Canada Man/Woman somehow manages to be even tougher in 2023: The day in words and pictures

It is renowned as Canada’s toughest triathlon. Race organizers of the Canada Man/Woman Xtreme triathlon don’t try to sugar coat the race – it is supposed to be a tough day and they know that athletes come to the race to see what they are capable of. The 2023 event added a couple of new features – pouring rain for the swim and first part of the bike, and a new Solo .5 race that allowed athletes to get a flavour of the Xtreme race over roughly half the distance of the 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42 km run that makes up the Xtri World Tour event.

The new Solo .5 race was definitely a hit for those who braved the day. The race featured a 2 km swim, a 90 km bike and a 20 km run. While the bike “only” featured 1,200 m of climbing (compared to the 2,500 m the long-distance competitors endured), the run course offered up 1,200 m of elevation gain, compared to the 1,500 m the long-distance athletes faced.

This year’s racing for both the Xtreme and Solo .5 was made even more challenging than usual thanks to the hard rain that pelted the competitors through their race-morning prep (transition opens at 3:15 AM for a 4:30 AM start) and the first few hours of the bike. The rain made for wet, slippery conditions on the trails, too, especially for the final 11 km of “running” up Mont Megantic. (Most athletes describe that section as hiking, at best – this year’s race left many describing the final climb as a “scramble.”)

Suffice it to say that, like the sprint distance the day before can easily be described as the country’s toughest short-course race, the Solo .5 can easily be considered Canada’s toughest half-distance race. The Xtreme? It’s hard to imagine anyone could argue about its status as Canada’s toughest Tri.

The folks at Canada Man/Woman would have it no other way.

Therrien and Auger take the Solo .5

Gatineau, Quebec’s Caroline Therrien (5:43:32 dominated the women’s Solo .5 race, crossing the line just under 19 minutes ahead of Jessica Belisle (6:02:30). Amelie Vaillencourt (6:28:31) rounded out the podium. Another notable finish came from 61-year-old Sharon Mackinnon (full disclosure – the author’s wife!), the reigning Ironman World Champion in the 60-64 age category, who took fifth overall (6:52:22).

Vincent Auger (5:13:13) took the men’s title ahead of Marc-Andre Theriault (5:23:24) and Gregory Britton (5:32:19).

Cheeseman and Gingras tops in Xtreme

Former Olympic cyclist Lynne Bessette appearsd to be on track for another Canada Man/Woman win, but ended up pulling out of the race on the run. That left Marni Sumbal with the lead, but she would be passed during the tough, technical climb up Mont Megantic by Lynda Gingras, who overcame a 33-minute deficit with 9 km to go to take the win (11:22:45) over Sumbal (13:37.59) by over five minutes. Allison Kelley Jacquemont (14:10:53) rounded out the podium.

For the men it was Chris Cheeseman (12:12:03) who was first up to the observatory at the top of Mont Megantic. Alexandre Fortis (12:32:53) took second, with Karl Fauteux Bessette (12:56:46) taking third.

Solo .5 Photo Gallery

We were following the Solo .5 race at this year’s Canada Man/Woman event, so most of the photos you’ll find below come from that race. We’ll post a gallery from the Xtreme event later this week.