Battling through six-foot waves and a high-speed bike crash, two-time Olympian Brittany Webster shocked herself by winning the Xterra off-road triathlon world championships amateur women’s title in Hawaii, Sunday (Oct. 26).
The elite cross-country skier finished the 1,500-metre ocean swim, 30-kilometre mountain bike and 9.5-km trail run in 3:17:36 to take the win at her first off-road world championships.
“This is amazing and completely unexpected. I didn’t think I’d be in the running for my age group, let alone the overall title,” Webster said.
The 27-year-old Canmore resident relied on her ski fitness and altitude advantage to power her way to the win with a fast bike and run. Not only did she win the women’s amateur division, she defeated a handful of pro racers in the process in less than ideal conditions.
“I talked to some of the pros and they mentioned it was the roughest world championships they raced,” Webster said.
The cross-country skier arrived a week early to acclimatize to the heat, and was lucky she did. She overheated on her first 12-km training run, and had to recover under sprinklers at a ball diamond.
Come race day, six-foot waves crashed on the beach and Webster, who’s still working on her swimming skills, just wanted to survive.
“The swim for me went really well for me. I’ve been working with Iron Man triathlete Karen Thibodeau in town and she’s helped me with my swimming. I held my own and I didn’t get dropped, which was my goal,” Webster said.
Away from shore, three-foot rollers slowed her down, but swimming in warm waters frequented by dolphins was more enjoyable than Quarry Lake, she said.
She finished the swim 400th out of 800, but knew her strong suits were still to come. Competitive by nature, she began picking off competitors immediately on her mountain bike.
“As soon as I got on the bike, my legs felt good,” Webster said. “But I had a lot of men to pass. I wanted to be aggressive. I must have passed 100 men in the first three kilometres.”
That proved difficult on the single track, which was narrow, but had next to no technical sections.
“The entire course, if you’re notclimbing, you’re descending,” Webster said.
She posted the fastest amateur women’s mountain bike ride of the day, but still took a spill that nearly proved costly. She sat in third spot at the end of the bike course.
“You’re biking through a lot of forest and through cane fields. The grass was so high, I couldn’t see where I was going. On the last corner, my wheel bogged into some sand, and I tipped at 30 km/h. I thought I was fine, but I tweaked my knee. When I started running, it was very painful,” Webster said.
She had to walk parts of the hilly run course, but immediately caught the second place female and pulled away. Using ski bounding technique, she saved her legs and soon caught the top female.
“When the pain cooled off, I was able to hammer the last few miles,” Webster said.
Large crowds lined the course and cheered Webster on as she climbed up the standings. Even with the injury, she posted a fast trail run to cement the victory.
“I think my ski fitness made the difference. I get pretty competitive when I’m out there. I wanted to take the opportunity and said I’d try to give it my best shot,” Webster said. “I went in feeling fresh, and at the same time, felt no pressure. I had never done one of these and didn’t know what to expect.”
Webster has competed at cross-country ski world championships in the past, and said this was a different experience altogether.
“I got my hair cut afterwards, because the race is sponsored by a famous hair dresser,” she laughed. “There were a lot more people on the start line. It enabled all the amateur athletes there to be Xterra warriors and mingle with the pros. You can talk to everyone. At ski world championships, you race and are rushed off to the hotel. In this case, you could mingle.”
Canmore’s Nadine Mueller also excelled on the course, winning her age group and finishing as the fourth fastest amateur woman. Were it not for a tough swim, she would have reached the women’s podium.
