CRANBROOK – About five minutes after Lara Seward-Guenette crossed the finish line of the Wasa Lake Triathlon she was given some shocking news.
“I was like, ‘What? Are you kidding?’” said the Canmore triathlete, who couldn’t believe that not only had she won in her age category for the first time, but she is also a title-holder in British Columbia.
Seward-Guenette is the new B.C. Provincial Triathlon Championship’s sprint champion in the women’s 50-54 age category following her victory at the Wasa Lake Triathlon last Saturday (June 10) in Cranbrook, B.C.
Finishing 20th among women, Seward-Guenette crossed the finish line at 1:32:57 in the sprint (750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike, 5-km run) before being told about her newly anointed accolades.
“I was totally shocked,” said Seward-Guenette. “Because I was doing both [triathlon races] back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, I was just going out and to have a good training day, but not push too hard. I wasn’t expecting a podium place at all. Like, I never expect that, so it was a complete shock. I had no idea.”
The race started on the small, calm Horseshoe Lake as dozens of triathlons dove into the refreshing water – most didn’t even need a wet suit for the dip.
The transitions from cycling to running were mostly on a flat, highway course with some rolling hills.
For Seward-Guenette, who used the Wasa Lake Triathlon as a warm-up to other summer races, surprised even herself by exceeding goals.
“It’s a really fun grassroots event and everyone is always so welcoming and encouraging and I just went into the event just hoping to have a good plan and a really solid bike and a decent run,” she said.
Saving some gas for Sunday’s (June 11) longer standard triathlon (1,500m swim, 40-km bike, 10-km run) at the same venue, Seward-Guenette didn’t have the same zip in her step for top spot, but, she burned rubber in a movie-esque sprint to a photo finish against a fellow age category triathlete.
With about one km left in the run portion, Jody Calvert darted past Seward-Guenette and was moving at a clip too fast for the local to keep up.
“So I’m like, OK, whatever, and I just kind of kept running at my pace for the next 400 to 500 metres or so,” said Seward-Guenette.
“Then as I was approaching the finish line … I saw the woman in the same category as me and she was really going kind of slowly, so I thought, well, I’m just going to sprint to the finish line and see if I can catch her.”
Charging to the line in the last couple hundred metres, Seward-Guenette pushed as hard as she could. As she was closing in, she felt her breakfast coming back up, but fought through the pain.
At the very last second, Seward-Guenette past Calvert, edging the other triathlete out by one second on the official time.
Seward-Guenette finished second in her age category.
“And I did not puke, so I’m very happy about that,” said Seward-Guenette.
Other locals to the podium in Sunday’s standard triathlon were Marianne Haines finishing first in the 30-34 female and fourth overall. Alecia Rush was sixth in the race.
Earl Emberton came in third in the men’s 70-74 category, and Lawrence White took bronze in the men’s 45-49 category.
