News
Tri-Stars Summer Update
Posted July 19, 2007 12:03 PM
The 2007 race season is well under way. The Victoria Tri-Stars have participated in the Sooke Spring Sprint Tri, Panorama Classic Tri, the new Shawnigan Lake 1/2 Ironman and the Victoria New Balance 1/2 Ironman. There have been some amazing performances from the group! The Alberta Tri-Stars have also been taking part in various events including 1/2 Ironman races in Calgary and northern Edmonton.
Tri-Star Bob Gebbie qualified for the 2008 Age Group World Championships (Olympic distance) which will be held in Vancouver next June. Susan Tinker competed at the Long Distance Worlds in Lorient, France on July 15th, and Aynsley O'Carroll had an amazing day in Osoyoos on July 8th placing 3rd in her age group at the Desert 1/2 Ironman and also qualifying for the Long Course World Championships in Almere, Netherlands which will be held in August of 2008. The most amazing aspect of Aynsley's performance is that she was hit by a car during a training ride in Penticton 5 days before the Desert 1/2 IM. Thankfully, though injured in the crash, she was able with the help of a fantastic physio in Penticton to rehab to the point of being able to compete (and triumph!)
Another incredible performance this summer was by Allison Andrew at the recent Tri for Compassion on July 15. Earlier in the spring, for more than two months, she was unable to run due to ankle/calf problems. She rehabbed through a walk/run program that gradually progressed to full running. Allison had an incredible race and improved on her 2006 race time by 11 minutes, ultimately placing in the top ten of her age group!
The IM Tri-Stars group, plus a few others, spent the July 14th weekend in Penticton cycling the bike route on Saturday and running on the run route on Sunday in preparation for next month's big race. This is an annual event that I organize with two support cars on the course providing water, ice and nutrition to the cyclists and runners. This year the support cars were kept very busy providing support to 16 cyclists on Saturday afternoon as the temperature soared to 35 degrees. During the ride I came to a decision that I had been mulling over since returning from Lanzarote. The decision was to submit my withdrawl from Ironman Canada this year. By winning my age group and qualifying at Ironman Lanzarote I earned the incredible opportunity to take part in Ironman Hawaii on October 13th. I realized that I had to make every effort to avoid injury or excess fatigue before that date. I knew I'd run the risk of both or either of those situations if I competed at IMCanada and so advised the organizers that I was officially withdrawing. I need to give myself every advantage to be able to finish what will likely be a very challenging race in hot and windy conditions. I'll definately be signing up for IMCanada 2008 though....!
