Posted: May 23, 2006

Multisport: Lucy Smith Wins Another National Duathlon Championship

Lucy Smith after crossing the finish line (Picture courtesy of Mike Cheliak)

For 39-year-old Lucy Smith, winning a National Championship should be old hat by now; after all, her victory Sunday, her fifth National Duathlon win, is her 15th Canadian Title in her 23-year career.

Smith, from Victoria who last won the title in 2003, looked very comfortable in all 3 portions of the Race (10km run, 40km bike, 5km run). Smith’s time of 2:03:59 was impressive to say the least, considering the cold, blustery conditions present throughout the entire race in Ancaster, Ontario just outside of Hamilton. Smith says the 65km winds and the outside temperature of 2 degrees including the wind-chill didn’t play a huge factor in the outcome. “The elements were there for all of us, I just wanted to make sure the pack, during the bike portion of the race, was not too big coming into the final transition, fortunately I was able to drop some athletes on the ride and this set me up very well heading into the second run.”

Smith says her attitude toward big races has changed, especially after taking some time off last season after the birth of her second child. “It’s still a ton of fun to win these races, but winning has changed for me, now it’s about showing up and using my experience, my tactics and my savvy to get to the finish line first – I am so happy I can still find a way to win.”

Smith won the race with relative ease defeating Vernon, BC’s, Jessica Solymosi by 25 seconds. Smith has racked up some impressive accomplishments over the years on top of her 5 Duathlon Championships, including a Silver Medal at the 1996 World Duathlon Championships, 5-time Canadian Cross-Country Running Champion, 4-time Canadian 10-Kilometre Road Running Champion and a 25-time National Team Member.

This was a very special day for Smith, not only did she win a race that was very special to her, especially after finishing 4th last year, she also had the privilege of watching her young protégé, 17-year-old, Kirsten Sweetland win the Women’s Junior Championship.

Smith says she loves working with High Performance athletes; however, Kirsten is as much as she can handle at this time. “Sweetland is a great athlete who has tons of potential. It’s a real thrill and honour to work with such a dedicated athlete – I really feel I can give her so much of what I’ve learned during my career.”

Sweetland, from Victoria, who is the female recipient of the BC Sport Junior athlete of the year, won the race in a time of 1:02:33, two seconds ahead of Sarah-Anne Brault from Winnipeg. This was Kirsten’s first ever Duathlon, which consisted of a 5K run, 20k bike and a 2.5k run. Sweetland had great success in North America last year winning both the Canadian Junior Triathlon championships in Caledon, Ontario and the U.S. Junior National Triathlon Championships in Bellingham, Washington. Andrew Yorke, from Caledon East, Ontario won the Junior Men’s title with a time of 54:51.

On the Men’s side, relative unknown, Graham Cocksedge, from Powell River, BC, won the Men’s Pro Division with a time of 1:48:52. Cocksedge, who was competing in his first ever full length Duathlon, qualified last weekend in Penticton, BC, at the Bare Bones Duathlon, which was a shorter course at 5km, 32km and 5km. Cocksedge’s strength is the run and this was evident in the first leg of the race as he headed into the first transition with the lead. “I have always been scared of the bike – Kyle Murcotte (who finished 4th) was a huge help and I would not have won this Championship without his help.”

Cocksedge was not surprised he won the race. “I didn’t expect it to be easy; however, going into the race I thought I had a great chance.”

Cocksedge was also thrilled with the course set-up. “It was a beautiful course, I am so thankful they picked such a technical course – this really played into my favour. I am so thrilled the way things worked out.”

Andre-Paul Baillargeon, from St. Catherine’s, Ontario, a member of the National Triathlon Development team, was second, 11 seconds behind Cocksedge and Grant Burwash, from Airdrie, Alberta, was third overall, first in the Under-23 Division. Catherine Hogan from Bedford, Nova Scotia won the Female Under-23 Category with a time of 2:11:52.

Just a short time ago, in the middle of February, there was some speculation as to who would host the 2006 Duathlon National Championships, but in the end the City of Hamilton partnered with MultiSport Canada and the HSBC Triathlon Series took on the challenge and according to Triathlon Canada’s Executive Director, Alan Trivett, “What they did in such a short period of time is amazing. The entire organizing committee did a fantastic job and this great event would not have been possible without all of their hard work.”

MultiSport Canada President and Founder John Salt says it was a great race with incredibly tough conditions. “I am ecstatic the way it all turned out, the winds which were gusting all over the place, made it very difficult for everybody – it was a terrific performance from all the athletes. From our perspective the event was a huge success.”

For all the race results please see the links below.

2006 National Duathlon Championships - Junior

2006 National Duathlon Championships - Under 23

2006 National Duathlon Championships - Elites

2006 National Duathlon Championships - Age Groupers

Source: Triathlon Canada.

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