Rach McBride, the “Purple Tiger,” pounces into 2023
After a stellar 2022, another 40+ Canadian athlete is posting top professional results
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
After an outstanding 2022, Rach McBride has already had remarkable success this year. In nail-biting finish at the North American 70.3 championships in St. George, Utah. McBride held onto sixth by only three seconds over Olivia Mitchell. Less than one minute separated fifth through eighth at that race.
McBride continued this season with a seventh place finish at Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Part of McBride’s success can be attributed to a new coaching approach.
In the past, McBride had a separate coach for swimming, cycling, and running. Ever since the fall of 2021, though, they have been coached by Mateo Mercur. He’s been able to unify all aspects of McBride’s game. Proof of the improvement was a win at last year’s Boulder 70.3 event.
McBride is especially proud of Boulder, saying in that race everything came together on the bike.
“It reignited my belief in myself as a strong cyclist, showed me that I can actually race well in the heat, and propelled me to the oldest person to win a women’s 70.3, an accolade I wear with pride!” McBride, who turns 45 this year, said. They would add a few months to their record later in the season with another 70.3 title in Los Cabos.
In addition to performing well in triathlon, the Purple Tiger has been chewing up the North American gravel circuit. To many athletes, the Unbound gravel event held in Kansas is the unofficial world championships. McBride raced the 200-mile event back in June and placed first in the non-binary division and 35th overall. Their average speed was just over 16 miles per hour, which included all the time it took to clean the soul-sucking and watts-sapping mud off their bike in the first part of the race. And yes, there were a few flats along the way as well.
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Although their 70.3 race in Mount Tremblant was cancelled due to smoke, McBride is returning to the East and is competing at the full Ironman at Lake Placid later this month.
