Ian Parker set a new course record at the Long Lake Triathlon on Sunday.
The Whitehorse resident shaved more than a minute off the solo men’s course record with a time of one hour, 33 minutes and 11 seconds, coming in just eight seconds - by just a hair, in terms of triathlons - ahead of second-place finisher Joel Macht.
The previous solo men’s record of 1:34:26 set by Whitehorse’s Stephen Waterreus in 2005.
“We train together, we’re good friends and it makes it fun to be out there on the course together, cracking jokes and stuff,” said Parker of himself and Macht. “Joel is the most balanced triathlete in town. He doesn’t have a weakness; he swims so well and his running and biking is right up there with the best.
“As usual he put a good dent in me during the swim.”
Indeed, Parker emerged from the one-kilometre swim more than three minutes behind Macht, who came out of the water tied for first with past champion Tim Sellars, who was first in the masters men division and fourth overall. Finishing third overall and first in the masters plus men’s division was last year’s overall winner Bill Parry.
A mountain biker, Parker made up lost ground over the 15.5-kilometre cycling section, although not knowing the size of Macht’s lead could be disheartening at times.
“It’s not a super technical course, so it’s hard to stay motivated,” said Parker. “I know that Joel is somewhere out in front of me, but you don’t get a sense of how much - it’s sort of out of sight, out of mind. It’s hard to stay motivated if you don’t know if you’re closing or not.”
Coming off the bikes, Parker had a two-second lead over Macht, but dropped it in the first of two laps during the six-kilometre run, encountering hamstring problems.
“I was ready to concede because he was looking so strong, but on the second loop I decided on the climb to attack and see if I can fool him into thinking I’m feeling better than I was,” said Parker. “On the climb, I’m generally a little stronger than Joel. But on anything more technical or going downhill, Joel is stronger than me. So it made for an interesting run.”
Parker’s win makes it two in a row for local triathlons. He won the Whitehorse Triathlon at the start of June, beating out second-place Macht, who won the event the previous two years.
“I’ve been improving in the pool, but I’m nowhere near the strong swimmers like Joel and Tim, so I try not to blow up on the swim - I try to limit my losses and hope that I can close a bit on the other two legs,” said Parker.
The 11th annual running of the Long Lake Triathlon saw a significant drop in solo women competitors with only one participant in each of the three divisions.
“I’m not sure why that was,” said organizer Rick Janowicz. “That surprised me as well, but the participation was pretty good - I think we had 45 people out there.”
Taking first in the open women division was Helen Eddy with a time of 2:18:57, almost 14 minutes off Natalie Closs’ course record set in 2004. In the Masters plus women category Christine Paradis finished with a time of 2:35:40.
The team divisions saw healthy numbers in the mixed and female categories, but only one team in the men’s.
In the mixed, coming in with a time of 1:41:42 was team Rick Made Us Do It, featuring Janowicz, Marcus Waterreus and Miriam Lukszova. In the women’s team event, Team KLM, featuring Kim Holmes, Leslie Gomm and Megan Philips, came first with a time of 2:02:34. In the small men’s team division, Ken Sylvestre and Ryan Sylvestre of the Cow Tippers team crossed the finish line with a time of 1:50:47.
“I think the Long Lake Triathlon is one of the best events going,” said Parker. “It’s great value at 20 bucks. It’s got a laid back vibe, but it’s still competitive and well organized.”
Results
Open men
1st Ian Parker - 1:33:11
2nd Joel Macht - 1:33:19
3rd Shawn Taylor - 1:44:33
4th Nick Mauro - 1:55:45
5th Ryan Warshawski - 1:56:47
6th Kai Tai Ll - 2:18:06
Masters men
1st Tim Sellars - 1:43:41
2nd John Berryman - 1:56:24
3rd Joshua Robinson - 2:16:47
4th Rodger Armstrong - 2:32:54
Masters plus men
1st Bill Parry - 1:39:46
Bernard Walsh - DNF
Open women
1st Helen Eddy - 2:18:57
Masters women
Jillian Chown - DNF
Masters plus women
1st Christine Paradis - 2:35:40
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com