Mother Nature stepped in on Saturday morning with an early morning thunderstorm resulting in an hour’s delay for the Lakeshore Women’s Triathlon but skies cleared and everything began to hum along.
More than 300 women registered to take part in the Triathlon. Formerly known as the Kincardine Women’s Triathlon and newly named the Lakeshore Women’s Triathlon, the event had to move from its original home in Kincardine due to routing difficulties to Saugeen Shores. The Triathlon began in 2001 enabling women to compete with other women, themselves and the clock.
There were four categories – the Sprint Triathlon, the Sprint Triathlon Relay, the Spring Duathlon and the Sprint Duathlon Relay, all starting and finishing at Port Elgin Main Beach.
The race began promptly at 9:45 (delayed from 8:30 a.m. due to weather) with the 375metre swim portion.
Many of the swimmers were surprised at how shallow the water was due to Lake Huron’s low water levels this summer and had to, in fact, wade before they could swim.
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The winner, with a time of 4:18, was Christine Ciszkowski followed closely by Victoria Sandre with a time of 5:31.
From the 375M swim, it was a sprint across the beach to the bike corral where swimmers quickly donned riding gear and it was on to the 10Km ride along the Lake Shore trail, that many remarked was an incredible ride with its view of Chantry Island Lighthouse.
The riders cycled along the shore trail to Concession 10 and headed east to Hwy. 21 where they made a return loop back along the Concession. Once the riders returned, they quickly removed their riding gear and set off on the 3km running leg of the competition.
1st place in the cycling was Julie Stewart of London with a time of 21.38 followed by Anna Martens of Lion’s Head with 21.53
When it came to the 3km run, Victoria Sandre of Port Elgin came out in 1st place with a time of 11:09 followed closely be sisters Tova (11:38) and Livia Wells (12:57) in second and third.
The relay team of Liz, Pam and Kelly each took part with their strengths combining for a team that came in second. Liz’s strength was swimming, Pam’s was running and Kelly’s was the biking. “I have only missed one triathlon since it began,” said Kelly.
The more than 300 participants came from across Ontario – Woodstock to Kingston, Guelph to Toronto, Burlington to London, Elmira to Ottawa and, closer to home, Lion’s Head, Bayfield, Kincardine, Ripley and Port Elgin.
Most of the women were already talking about attending next year’s Women’s Triathlon.
For complete race results, CLICK HERE
