"Last year my coach beat me and I had a bit of a hip injury but I'm good this year and I've been in race shape for awhile," Brown said. "I definitely beat my time from last year but most of my races are draft legal so if you can draft on the bike you can go faster but as far as non-draft legal racing goes this is probably one of my fastest races."
Last month, Brown was the 23rd finisher in the elite male division at the CAMTRI Triathlon American Cup in Magog, Que., at 1:57:03 as the 14th best Canadian in the field.
"That was a really good race for me. I had a personal best bike (59:35) by a lot," he said. "So far I'm having a really good race season. These sprint distances are really good to keep that speed high because when I do the standard distance, which is a little bit longer, the shorter distances gets my muscle memory going and I can keep my speed nice and high."
Brown recently pocketed $250 for placing eighth in the pro chase event as the fifth fastest male at the 11th annual Chinook Triathlon Festival in Sylvan Lake at 2:25:07 after winning last year's Olympic distance Chinook race in Calgary at 1:59:22.
Upcoming for Brown is a major competition in Kelowna, B.C., and next month's ITU World Triathlon Series stop in Edmonton, where he will race in the 25 to 29 age group. Last year at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, he placed 39th as the 10th Canadian in the 20 to 24 male standard at 2:11:52.
"I'm hoping to have a really good race there as well. That will be the standard distance, so it will be a little bit longer and it's a pretty challenging course," said Brown, who completed his first triathlon at the age of 11 in the Kids of Steel program and grew up idolizing "elite bad asses" like Simon Whitfield. "It's a really big race and there is going to be professionals there. I won't be racing them but it will be fun to watch. It's also a qualifier for next year's worlds in Mexico."
Female winner
In the female division Sunday, Eikelenboom finished ahead of Tari Kelly of Sturgeon County, the runner-up at 1:13:09 for 21st overall as the top racer in her 45 to 49 division, and Maria Fletcher of Edmonton at 1:14:09 for third place and 24th overall for first place in the 25 to 29 division.
"What is so exciting is I talked to one of the athletes this morning and she said she saw us racing at the World Grand Final in Edmonton last year and that inspired her to now do the St. Albert Triathlon. This was her first triathlon so that is really cool about a triathlon like this," said Eikelenboom, a previous podium finisher as the No. 1 female in the St. Albert race. "I'm very lucky and happy that I have the health to compete and it's wonderful to see so many athletes of various abilities come out. I hope to inspire others to be the best they can be."
Eikelenboom is a veteran of the St. Albert Road Runners and Triathlon Club (STARRT), which hosted the triathlon, and has been active with the St. Albert Kids of Steel event every June.
"This is a very well organized event and it's wonderful to race on home ground. Some of us STARRT members volunteer as well as raced. The STARRT club was very well represented in the medals, " said the multiple female winner of the annual St. Albert Fall Challenge half-marathon.
Eikelenboom's boyfriend, Miles Gibson, inspired her to focus on mountain biking and compete in the XTerra off-road triathlon this Sunday at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
"He's helped me learn new skills and pick up a new sport. We've been competing together in triathlons over the last two years. It's always fun to try something new," said the sixth-place female and second Canadian in the 50 to 54 division at the Grand Final at 2:25:59 last year.
A busy race season saw Eikelenboom earn female race honours at two Olympic distance events within a week of each other in Arizona in the spring, did the Sinister 7 Ultra trail run with her female buddies and was fourth out of six females, and 17th overall, at 1:17:32 at the Athletes in Action Victory sprint triathlon last month in Leduc. Brown was the winner at 1:03:03 and Hanson was second at 1:06:04.
"It's kind of fun when you have no expectations," said Eikelenboom, a cross-country ski coach and avid competitor in the sport.
FAST TIMES: For the 26th year in a row, Richard Roberts finished the St. Albert Triathlon but this time he did it with his sons, Owen and Dylan. They placed second out of nine teams but were the top family trio overall at 1:12:33. Richard swam, Owen biked and Dylan ran.
The Cranky's Bike Shop relay team was the winner at 1:02:44.
Jasmine Feddema of Edmonton finished first out of 30 participants in the try-a-tri (250m swim, 10-km bike and 2.5-km run) at 34:52.
Visit www.resultscanada.com for complete results of the St. Albert Triathlon.
