Myron Tetrault and Margie Ritchie proved why they’re among the best triathletes in the west, blowing past the competition at the fifth annual Canmore Triathlon, Sunday (Aug. 19).
Tetrault used the course as a training ground for the upcoming Iron Man World Championships in Las Vegas and completed the difficult course in a blistering time of 2:11:22.
“It’s definitely a good, challenging course,” Tetrault said. “I consider it a hidden gem. It’s one of the best courses in Canada.”
The Calgary resident has a second home in Canmore and trains frequently on the course, which includes a 1.5 kilometre swim in Quarry Lake, 40 km bike on the Three Sisters Parkway and 10 km run on paved Canmore Nordic Centre trails.
This was Tetrault’s first attempt at Canmore’s Olympic distance course, having completed the sprint distance in years past. The hilly course requires strong pacing, he said, and he made no mistake in managing his effort level.
“Moderating effort is the best strategy. It’s easy on the hills to go overboard. It’s important to keep steady,” Tetrault said.
He didn’t have a time goal in mind, but wanted to put in a good training day.
Margie Ritchie, a triathlon age group world champion, was the top female finisher, stopping the clock at 2:29:40. The fleet-footed Edmontonian was well ahead of her nearest competitor, Kate Macpherson, who finished with a time of 2:42:42.
“It was a perfect race. The conditions were gorgeous and it was well organized. I had a lot of fun,” Ritchie said. “The lake swim is in a beautiful setting, it was a nice, hilly bike and the run was hilly too. It was challenging coming off injury.”
Ritchie crashed her bike last year, which resulted in some lower back and Achilles tendon problems. However, she was happy with how her body responded at the race and she now wants to find another race before heading off to the world championships in New Zealand on Oct. 20. The race will be a homecoming of sorts for Ritchie, who was born in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Success, Ritchie said, comes from racing yourself.
“It’s a matter of keeping your form and relaxing. Be as efficient as you can, not tense up on the bike climbs and maintain a pace you can continue. The key to any race is challenging yourself,” Ritchie said.
Elissa Papp was the women’s sprint distance winner. She swam 500 metres, biked 20 kms and ran 5 kms in 1:20:25 for the win. Renee Soenen finished second.
Tom Omstead won the men’s sprint distance, followed by Canmore’s Chris Lindsay. Omstead won his age category at the Calgary triathlon the week before.
Both Ritchie and Tetrault praised organizer Tony Smith for keeping the race running smoothly.
“Tony did a fantastic job keeping the race organized and letting everyone know where they need to be.”
The next multi-sport event takes place in two weeks as the Canmore Nordic Centre will host the Xterra Triathlon off-road national championship on Sept. 2. Racers will compete for honour and cash prizes. Following that, the Banff Triathlon is scheduled for Sept. 8.
Full results are available at www.winningtime.ca
