Marchant defends and Drobeck takes his first at Barrelman

The day began under sunny skies and relatively calm conditions at the participant and spectator friendly new Niagara Falls Barrelman Triathlon swim course at the Welland International Flatwater Centre.

As expected, Kitchener’s Alex VanderLinden was first out of the water (27:18) and headed out out on the 90 km bike course with a 49 second lead over Ottawa’s Jonathan Slaney and 57 seconds ahead of Jordan Monnink, also from Ottawa.

However, at the 35 km mark of the bike VanderLinden’s day came to an abrupt end when he crashed into a police vehicle.

With VanderLinden unable to continue, Monnink took over the race lead and started the run with a 2:09 lead over American Andrew Drobeck, a firefighter from Missoula, Montana. Toronto’s Mikael Staer Nathan was a further 34 seconds behind in third.

Monnink held onto the lead for the first 10.5 km lap of the run, but he could not hold off the Full Vineman Champion during the second loop. Drobeck clocked the fastest half marathon of the day (1:18:01) to take the overall victory in 4:04:39. Monnink finished second (4:08:41), and Toronto’s Daniel Clarke used a strong 1:24 run to secure third (4:18:49).

Niagara Falls Barrelman Triathlon (2 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run) – Top 5 Men

1. Andrew Drobeck (Missoula, Montana) 4:04:39

2. Jordan Monnink (Ottawa, ON) 4:08:41

3. Daniel Clarke (Toronto, ON) 4:18:49

4. Adrian Lawson (Fergus, ON) 4:19:01

5. Mikael Staer Nathan (Toronto, ON) 4:19:32

The women’s race featured another dominant performance from Newmarket’s Kristen Marchant.  Last year she won by over 19 minutes, and this year under windier conditions on the bike, she successfully defended her women’s title with close to an 18 minute margin of victory.

Marchant had the fastest women’s bike (2:23:50), and run (1:30:26) of the day to stop the clock at 4:25:28. Burlington’s Cindy Lewis held on for second (4:43:05), just ahead of a fast charging Jessica Murphy of Montreal (4:43:08).

Niagara Falls Barrelman Triathlon (2 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run) – Top 5 Women

1. Kristen Marchant (Newmarket, ON) 4:25:28

2. Cindy Lewis (Burlington, ON) 4:43:05

3. Jessica Murphy (Montreal, QC) 4:43:08

4. Sheila Treleaven (Grimsby, ON) 4:44:44

5. Yolande Van Vuuren (Aurora, ON) 4:55:01

Toronto’s Hector Rodriguez (2:52:28) and Waterford’s Melanie Nickou (3:21:13) won the Swim (2km)/Bike (90km) race. While, London’s Brad Arndt (4:01:29) and Windsor’s Heather Pajot (5:01:04) won the Bike (90km)/Run (21.1km) race.