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2015 Gerick Sports Wasa Triathlon another success

Annual triathlon hosted at Wasa Lake Provincial Park June 14 sees nearly 900 participants compete
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Aaron Brazel (#528) chases down Colleen Badger (#510) during the 2015 Gerick Sports Wasa Triathlon.

The 2015 Gerick Sports Wasa Triathlon, held Sunday, June 14, at Wasa Lake Provincial Park, was another resounding success.

Nearly 900 competitors swam, ran and cycled through the provincial park over Olympic- and sprint-distance triathlons in search of $4,300 in total prize money.

"We were very lucky with the weather. We had two warm days but not too hot and lots of sunshine," said event organizer Charlie Cooper Wednesday afternoon. "That always seems to set the mood.

"From what we saw on Saturday with the TriKids event and Sunday with the adults, was people with a lot of smiles taking in the event and enjoying the weather. Overall, it was well-received by the athletes."

Dylan Gillespie beat out 650 adult competitors to claim the overall title at the 2015 Gerick Sports Wasa Triathlon, comfortably conquering the Olympic-distance triathlon in 1:54:54.

Matt Seeley came in on the heels of Gillespie, finishing in 1:58:40, with Alex Martinek rounding out the top three (2:01:24).

Sarah MacArthur was the top-finishing female racer, completing the Olympic distance in 2:07:48, good enough for an eighth-overall placing and top finish amongst all female competitors.

There were athletes of all ages at the annual event, with competitors ranging in age from mid-teens to mid-70s.

The Olympic triathlon distance features a 1.5-km swim, 40-km cycle and 10-km run.

For the swimming leg of the Olympic triathlon at Wasa, athletes were required to complete one rectangular loop within Horseshoe Bay.

From there, the cycling portion of the event ran along Wasa Lake and the Kootenay River towards the Fort Steele.

The sprint triathlon distance features a 750-m swim, 20-km cycle and five-km run. The track followed a route similar to that of the Olympic triathlon, with the swim in Horseshoe Bay and the cycling portion along Wasa Lake and the Kootenay River.

In addition to the regular running of the triathlon on Sunday, the 2015 Gerick Sports Wasa Triathlon also featured a TriKids Triathlon event Saturday, June 13.

The TriKids Triathlon saw approximately 210 young competitors (aged four to 15) race swim 50 to 300m, cycle 1.5 to 10 km and run 500m to three km.

Cooper has been involved in the organization of the annual triathlon since 2001 and over his time, he's been pleased with the growth he has seen at the event.

"The event has actually been around for close to 25 years. It was around in '80s a little bit and then it came back from 1993 to 1999," Cooper said. "I've led the charges here for the third stint of the event being around.

"In terms of triathlon events in Canada, it's definitely got a long history and I think it's been really good to the area. The last 10 years, we've had approximately 60 to 70 per cent of the participants from out of town, Alberta especially. They spend the weekend or even the whole week hanging out and enjoying the event and everything else we offer here [in the region]."

According to Cooper, the biggest year for the event came in 2012, when approximately 1,300 participants competed (combined between the TriKids and adult Wasa Triathlon).

Approximately 300 volunteers chipped in to help ensure smooth runnings at the 2015 Gerick Sports Wasa Triathlon and Cooper was thankful, in particular for the support of Barb Fode, the director of the TriKids Triathlon.

"We can't run events without 300 people helping out over the course of the weekend," Cooper said. "All those volunteers were amazing. When I get feedback, the number-one comment is how great the volunteers are here at the triathlon, not just by number, but how kind they are to make people feel welcome."

Cooper also wished to extend his gratitude to the sponsors that help keep the event running successfully from year to year.

There's no rest for Cooper when it comes to planning and organizing the annual triathlon. Registration for the 2016 Wasa Triathlon is set to open next week.

Male - Olympic Distance

Overall: 1) Dylan Gillespie, 1:54:54; 2) Matt Seeley, 1:58:40; 3) Alex Martinek, 2:01:2418-24: 1) Dylan Gillespie, 1:54:54; 2) Alex Martinek, 2:01:24; 3) Colin Ferrie, 2:23:4325-29: 1) Ian Mallams, 2:02:01; 2) Dusty Spiller, 2:02:07; 3) Jared Bone, 2:16:4630-34: 1) Justin Birks, 2:03:41; 2) Jesse Carnes, 2:06:42; 3) Sheldon Timms, 2:07:5635-39: 1) Richard MacDonald, 2:08:22; 2) Alex Kourline, 2:23:00; 3) Paul Crowther, 2:28:5740-44: 1) Robert Mott, 2:13:06; 2) Ian Pritchard, 2:17:46; 3) Holger Bohm, 2:18:0245-49: 1) Matt Seeley, 1:58:40; 2) Myron Tetreault, 2:11:43; 3) Geoff Badger, 2:15:0350-54: 1) Brian Kozak, 2:20:06; 2) Andrew Dottridge, 2:37:37; 3) Gord Mawhinney, 2:40:3855-59: 1) Dan Barker, 2:21:11; 2) John Monk, 2:28:14; 3) Peter Olmstead, 2:32:2360-64: 1) Gordon Craig, 2:37:05; 2) Allan McIntosh, 2:39:29; 3) Lawrence Block, 3:14:5965-69: 1) Rocke Robertson, 3:05:28; 2) Tim Prior, 3:18:5770-74: 1) George Bichsel, 3:11:26

Female - Olympic Distance

Overall: 1) Sarah MacArthur, 2:07:48; 2) Sharon Styles, 2:10:55; 3) Tanya Salomon, 2:14:2718-24: 1) Erika Ackerlund, 2:20:49; 2) Madi Serpico, 2:29:14; 3) Catherine Alcorn, 2:37:3125-29: 1) Sarah MacArthur, 2:07:48; 2) Amanda Hunter, 2:14:36; 3) Jordan Ives, 2:36:3330-34: 1) Lindsay Winter, 2:25:49; 2) Sandra Baribeau, 2:37:06; 3) Suzanne Forbes, 2:39:0435-39: 1) Sharon Styles, 2:10:55; 2) Erin Spitler, 2:17:17; 3) Jill Beveridge, 2:18:4940-44: 1) Tanya Salomon, 2:14:27; 2) Jenny Rowe, 2:25:20; 3) Teresa Richer, 2:27:4945-49: 1) Susan Calder, 2:33:34; 2) Wenda Dottridge, 2:39:50; 3) Kendall Pritchard, 2:41:0150-54: 1) Cindy Schnee, 2:42:34; 2) Christine Butler, 2:57:42; 3) Darlene Kilbride, 3:02:3455-59: 1) Margie Ritchie, 2:27:39; 2) Julie Matthews, 3:05:46; 3) Jackie Morettin, 3:09:1660-64: 1) Carla Cox, 3:27:1165-69: 1) Myrna Culham, 4:36:07

Male - Sprint Distance

Overall: 1) Douglas Wickware, 1:04:10; 2) Willy Gonzalez, 1:04:43; 3) Jackson Konkin, 1:05:3616-19: 1) Jackson Konkin, 1:05:3620-24: 1) Connor Redman, 1:22:16; 2) James Rose, 1:22:34; 3) Don Shipton, 1:36:0625-29: 1) Douglas Wickware, 1:04:10; 2) Jason Dyck, 1:08:32; 3) Nicolas Andrichuk, 1:16:5430-34: 1) Jordan Koch, 1:10:35; 2) Chadford Murray, 1:14:14; 3) Jonathan Schneider, 1:19:3635-39: 1) Willy Gonzalez, 1:04:43; 2) Drew Freeman, 1:09:16; 3) Neil Johnson, 1:15:5340-44: 1) Jerry Smuszko, 1:11:20; 2) Travis Fahselt, 1:14:04; 3) Todd Houston, 1:14:1745-49: 1) Todd Forsyth, 1:12:30; 2) Michael Gaccioli, 1:15:19; 3) Shane Carritt, 1:16:0050-54: 1) Michael Meinig, 1:12:39; 2) David Sargent, 1:18:58; 3) Don Workman, 1:22:2655-59: 1) Jeff Pennington, 1:21:13; 2) Derek Redman, 1:21:15; 3) Timothy Olson, 1:23:1060-64: 1) Dwight Nixon, 1:37:09; 2) Vance Lucas, 1:42:17; 3) Gordon Lambert, 1:54:0165-69: 1) Don Martin, 1:38:16; 2) Robert Siddall, 2:06:44

Female - Sprint Distance

Overall: 1) Emma Bedard, 1:08:07; 2) Sierra Cooper, 1:14:50; 3) Marcie Dear, 1:15:0916-19: 1) Sierra Cooper, 1:14:50; 2) Malia Seeley, 1:17:00; 3) Meghan Onushko, 1:30:0720-24: 1) Marcie Dear, 1:15:09; 2) Courtney Davis, 1:28:54; 3) Sara Oddy, 1:32:2025-29: 1) Emma Bedard, 1:08:07; 2) Isabel Ramsay, 1:17:54; 3) Anna Dahonick, 1:19:0330-34: 1) Katherine Hunt, 1:17:03; 2) Laura Grant, 1:20:27; 3) Jill Jenkins, 1:23:1835-39: 1) Karen Cambaliza, 1:20:21; 2) Erin Boehm, 1:21:30; 3) Sheri Bentley, 1:24:4540-44: 1) Sherri Buchignani, 1:17:36; 2) Lisa Guest, 1:23:40; 3) Tracy Ross, 1:24:2445-49: 1) Janine Gregor, 1:26:25; 2) Natalie Sawatzky, 1:30:15; 3) Colleen Badger, 1:30:5250-54: 1) Elaine Lowry, 1:19:54; 2) Margaret Phelan, 1:32:35; 3) Kevi Remple, 1:41:4055-59: 1) Laurie Stewart, 1:35:09; 2) Darlene Arychuk, 1:37:22; 3) Kathy Jansen, 1:40:0860-64: 1) Donna Siddall, 2:07:09; 2) Kathryn Cameron, 2:26:3065-69: 1) Don Martin, 1:38:16; 2) Robert Siddall, 2:06:44Para: 1) Kim Wedgerfield, 2:21:14

Team Relay Results

Male Olympic: 1) Gerick Sports, 2:30:41; 2) Tri Amigos, 2:34:15Female Olympic: 1) The Interlopers, 2:37:57; 2) ALN, 2:50:45Combined Olympic: 1) Big Foot, 2:26:26; 2) Lynx Triathlon, 2:33:40; 3) 2 Chicks & A Dutch Guy, 2:37:25Male Sprint: 1) The 3 S’s, 1:52:44Female Sprint: 1) Rockies Rookies, 1:25:35; 2) Total Tubers, 1:50:55Combined Sprint: 1) Two Plums & A Prune, 1:12:40; 2) CSCL, 1:21:08; 3) Racing Rascals, 1:36:51

*Note: Listed are abbreviated results. For full results, visit www.rmevents.com/triathlon