by Cara Loverock
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hay River - Hay River residents ran, swam and cycled through the weekend in the town's first triathlon Aug. 23.
Eight teams composed of three people each took part in The Great Hay River Triathlon. In total, there were 25 participants, including one Yellowknife man, Derek Young, who took the challenge of completing the event himself.
Yellowknifer Derek Young cycles through Hay River during the Great Hay River Triathlon on August 23. He was the only participant to finish the entire competition himself. |
"It was fabulous. It went really well for a first-time event," said organizer Ashley Coombs, aquatic supervisor with the Town of Hay River.
"We're really pleased with how it turned out."
There had been hopes that the competition would attract around 25 teams, and Coombs said the town is already looking at how to expand for next year. Including corporate teams and seniors is one idea that may be used to draw a bigger turnout, she said.
This year's triathlon included two divisions, one for adults aged 19 and over and a second for youth ages seven to 18.
First place for the adult team was The RNaters, a team of three nurses. Julie Malenfant finished the one km swim with teammate Kim Dinh taking on the 50 km cycling portion. Mary-Lynn MacInnis finished for the team with a 10 km run. MacInnis had completed a half marathon in Yellowknife the previous week in preparation.
"It went really well," said Malenfant. "We were all on top of our game."
All three had been training and were looking forward to participating again next year, she added, noting the women were considering attempting to complete the triathlon individually.
In second place for the adult division was the Wahine Warriors and third was the DN Waverunners, all three teams hailing from Hay River.
The three top youth teams were also local. Youth teams had to swim half a kilometer, cycle 25 km and run five km. Finishing first was team Cookie Crumblers, headed up by captain Haily Lyon. Second place was team Oreo, led by John Mckinney, and third was captain Cassidy Ring's team Just Being Cute.
Yellowknife's Young finished as the only individual to complete all three parts of the triathlon with a time of three hours and 25 minutes.
