Katya Meyers Takes the Women's Title
David Kahn of New York, led from wire to wire today setting an astonishing course record by over 13 minutes in the Half Iron distance at the Subaru Sooke International Triathlon. On the women's side, Katya Meyers, coming off a recent 6th place finish at Ironman France, used a very strong bike split to cover a 6 minute differential after the swim and held the lead on the run to eventual second place finisher Janet Nielsen. Australia's Luke Gilmer finished 2nd on the men's side.
"This was a great race -- I wanted to use it to prepare for World Championships (Ironman 70.3) this fall so I had a plan and executed it well", said Kahn, "The course was tough and beautiful - I loved being out in the front"
Sooke played host this weekend to over 500 athletes from 6 countries for the 4th edition of the Subaru Sooke Triathlon. Sooke, a beautiful ocean-side community located in the western communities of Greater Victoria, attracted athletes of all ages and abilities from around the world - some who were simply looking to finish, others such as the professionals were preparing for Ironman Canada and the famous Hawaii Ironman. The event was a real "rural meets urban" feeling in one of BC's fastest growing regions. The race course featured a swim that takes place in Young Lake, a small warm lake, followed by a beautiful but challenging west coast forested rolling bike loop. The run course included a journey out on to Whiffin Spit, a 1k narrow trail, where the athletes experienced being surrounded by the Pacific Ocean with the lighthouse as their beacon.
The Olympic Distance event was won by top American Pro Amanda Stevens and New Balance Half Iron Champion Adam O'Meara. The Sprint race champion of the day was Ramsey Ezzat of North Vancouver for the men and Martina Wan of Vancouver for the women.
The race also served as a Worlds Qualifier in the Half Ironman distance for the 2011 World Long Distance Championships in Henderson, Nevada. One Age Group athlete in each age division qualified to represent Canada at these Championships.
For full results click here TriSeries.ca.
The Subaru Sooke International Triathlon is the 4th stop in the Subaru Western Triathlon Series (TriSeries.ca). Next stop on the Series is the sold out inaugural Subaru Banff Triathlon on September 11th.
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