It was the end of an era in Penticton on Aug. 26 and four Squamish residents took on the Ironman challenge that was making its final appearance in the Peach City.
The Subaru Ironman Triathlon saw locals Tim Moore, Travis Kubin, Edgar Alejandro Mujica and Karen Jakobsen swim 3.8 kilometres in Okanagan Lake, cycle 180 km and run a 42.2 km marathon.
Moore posted the fastest time among locals, finishing in 11 hours, two minutes, 16 seconds and placing 60th in his 45 to 49 age group. It was the 10 time that Moore has participated in an Ironman race but after stepping away from the series in 2011, Moore said he was focused on Penticton.
"My objective for IMC [Ironman Canada] was to be ready to race as hard as I could from start to finish," Moore wrote on his blog. "I can say that I was as fit as I ever have been and as lean/light as I have been in more than eight years."
Kubin placed second among Squamish participants with a time of 13:46:57, Mujica was third in 14:38:11 and Jakobsen finished in 15:49:11.
He said he was pleased with his swim of one hour, six minutes and his cycling time of five hours, 35 minutes, but the run was a little disappointing. Moore targeted a time of 3:30 but finished in 4:13. Despite all of that, he bested his time in the 2009 IMC by almost 11 minutes.
"Sunday was neither my best nor my worst race," he said. "It wasn't my A race for the season, nor was it a training day. I take Ironman seriously and with the greatest of respect. Ironman never gets easier - that is OK. I wouldn't want it to be easy as that would diminish it for me. I like that it hammers me a bit, that it pushes me and that it leaves me smashed."
This year's edition of the race marks the final time the IMC will occur in Penticton, with a German race company using the town for its Challenge event in 2013. Next year's home for the IMC is still to be determined.
For complete results from the race, visit www.ironman.ca/results/index.php.
