The Pavilion Triathlon was held once again on the first weekend of September with a 750m swim in Pavilion Lake, a 20km bike ride, then a 5km run, all along Hwy 99.
As a race director, I try to get more people to come to the race by trying different things. I held the race one week earlier thinking it would be more convenient as there would be less conflict with other events around the province. So the event was on the September long weekend, which turned out to be a bad idea. But even though we had a low amount of people signed up, it was still a great event.
The top athletes received custom medals this year, and there was some very competitive athletes going for those medals as well as new people trying out their first triathlon. We seem to keep getting return people every year, including one guy from Abbotsford who comes every year. He loves the water and the grassroots feel to the race. Cariboo Triathlon Club sends down a few of their people each year all the way down from Prince George as well.
Last year the whole family of Lauplands from Kamloops, including mom, dad, son and daughter, all competed. They returned again, and they did very well with the daughter Elise coming out of the water way out in 1st place. Elise lost that lead to Doug Paeth, an athlete who works at Runners’ Sole in Kamloops. The overall win went to Eric Davis of Kamloops who ran at a blazing pace in the 5km finish to take the lead. Eric just finished Ironman in Whistler. Brenda Laupland took the overall win for the women.
The event received two new sponsors including District Bicycle Co., which is a new bike shop carrying all new products to the Kamloops area, and Fort Berens Winery from Lillooet. They both donated great prizes to help out the event.
I’d like to thank all the local athletes who came out to support the event, and to the locals from Pavilion, and volunteers from Ashcroft area and Kamloops who help out every year. Thank you to Rolling Thunder for being an awesome MC, JD Flagging for taking care of the athletes’ safety on the highway, and Gary Winslow for taking awesome photos of the athletes.
Wayne Little