Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 11, 2008

HAY RIVER - Expectations are high for a new triathlon being planned in the South Slave for later this month.

Organizers are hoping The Great Hay River Triathlon, set for Aug. 23, will be a very popular event.

"I think this is going to take off in a big way," said Ross deBoer, the recreation director with the Town of Hay River. "We've got lots of interest, lots of telephone calls."

Ashley Coombs, the town's aquatics supervisor, came up with the idea for the triathlon after talking to a number of people.

"I just thought, hey, why not give it a whirl," Coombs said.

A triathlon involves three events - swimming, biking and running.

Normally completed by individuals, these grueling competitions can also be teams sports with participants each tackling one section of the triathlon.

"We hoping for at least 25 teams in total," said Coombs.

The community is ripe for a triathlon, deBoer said he believes, adding the number of swimmers using the pool has increased threefold in the two years since the new facility opened.

"There are people coming in here that I've never seen in the community before," he said.

Mary-Lynne MacInnis, a nurse at H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital, is looking forward to participating in the triathlon.

"I think it's great," she said, adding she'll be running as part of a team of three nurses calling themselves The RNaters.

She said she believes the triathlon will help encourage fitness in the community.

"We're healthier when we're training and it's for fun," she said.

It's hoped the triathlon will attract competitors from other NWT communities, such as Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson, said deBoer.

"There are people who travel all over the place for these triathlons," he said.

Coombs and deBoer both stressed their event will mainly be a fun, community activity for the whole family - something to encourage people to get active.

"We hope this is going to be an annual event and something we can build on," deBoer said.

There will be two divisions for the triathlon, one for adults aged 19 and over, and the other section for youth aged seven to 18.

Youth teams will swim half a kilometre (20 lengths of the pool), bike 25 km and run five kilometers.

Adult teams will swim one kilometre (40 lengths), bike 50 km and run 10 km.

Both deBoer and Coombs intend to compete as swimmers for opposing teams. The deadline for registration, which will cost $33 per team, is Aug. 18. People can signup on the Town of Hay River website.