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HAY RIVER
Despite an initial cancellation, the fourth annual Great Hay River Triathlon was brought back to life last Sunday to the delight of its organizers and participants.

Hay River's Morgan Young sprints away in the running stage of the youth triathlon event on Sunday. - photo courtesy of Bob White

Eight competitors from Fort Smith and Hay River braved the warm weather to tackle the daunting challenge.

Ian Flood, 54, was the only competitor in the full Olympic triathlon. He swam 1.5 km, biked 40 km and ran 10 km in just over four hours.

"He was a real inspiration to the younger participants," said Heather Tybring, aquatic supervisor at the Don Stewart Recreation Centre and one of the event's organizers.

Hay River’s Tracy Pope won the women's sprint category in a time of 1:14:37; she swam 0.75 km, biked 20 km and ran 10 km.

JJ McKinney won the men's sprint race in a time of 1:44:18, besting his rival Bernie Langille by seven minutes.

Traditionally part of the town's Canada Day festivities, the triathlon almost didn't take place at all due to only two participants having registered a week before the event.

Tybring announced the bad news the next day and within 24 hours, received several e-mails from residents who were willing to lend a helping hand in order to make sure the event wasn't cancelled.

"I brought it to the attention of the recreation centre director, Kim, and we both agreed it was in the town's best interest to reschedule the event to another day," Tybring said.

Holding the event on July 15 meant that participants had an extra week to register, and two extra weeks to train.

The addition of a youth triathlon this year was a success, with seven children participating, leaving Tybring optimistic that the event can be held every year.

"It's easier to get more participants that way, when the parents can do the event on the same day as their kids," she said. "We didn't time (the kids) and gave them all a medal, and they just loved it."

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