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Barefooted solo racer takes first overall at Long Lake Triathlon

Ian Weir is the first solo racer to win the overall title in six years at the Long Lake Triathlon. He’s also likely the first to cross the finish line barefoot.
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Ian Weir is the first solo racer to win the overall title in six years at the Long Lake Triathlon. He’s also likely the first to cross the finish line barefoot.

Weir, who was competing in the race for the first time, outpaced everyone including the teams last Saturday in and around Whitehorse’s Long Lake.

“It was really well organized. And I really liked that it was mountain biking and trail running instead of on the road like a typical triathlon. It made it a lot more interesting,” said Weir.

The 24-year-old finished the one-kilometre swim, 16-kilometre mountain bike and 5.5-kilometre trail run in one hour, 41 minutes and 15 seconds to become the first solo racer to win the overall title ahead of teams since Ian Parker in 2010.

He also set the solo record for the course that has been used since 2011, surpassing Joel Macht’s 2012 time by 2:39.

Weir, who moved to Whitehorse from Ontario about eight or nine months ago, did all that while running the second of two loops in bare feet.

“I got really bad blisters on the back of my heels because I didn’t put socks on (after the swim) because my hands were super cold and I didn’t want to waste time in the transition zone,” said Weir. “Halfway through I couldn’t take it anymore, got rid of my shoes and ran in bare feet.”

Whitehorse’s Lee Hawkings, who won the solo division in 2011 and 2014, placed second overall at 1:46:17. Logan Potter took third for solo males with a time of 1:58:50.

Megan Seiling placed first in the solo female division at 1:56:57, ahead of Maren Bradley (2:43:37) and Kayla Fitzsimmons (3:15:46).

Sandra MacDougall won the master female division at 2:13:20 and John Carson the master male at 1:49:03.

The top team was the “3 Amigos” with Lesley Carson doing the swim, Greg Hale the bike and David Eikelboom the run, coming in at 1:46:23.

Tess McLoud and Sarah Crane topped the female team division. McLoud, who swam, and Crane, who biked and ran, finished in 2:07:43.

“I didn’t realize I was in first until I got to the run and they told me I was in first,” added Weir. “I saw a couple good runners lined up for teams there so I hoped I had a big enough lead to finish out in first and I did. That was really good, I was happy.”

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com