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Past, new champs get wet at Dry Tri

The fifth annual Dry Tri was anything but dry as about 45 participants took to the trails at the Takhini Hot Springs on Saturday.
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The fifth annual Dry Tri was anything but dry as about 45 participants took to the trails at the Takhini Hot Springs on Saturday.

Rain and chilly temperatures were present for the start of the triathlon, which, because there was no swimming, was technically a duathlon, but not everyone seemed to mind.

“It was nice that it was cool and rainy,” said Whitehorse’s Jonah Clark. “The ride is on old horse trails, so it’s pretty smooth. There’s a couple little climbs, but nothing that will make you too tired.

“The run, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. It’s really hard. It’s like two kilometres of climbing followed by two kilometres of running downhill.”

Clark won the solo men’s division, completing the four-kilometre run, 14-kilometre mountain bike ride and eight-kilometre run in one hour, 35 minutes and 53 seconds. Taking second was Brad Barton in 1:41:50, ahead of Jonathan Kerr with a time of 1:44:27 for third.

“I don’t run much, so the last lap of the running course is extremely painful,” said Clark. “I try to use my biking skills to build enough of a lead that nobody can catch me.”

Clark, who won the division in 2007 - the same year he won the Tour de Whitehorse - and in 2009, still had 10 stitches in his elbow from a fall the previous weekend as a course forerunner for a downhill mountain bike race.

“It’s a point now where it doesn’t really hurt,” said Clark. “I was concerned about tripping and falling during the run because I’ve done that before.

“I think this is the third time I’ve done the whole thing and two years I was injured.”

First-time competitor Kelly Proudfoot won the solo women’s division with a time of 1:51:05, outpacing second-place’s Laura Salmon (1:55:15) and third’s Natasha Dunmall (2:16:05).

“It was fun,” said Proudfoot. “I’m not much of a looper. I’d rather do one big loop.

“I definitely love running, but I don’t do it as often now that I’ve moved here. I’m doing more cross-country skiing and mountain biking.

“I’ve never done mountain bike races, but I do ride a lot.”

Proudfoot, who moved to Whitehorse from Vancouver in October to help organize the Arctic Winter Games, has completed about a dozen marathons, including the Boston Marathon twice. It was her first duathlon.

“There was great cheering and the ride was fun,” said Proudfoot.

The fastest overall time was produced by the men’s team division winners, Joel Macht and Jean Paul Molgat, coming in with a time of 1:33.54.

Macht, a two-time winner of the Whitehorse Triathlon, was second behind Clark in the solo men’s division in the first annual Dry Tri in 2007.

Molgat took care of the cycling while Macht did the two running legs.

“I haven’t been doing much biking this year, so it was nice when Jean Paul didn’t want to do the running,” said Macht. “The weather is getting better, but this was the coolest, dampest edition yet.”

The mixed team division had the closest finishes of the day. Carrie Burbidge and Paul Burbidge took first with a time of 1:42:40, just five seconds up from Sierra Van Der Meer and Michael Lemmon in second. Sue Bogle and Matt Burdenie grabbed third with a time of 1:46:39

Chris Gardner and Robin Sassparilla won the women’s team division, coming over the line in 2:03:14.

Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com