Usually facing some of the hottest temperatures of the year, participants in the Ceevacs Roadrunners' Cowichan Challenge Triathlon at Fuller Lake got a bit of a reprieve last Sunday when the Valley received badly needed rain. The drops generally held off during the race itself, but the cloudy weather helped keep things cool.
"This was probably the first year in a long time that we had a bit of rain for this event," race director Julie Langelo said. "We had a little sprinkling when the sprinters went out. It poured after the race, but we were lucky to have it all done by then."
Seventy-eight individuals and 10 teams finished the main event: a 1,000m swim, 34km bike and 9km run; and 82 more individuals and two teams completed the sprint event: a 500m swim, 17km bike and 5km run.
The main event was won by Nanaimo's Byron Trajan in one hour, 50 minutes and 42 seconds. Duncan's Jason Sandquist was second at 1:52:23 and took first in the men's 45-49 division. Paul Auton, also from Duncan, was fourth overall and first in the men's 35-39 division at 1:54:09.
Suzanne Chandler of West Vancouver was the top female entrant and placed eighth overall with a time of 2:00:33. Jill Ramstead of Duncan was 10th overall and first in the women's 30-34 division at 2:05:45, and Lesley Hartford of Mill Bay placed 12th overall and first in the women's 50-54 division at 2:10:10.
Team Lutz came first in the relay at 1:53:44, followed by Cycle Therapy #3 at 2:03:10.
First place in the sprint event went to 16-year-old Jeremy Kissack of Mill Bay with a time of 1:01:53. The top female in the sprint was Emily Clark of Victoria, who was also fifth overall at 1:05:38. Shawnigan Lake's Robyn Zinkan, 15, was 10th overall and first in the female 0-19 division at 1:09:37.
"Sauce it to me," won the spring relay with a time of 1:14:57.
New to the Cowichan Challenge this year was the kids' Splash 'n' Dash race, a swim and run event for four-to 13-year-olds, organized by Sarah Malerby and Lisa Large.
"It was a fun event, not timed," Langelo said. "They just got in the water and did a swim, then came out and did a run. They all got to finish through the chute and got a medal afterward."