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travel / adventure zone
| The Adventure Zone |
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| Photo: Heart of the Rockies Triathlon/Sandra Boot |
Heart of the Rockies Triathlon
Where contestants go the international distance
By Tracy C. Read
At 8 a.m. on July 19, 2009, in B.C.’s spectacular Columbia Valley, a contest of Olympic proportions takes place. With the soaring
Rocky Mountains to the east and the rugged Purcells to the west, racers will dip their toes into the warm waters of Lake Windemere,
then sink their teeth into Bruce Stroud’s Heart of the Rockies Triathlon.
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Photo: Heart of the Rockies Triathlon/
Sandra Boot |
It’s a sport that demands rigorous training in swimming, cycling and running as well as high levels of strength, power and endurance.
But mental discipline and strategy are also key to performance, which explains in part why the lure of the triathlon is an irresistible
elixir for both amateur and professional athletes. Despite its relatively short modern history (the first recorded race was at Mission
Bay, California, in September 1974), the triathlon’s popularity has soared worldwide. In its debut at the Summer Olympics in 2000,
Canada’s own Simon Whitfield battled mightily — and victoriously — for the gold medal.
In the Heart of the Rockies Triathlon in Invermere, B.C., wet-suited participants swim 1.5 kilometres in a triangular course on Lake
Windemere at James Chabot Provincial Park, emerging on a sandy beach and doffing wetsuits as they head for the bike transition area.
After 40 kilometres of hard cycling out and back, racers drop their bikes and run five kilometres uphill to the historic village of
Wilmer and five back on a downhill and flat terrain to the welcome finish line.
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Photo: Heart of the Rockies Triathlon/
Sandra Boot |
Race Director Stroud has a storied triathlon history and has competed on behalf of the Alberta Triathlon Association both nationally
and internationally. He’s brought thousands to the area for sporting competitions, but the Heart of the Rockies stands out for its
embrace of inter-generational physical fitness. Parents and children, sisters and brothers have made the event a regular feature of
their athletic lives for years. Indeed, one longtime competitor has planned her wedding around this year’s event.
For more information, visit www.heartoftherockiestri.ca
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