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Long course triathletes doing battle at Super League Triathlon Penticton

Canadian triathletes, Taylor Reid, Rachel McBride and Nathan Killam share their thoughts before SLT

The second and final Super League Triathlon qualifying race is in Penticton, BC, this weekend. A number of Canada’s top long course triathletes will be competing for a golden ticket to the Super League Triathlon Championship series. Before the first race of the weekend, we were able to connect with Canadians Taylor Reid, Rachel McBride and Nathan Killam.

Taylor Reid

Taylor Reid on the course at 2017 Ironman Oceanside 70.3

Overall I am very excited to race a super short and fast race out there. It has been four years since I did anything like this. I think with my long course skills it will help me in the TT and the build-up of fatigue in racing will be an advantage. It is going to be an amazing event and I am honoured to represent Canada on Canadian soil. Just don’t mix me up with the New Zealand Taylor Reid out there (laughing). I will be #22.

Rachel McBride

Rachel McBride on the run at IRONMAN Frankfurt 2018.

I haven’t raced anything this short or fast since the Brazil Fast Triathlon in 2009. I’m excited for a mixup in format and something a bit different than a long day of swim bike run. I’m thankful for my ITU background- hopefully, I can tap back into some fast twitch and remember how to fly through transition.

Nathan Killiam

Nathan Killam racing at the Great White North Triathlon in 2017.

This weekend is definitely a different race format from what I’m used to. I’ve never done something shorter than a sprint, and I can’t really remember the last time I did a sprint. Five years ago I got into cyclocross races, which is basically an hour at your red line (threshold). I expect that these efforts will be similar to the SLT race weekend. I also have a fair bit of experience with road and crit racing, so I try to use this to my advantage.  The runs are pretty short, so I’ll just be trying to hold it. The hardest for me will be stage two where you’re redlining the run then jumping back into the water. For the eliminator, which is back to back to back racing, I feel I’m pretty well conditioned to recovering with long course racing. But in all honesty, I’m just taking the weekend in stride. I’m really excited to be here, but I’ve put no expectations on myself except go hard and see where the chips fall.

In Penticton, BC, the professionals will compete in the Equalizer and Eliminator. The age group athletes get to do the Equalizer, but instead of the Eliminator, they do the Enduro on Sunday.

Equalizer

Stage 1 (Friday) – 15K bike Time Trial

Stage 2 (Saturday) – Swim 300m > Run 2.5K > Swim 300m > Bike 16K > Run 2.5K

Eliminator

Sunday – Swim 300m > Bike 6K > Run 2K, three times (competitors eliminated after each round)

Enduro

Sunday – Swim 750m > Bike 20K > Run 5K, twice

Background

Super League Triathlon (SLT), the exciting new elite triathlon series formed by Chris McCormack in 2017, now features a new race format including a qualifying period for professionals into the Championship race series and age group racing.

The first of the qualifying races was in Poznan, Poland, where Tyler Mislawchuk, Matthew Sharpe and Desirae Ridenour qualified for the new Championships series. The second and final qualifying race is in Canada at the historic triathlon town of Penticton in the Okanagan Valley of BC. SLT Penticton will also have an age group category, giving amateurs a taste of this new and exciting race format.