April Rice’s Return to Triathlon
AFTER DOING A FEW sprint triathlon events, Todd Rice convinced his wife, April, that they should do an “Olympic” distance race in Laguna Phuket. So they signed up for the race, organized to have their nanny join them for the trip to watch their three- and five-year-old daughters, and got down to training for the race.
Living in Singapore, training can be a bit of a challenge.
Cycling on the roads is really only an option early in the morning, requiring 4:45 start times for their bike rides.
Open water swimming isn’t really an option in the busy harbour, but luckily enough Todd’s office houses a 50-metre pool. Running is easy – April runs a “mommy boot camp” at the botanical gardens, so is familiar with the trails there.
Eventually Todd let April know that the race was a bit longer than a traditional Olympic-distance race. Started 25 years ago as a made for television event to promote the Laguna Phuket resort, the Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) has always included a 1.8-km swim that starts in the Adaman Sea and finishes with a 500-m stretch through a lagoon, a 50-km bike with some steep, challenging hills that feature a few 18 per cent grades, and a 12-km run that is relatively flat, but is typically challenging because of the heat and humidity.
“I grew up swimming, so there was no concern about the swim, but let me tell you, that bike was nothing I could ever have trained for, especially in Singapore because it was very flat,” April said after the race. “Those hills were tough.
The run wasn’t too bad because it was flat.”
As hard as the bike course might have been, it’s hard to imagine just how much of a challenge it must have been for the former Calgary police officer. April ended up winning the women’s 35 to 39 age group and was the sixth woman across the line in Laguna Phuket – not a bad way to make an “Olympic-distance” debut.
Todd and April, who have known each other since high school, moved from Calgary 12 years ago when Todd started his MBA in London, England. April took a leave of absence from the Calgary police force to move over to England with Todd, but never made it back – once Todd finished his degree he spent a couple of years working for a bank in London before he was transferred to Hong Kong.
After a couple of years there, they moved to Singapore, which has been home for the last five years.
It was Todd who got them into the sport over the last year. April had done some Kids of Steel events in Calgary as a teenager, but hadn’t participated in the sport since then. Thanks to her competitive swim background, she led her age group from start to finish thanks to the day’s sixth-fastest swim. She’s no slouch when it comes to the other sports, either – she had the eighth-fastest women’s bike and sixth-fastest run, too.
Despite her success over the longer distance, April says we’re more likely to see Todd compete in a half-distance race next year. She’s determined to ensure she has as much time as needed over the next few years to spend time with the kids until they start school.
After that, though, my bet is we’ll be seeing a lot more of April Rice at the top of awards podiums.—KM