It was a case of déjŕ vu at the Canmore Nordic Centre as both defending Xterra triathlon champs held onto their titles for the second year in a row.
Danelle Kabush shaved 25 minutes off her 2010 winning time and Mike Vine blew away the competition yet again as part of the 2011 Xterra off-road triathlon on Sunday (Aug. 14).
Kabush, a former Canmorite, finished the off-road Olympic distance triathlon in 2:20:46, well ahead of Cranbrook’s Tanis Tomlin who finished in 2:35:21. Kelly Geisheimer finished third in 2:42:10.
Last year, Kabush won the event shortly after the birth of her daughter. This year, she’s had time to focus on her mountain biking skills and, as a result, destroyed the competition on the technical ride.
“I was doing more mountain biking and competed in mountain bike nationals and the Furious 3 and that really helped my technical abilities,” Kabush said.
Kabush posted the ninth best overall time out of the water, had the seventh fastest bike and the fourth fastest run, defeating most of the men in the field.
“I was racing against myself from last year. I was about five minutes faster in the water (than last year) and 20 minutes faster on the bike,” she said.
Admittedly the race is another warm-up for Kabush, who will compete at the Canadian National Xterra triathlon championship in Whistler in two weeks. She continues to race in Canmore due to the fun nature of the course.
“The bike trails are so fun you don’t realize you’re suffering and the runs are almost all single track, so you’re so busy jumping roots and making corners, so you don’t notice the steep bits,” Kabush said.
She also plans to attend the U.S. National Championship in Utah and the World Xterra Championship in Maui.
“It’s a new course this year on the other side of the island, so I’m excited to try it,” Kabush said.
The first-place finish for Vine occurred in his first triathlon of the season. He finished in 2:03:04, ahead of Jasper native Luke Way (2:11:07) and Calvin Zaryski of Calgary (2:11:07).
After 13 years of racing Xterra triathlons, Vine has stepped back from the sport, switching up long training days and travel for a regular job: working eight-hour shifts at a refrigeration company in Edmonton. It still keeps him outside, and his favourite part of his day is still training, but he’s enjoying the transition.
“There’s no pressure to perform. I’m there to enjoy the events and I don’t have to go to events I don’t want to,” Vine said with a chuckle.
As the longest-serving Xterra triathlete at the event, Vine said the mountains keep him coming back to Canmore. He suffered a bruised shoulder a few weeks before the race, but said it didn’t bother him on the course Sunday.
“I’m not in the form I was last year so I can’t expect top, top results, but I’m happy with the race,” Vine said.
He also switched to a hardtail for the bike this year, which may not have been the best idea.
“It was punishing,” he said.
Vine was the 2008 USA Xterra champion and also finished fourth that year at worlds, but even though he’s stepped back from the sport, he still plans to stay involved for years to come. He also wants to attend the Canadian Xterra Nationals.
In other results, Geoff Pyke won the sprint triathlon in a time of 1:10:36, followed by Ryan Moody (1:13:09) and Michael Gibson (1:14:28).
Rhea Loiselle won the women’s sprint triathlon in a time of 1:13:53. Jennifer Carlson was second (1:18:00) and Kathy Mead was third (1:18:41).
