“Insanely proud.”
That’s how Neo Gleason described the look plastered on his face as he climbed onto the podium at the ITU triathlon Kids of Steel race in Edmonton, which ran in conjunction with the world cup.
Gleason was third in his age group, while fellow Canmorite Sean Parker finished 14th on Saturday (Sept. 5) in a race defined by cold temperatures, algae blooms and a deep national field.
“There was a ton of fast people … the whole thing was all out hammering,” Gleason said. “This is definitely going to stand out as one of my biggest accomplishments.”
The race was much shorter than his previous Kids of Steel races, as it consisted of a 300-metre swim, 10-kilometre bike and 2.5-km run, which changed Gleason’s strategy. At previous races, he tried to keep something in the tank for the run. This time, it was an all out hammerfest from tape to tape.
“In Kelowna I tried to be more technical. I was worried about burning up on the bike. But here because of the shorter distance, I decided to go all out with no regard for the pace. That helped me,” Gleason said.
The water was a chilly 17 C, but Gleason blasted through in just over four minutes – the third fastest time of the day.
“I got brain freeze immediately, but when you go all out, you come out quickly,” Gleason said.
The bike contingent was also strong and Gleason pressed as hard as he could, but couldn’t catch the frontrunners.
“The top two were drafting off each other, but I couldn’t get close enough to keep up. I definitely don’t think I could have gone faster,” Gleason said.
He laid down a negative split on the run, when he realized fourth place was closing in on him.
“My run was a bit lacking. I had a four minute pace for the first kilometre, but when I reached the turnaround and saw my friend behind me, I dropped it to a 3:30 pace,” Gleason said.
He beamed from ear to ear on the podium, and said it was rewarding to see all of his training pay off. His family took him out for Chinese food to celebrate, and he’s already looking ahead to next season, where he’ll enter a new age category and distance. He plans to keep training with the Riptides, and train with his father Mike, who is also a triathlete, while continuing his homeschooling.
“It’s going to be a huge shift. I feel the experience might be lost, as it’s such a huge change to the junior elite category. There are more people and more technique. I have to be good at every part of the race. Every part has to be perfect,” Gleason said.
He has big dreams for his triathlon career, and has started watching ITU triathlon videos for inspiration.
“I want to take this as far as I can. I’m watching a lot of IT races and they look great. I watched one from Barbados and it looked absolutely awesome. Xterra off-road I’d also like to try, because trail running is one of my favourite things to do. My mountain biking is alright, but my road biking is better,” Gleason said.
