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Inaugural Welland Half Iron Triathlon

Guembel and Powell win.

At the yesterday’s inaugural Welland Half Iron Triathlon, St. Catherine’s Wolfgang Guembel was the only athlete to go under four hours, as he took the overall win in 3:56:49. Posting top splits in all segments, Guembel swam 24:03, biked 2:09:16, and ran 1:20:35. Despite having Nicole Van Beurden control the race with the top swim (30:08) and bike splits (2:29:10), Guelph’s Deborah Powell ran a race best 1:35:49 in the searing heat and humidity to take the win in 4:47:18.

“I was just feeling good on the bike today and I just tried to ride as smart as I could. And actually the second half of my ride was stronger which is a good way to execute it,” said Guembel. “The first 10 km (of the run) was awesome, and for the rest of it I was in survival mode. It shouldn’t be like that so that is something I have to work on in my training and make sure I get figured out for my next race.”

Toronto’s Gleb Jegaline (30:54/2:30:50/1:51:22 – 4:55:35) and London’s Monica Olanski (33:45/2:55:53/2:03:36 – 5:37:15) won the Half Iron Duathlon (7.5 km run, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run), and winning the Half Iron Swim Bike (2 km swim, 90 km bike) were London’s Steve Whitmore (29:33/2:27:22 – 3:01:12) and Aurora’s Shannon Kemp (31:21/2:27:26 – 3:03:11).

In the classy move of the day, Toronto’s Nigel Gray sacrificed his race (was in the top 5 at the time) to assist Orangeville’s Richard Pady who was taken down in a collision with a vehicle. Gray offered immediate attention and stayed with Pady until paramedics arrived. Pady had a brief stay in the hospital and was left with a broken arm, abrasions, a few stitches to his lip, and a possible injured knee.

Top 5 Men

1. Wolfgang Guembel (St. Catherines, ON)  3:56:49

2. R.J. Ross (Port Elgin)  4:07:38

3. Joe Rizzi (Newmarket)  4:19:59

4. Tyler Lord (Oakville)  4:20:06

5. Bam Cush (Toronto)  4:22:06

Top 5 Women

1. Deborah Powell (Guelph)  4:47:18

2. Brooke Brown (Halifax, NS)  4:50:21

3. Cindy Lewis (North York, ON)  4:51:50

4. Jenn Eberman (Toronto)  4:52:33

5. Jackie Smalec (Burlington, ON)  4:59:02