It was a strong finish for three Battlefords athletes at the Subaru Saskatoon Triathlon, part of the Western Canadian Ironman Series, which saw solid participation from the Battlefords.
Finishing on the podium at that event for their age groups was Michael Higgs who was first in the 40-44 Men’s Sprint Triathlon and 12th out of 127 overall; Greg Gubbe who was first in the Men’s 45-49 Sprint Triathlon and seventh out of 127 overall; and David Odishaw placed second in the Men’s 45-49 Sprint Triathlon and was 17th out of 127 overall.
Gubbe’s overall time in the Sprint was 1:59.03, Higgs finished with 2:03.31 and Odishaw 2:04.28.
This was Gubbe’s second time at this event and the first time for Higgs and Odishaw. Odishaw reports he and Greg have both trained together for about 10 years, but started participating and training in triathlons two years ago.
Both also competed in the Bike Doctor Moe’s triathlon June 13, a non-sanctioned and shorter event in Saskatoon. The long course featured a 500-metre swim in Riversdale pool, followed by a 15-kilometre bike along Spadina Crescent West then a five-kilometre run along River Landing. In that event Odishaw was 19th out of 90 and Gubbe 22nd out of 90.
From this past weekend several other athletes from the Battlefords competed in the sprint, standard or relay events including: Janine Hynd-Johnson (sprint) who was fourth in the woemen’s 40-44 category, Ryan Wandler (standard and sprint), Dr. Malcolm Retief (standard) and Dr. Almereau Prollius (standard).
The sprint course consisted of a 750-metre open water swim in Pike Lake, followed by a 40 kilometre ride to Saskatoon, at which point competitors begin a five kilometer run along the riverbank.
The standard, or Olympic, version is a 1,500-metre swim, 40-kilometre bike and10-kilometre run. Conditions were reported to be excellent but also extremely hot by the time competitors got to the run portion of the event.
A total of 127 participants competed in the Sprint — 67 women and 60 men. Twelve teams competed in the relay and 75 women and 109 men competed in the standard event.
