With a sound history of competing in the Woody’s World Triathlon, Teresa Richer felt good about her chances of winning the female division Sunday.
But then again, you never know.
“One girl who didn’t finish had world championship gear on. But she had a flat (tire) on her bike and didn’t finish,” said Richer, who took top female honours with a 10th overall finish in a time of one hour, 13 minutes and 16.02 seconds. “It all depends on whoever shows up that day . . . you just don’t know.”
Richer, who entered the competition having won and placed second in past years, was disappointed that her total time was not a personal best.
“I was off by four seconds, but I had PBs in the swim and bike and I’m happy with that,” she said, referring to her respective times of 13:09 and 35:34.
As the coach of the Red Deer Triumph Triathlon Club, Richer is pretty much in competition form the entire season.
“We work out five times a week. It keeps me busy, for sure,” she said.
Chad Reid of Vancouver was the overall winner with a time of 1:04.27.58. Finishing second and third were Red Deer triathletes Patrick Nesbitt and Keith Weber with respective postings of 1:07.19.06 and 1:07.35.32.
Red Deer triathletes finished first, second and third in the junior sprint category. Benjamin Isaac took top honours in a time of 1:11.43.26, Noah Mulzett settled for runner-up honours with a clocking of 1:14.04.16 and Chris Marr-Laing was third in 1:15.02.34.
The Jeffaffa S won the team title in a time of 1:14.23.28 and were closely followed by Tag Your It (1:15.33.54) and Team 1 (1:18.31.91).
l Neo Gleason of Canmore turned in a total time of 42 minutes, 19.5 seconds to take top honours in the 14-15 age class of the Kids of Steel competition held Saturday.
Adam Guthrie of Red Deer finished second in 42:39.0 and Logan Arthur of Stony Plain was third in 42:52.7. Aleksandra Peyton of Calgary, who placed ninth, was the top girl with a time of 46:22.0, and Carley Wlad of Red Deer was the top Central Alberta girl, finishing 10th overall in 46:49.3.
Solen Woods of Lethbridge won the 12-13 division with a time of 37:28.3, while Janille Collicutt of Red Deer was runner-up in 40:56.6 and Georgia Podmore of Okotoks placed third in 42:03.9. The top Central Alberta male was Owen Pimm of Red Deer, who was fifth in 43:20.0.
Top honours in the 10-11 division went to Finn Crowe of Spruce Grove, who posted a time of 24:37.9. Alexander McCullough of Vermilion settled for runner-ups status with a clocking of 26:25.3 and Holly Moores of Cochrane was third in 26:58.1.
Betty Lou Brown of Three Hills was the top Central Alberta, finished fifth overall in 28:02.0. The top Red Deer competitor, Kieran Monaghan, finished eighth in 28:37.4.
In the eight-nine category, Lydia Johnson of Edmonton was first in 22:08.5, Makenna Vanmaarion of Red Deer was next with a time of 22:14.9 — and was also the top Central Albertan — and Jeremy Poulin of St. Alberta was third in 22:50.8. Sean Raivio was the top Central Alberta male placing fifth in 25:12.3.
Xavier Neri-Leebody of St. Albert placed first in the five-seven age category with a time of 12:19.4. Next in line were Caden Rieger of Cochrane (12:53.6) and Raya Hastings of Red Deer (13:10.5).
Koen Penninga of Red Deer was the top Central Alberta male. He placed fifth overall with a time of 14:00.2.