With nearly 70 per cent of the more than 1,000 competitors coming from off-Island, there were plenty of local economic ripples also emanating from the 18th Saunders Subaru Half Iron.
Among those expending both energy and money in Victoria 鈥� which has produced double-Olympic medallist Simon Whitfield and Ironman Hawaii world championship legends Lori Bowden and Peter Reid and is considered the triathlon capital of sa国际传媒 鈥� was Elliot Holtham of Vancouver. And it was worth the effort on both accounts. Holtham brought Elk Lake to its knees, winning the men鈥檚 Half Iron race by nearly 10 minutes in a course record 3 hours, 48 minutes, 41 seconds over the 1.9-kilometre swim in Elk Lake, 90-kilometre bike race through the Saanich Peninsula and 21.1-kilometre run around the Elk-Beaver Lake trail.
The time was even more impressive considering the 2011 Vancouver Half Iron champion had overcome the effects of a serious concussion.
鈥淚 had a good swim and pushed the bike to open a gap,鈥� he said, in a statement.
鈥淭his is my first time on the course. I have always wanted to do this race.鈥�
ITU World Cup pro Andrew Russell of Sidney was a distant second in 3:58:32 and Wade Carlson, a Victoria native training in Penticton, third in 4:10:45.
Karen Thibodeau of Victoria, second last year in Ironman sa国际传媒, continued her breakout season in winning the women鈥檚 Elk Lake Half Iron in 4:22:38.
She said running the dirt trail encircling Elk and Beaver lakes was a welcome break and a unique feature of this race since most triathlon runs are straight ahead and on street pavement.
Sue Huse of Missoula, Montana, was second in 4:26:54 and Gillian Moody of North Vancouver, a former Canadian national team ITU World Cup racer, placed third in 4:30:15.
Twenty berths into 2013 Ironman sa国际传媒, the first to be held in Whistler after the split from long-standing host Penticton, were up for grabs Sunday at Elk Lake.
In the Olympic distance 鈥� 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bike race, 10-kilometre run 鈥� Robert Johnson of Chilliwack took victory in the men鈥檚 division and Cheryl Orlovsky of North Vancouver in the women鈥檚.
Jack Toland of Kirkland, Wash., was the men鈥檚 champion in the sprint distance 鈥� which consists of a 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike ride and five-kilometre run 鈥� while Chelsea Raymond of Lion鈥檚 Bay won the women鈥檚 sprint.
The venerable Elk Lake event, the former New Balance Half Iron, is the longest-standing race in what is now the Subaru Western Triathlon Series, which began with sa国际传媒鈥檚 earliest race of the season last month at Shawnigan Lake and continues with races in Saskatoon, Vancouver and Banff over the summer.
The Saskatoon race will be televised on TSN, replacing the previously TSN-broadcast Sooke race, which splashed images of the Lower Island around sa国际传媒 but which is now defunct because of a course-highway issue that could not be resolved.
