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Guembel and Zelazo take the Rose City Half

St. Catherines Wolfgang Guembel and Toronto’s Suzanne Zelazo took home victories at the Rose City Half Triathlon in Welland on Sunday June 15.

Rose City Half Triathlon Swim start

Guembel, having won the shorter distance triathlon (750 m swim. 28.8 km bike, 7.5 km run) the day before, led all competitors out of the Welland Recreational Canal (the same swim as the new Barrelman Triathlon race) with a 25:06 swim, while St. George’s Angela Quick led the way for the women in 26:44.

Wolfgang Guembel, first out of the water.

Both Guembel and Quick held onto their front running positions for the entire 90 km ride, but Windsor’s Thierry Guertin (2:11:14) and Zelazo (2:21:16) chewed into the leads with their race leading bike splits. And while Guertin picked up 2 minutes, still leaving Guembel 5 minutes in front, Zelazo closed the gap to within seconds and arrived at T2 at virtually the same time as Quick.

Zelazo (Triathlon Magazine Canada Editor) entering T2 just seconds down on first place (Angela Quick)

With a comfortable lead during the run, Guembel brought it home in 1:21:31 to grab the overall victory in 4:03:04, his second of the weekend.

Guembel takes the win.

“It was a good weather day for a fast race. The swim was nice as it always is. It is nice and flat, and there are no waves to deal with. There was some wind on the bike by the lake so that made for a challenging ride,” said Guembel, who admitted to secretly going after Cody Beal’s record of 3:58:32. “The run always seems to be difficult here for some reason. It’s always hotter than it seems it’s going to be. But it played out okay.”

Rose City Half Tri – Top 5 Men (2 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run)

1. Wolfgang Guembel (St. Catherines, ON) 4:03:04

2. Thierry Guertin (Windsor) 4:14:03

3. Paul White (Newmarket) 4:14:57

4. Brandon Habermehl (Milton) 4:16:25

5. Derek Lantz (Newcastle) 4:17:41

Meanwhile, Zelazo passed Quick not too long after exiting T2 and closed with a 1:32:27 half marathon to take the win in 4:26:54, after finishing second here in 2011.

“I love the Welland Half. I haven’t done it for a few years and John Salt always puts on a great event so I was excited to be there today,” said Zelazo. “Being able to race near home is amazing! Like everyone who races it, I love the flat fast bike course. There was a bit of a headwind in sections but it was so much fun.“

Rose City Half Tri – Top 5 Men (2 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run)

1. Suzanne Zelazo (Toronto, ON) 4:26:54

2. Angela Quick (St. George) 4:36:36

3. Shannon Kemp (Aurora) 4:40:53

4. Lauren Powell (Toronto) 4:44:48

5. Lauren Heinken (Mississauga) 4:55:16

 

Alexander Vanderlinden of Chatham (2:44:18) and Paolina Allan of Aurora (2:53:45) took home wins in the Rose City Half Swim/Bike. While, Toronto’s Parichit Bagga (4:06:17) and Mississauga’s Tammy Purdy (4:21:00) won the Rose City Half Bike/Run.

Get the full Rose City Triathlon weekend results.