Triathletes wade into race season.
Event features 26-km bike ride, one-km swim and eight-km run
Regardless of the weather on Sunday, local triathletes will finally get to wade into action.
The 29th edition of the Coronation Triathlon will start with a one-kilometre swim at Peter Hemingway Pool, then head to a 26-km bike loop on Groat Road, and wrap up with an eight-km run along Groat Road and MacKinnon Ravine in the city’s first race of the season.
Coronation race director Stephen Bourdeau said he’s expecting numbers close to last year’s weather-boosted turnout of 400 people.
“This year, we’re seeing lower registration in first-timers and teams, which directly correlates to people in the new year who thought, ‘You know what, I’m going to give a triathlon a try this year,’ ” he said.
“The Coronation Triathlon has always been a great starter-level triathlon. It’s been a great first-time triathlon because it’s run by the city, there are full road closures, lots of police, lots of medical on-site.
“It’s a really good, safe event and we have lots of volunteers.”
Bourdeau said the late-arriving spring weather deterred a lot of would-be participants.
“By mid-April, when they still weren’t out on the bike or out for a run, they probably packed it in,” he said.
First-timers aside, Bourdeau expects a good turnout for Sunday’s race. He called the partly cloudy, expected high of 18 C “perfect racing weather.”
The Coronation’s attraction is its scheduling and lighter-than-average workload. The standard triathlon consists of a 1,500-metre swim, a 40-km bike ride and a 10-km run.
“There are a lot of people who want to give triathlon a try and pinpoint this as an event because it’s one of the first of the season, they kind of cross it off the list,” said Bourdeau.
“Then a lot of triathletes who have been doing it for years and years kind of have it as a good shake-off-the-cobwebs race and get ready for the season.”
Of course, the community aspect of these events is a draw, as well.
“We have 100 volunteers,” Bourdeau said.
“Kids from age 13 up to mature adults in their 60s and 70s and, for participants, as well, I think our youngest is 16 all the way up to our oldest was 68 as of (Thursday’s registration),” said Bourdeau.
While planning for the event normally starts in January, Bourdeau said he and his United Cycle cohorts are already kicking around some ideas for what to do for next year’s milestone 30th edition.
“It’s the longest-running triathlon in Alberta, which is pretty cool,” he said, noting that the City of Edmonton will hand the reins over to United Cycle after this year.
“Next year, (ownership of the race) will be transitioning to United Cycle and then the city will be a sponsor of the event,” he said. “Up to last year, the city ran (the race) with its own staff. With the passover to United Cycle, the city will be … just supporting events, not running events.
“We’ve been talking about (next year) a little bit in terms of some ideas we’ve got. We’ll do something special for it.”