Elite Athletes at Saint-Donat’s Winter Triathlon
News Release / 19.02.2013
The first edition of the Winter Triathlon and Running Race took place in Saint-Donat’s enchanting setting. Both events, the triathlon and running race, were held at the same time.
The two triathlon challenges were respectively composed of a 5 km or 10 km running portion, followed by 7 km or 14 km of cross-country skiing and 4 km or 8 km of skating. The distances for the running events were 5 km and 10 km. Competitors followed the beautiful Archambault Lake shores before entering Saint-Donat municipal cross-country ski trails and concluding with the skating course on the ice ring located in tree-lined Des Pionniers Park.
More than a hundred competitors were present on the starting line for the four challenges organized by Endurance Aventure in collaboration with the municipality of Saint-Donat. “We are happy to see that a keen interest for this kind of event is more present than ever. Nice weather and a wonderful ambience contributed to the event’s success.
The presence of Saint-Donat inhabitants along the route was notable. They actively supported the athletes who had only positive comments about the region which they referred to as a true outdoor paradise,” said Daniel Poirier, one of the event organizers. Athletes from France, Ontario and throughout Quebec were present and the event benefited from media coverage by French television and several Quebec media teams.
The participation of Quebec Paralympian Jean-Thomas Boily as well as the presence of the former Adventure Race World Champion and French Winter Triathlon Champion, Michel Sibuet-Becquet, received significant media attention. Boily completed the 16 km triathlon while Becquet finished third in the long-distance triathlon behind Pierre-Olivier Boily from Sherbrooke, who finished first, and Pierre Boilard from Québec City who finished second. Nathalie Long, the adventure racing specialist from Ottawa, finished first among the women followed by Hélène Michaux from Saint-Hyacinthe and Caroline Barre, a veteran adventure racer and multisport athlete from Montreal.
For the short-distance triathlon, the winner was Jonathan Gaudreault, a summer triathlete and speed skating specialist from Sherbrooke. One of the great surprises of the day was unquestionably the ages of the second and third place finishers of this discipline, namely Colin Marineau, a 17 year old cross-country skiing specialist from Oka, and Jérôme Côté-Jacob, a young Montrealer who is only 14 years old. In the women’s category, the first position of this race went to Katherine Baker from Montreal. She was followed by Mélissa-Anne Massicotte from Sherbrooke and Caroline Lecompte from Morin Heights.
The winners of the 10 km running race were Marc-André Harbec from Amos in the men’s category and Andrée Lefebvre from Saint-Donat in the women’s category. For the 5 km race, Christopher Gagné, a 16 year old from Stukely, finished first among the men while Julie Guay from Saint-Eustache was the first to complete the race among the women.
Complete results are available at www.triathlondhiver.com/index.php/fr/resultats
