This second-year stop on the Challenge world tour sees a rolling course splitting between the Maine and Canadian borders. One of the few North American races with a prize purse this year, this race offered up $15,000 CDN, paid to the top 5 men and women:
- $3500
- $2000
- $1000
- $600
- $400
The Men: Reid Scorches the Run
The small sized men’s field jumped into the protected saltwater course in Katy’s Cove. John Kenny and Alberto Allesandroni set the pace with a 22:58 and 22:59, respectively. Gregory Dierksen came next with a 23:15 effort. Taylor Reid and Dan Feeney set the pace for the second group, swimming 24:15 and 24:12.
Out onto the rolling bike course, Reid started a slow but steady push towards the front of the field. Allesandroni set the pace early. Reid, Kenny, Cedric Boily, and Feeney kept the pressure on for the chasers. However, it was only Reid who would make the bridge up to Allesandroni.
Together through 60 km of the bike, Reid mashed the pedals for the last stretch of the bike to arrive to T2 first following a 2:12:46 ride. Allesandroni was 2nd to arrive after 2:14:16 effort in the saddle. Fenney was the next into T2 with a 2:22:39. Boily was hot on his heels onto the run after his 2:16:52.
Heading out onto the run and Reid immediately put the hammer down. He opened up a 70 second advantage after 5 kilometers. After halfway, it was never in doubt: Reid was going to take home today’s championship. His 1:13:20 outclassed the nearest competitor by three minutes. Allesandroni was able to hang onto second. Iain Alexandridis moved into the money with his 1:16:39 run, as did Alistair Eckman following a 1:19:15 jog. Final paying place went to Kenny, holding off Feeney.
- Taylor Reid 3:54:14
- Alberto Allesandroni 4:03:46
- Iain Alexandridis 4:06:50
- Alistair Eckman 4:09:20
- John Kenny 4:10:11
The Women—Penalties Create Finishing Confusion
The professional women took off with their swims. Melanie McQuaid outclassed the entire field, swimming 23:15. Jillian Petersen and Kristen Marchant were on the chase after 26:02 and 26:04 swims. Caroline St.-Pierre and Charisa Wernick rounded out the top 5 swims (and the professional women’s field, for that matter.)
Onto the bikes and McQuaid continued to push the pace, slowly but surely extending her lead with a 2:25:07 ride. However, confusion ensued: McQuaid had apparently misracked her bike in the wrong place. How would this impact the final results? Marchant and Petersen had both ridden 5 to 8 minutes slower than McQuaid, with nobody else anywhere near the top 3 women.
The run saw Marchant and Petersen slowly but surely bring McQuaid back, 20 to 30 seconds per mile at a time. Then, with a 100 meters to go, McQuaid was forced to serve the penalty for the bike misrack: 5 minutes of agony. This meant Marchant crossed the line first, with Petersen second, and McQuaid in third.
However, in post-race, McQuaid’s racking penalty was changed from five minutes to thirty seconds, making her the victor on the day in 4:26:57. Marchant took second in 4:29:21, with Petersen third after a 4:29:43 day. Wernick went 4th in 4:44:16, with St.-Pierre in 5th with a 4:51:36.
- Melanie McQuaid 4:26:57
- Kristen Marchant 4:29:21
- Jillian Petersen 4:29:43
- Charisa Wernick 4:44:16
- Caroline St.-Pierre 4:51:36
Cover Image courtesy of Eric Opdyke and Maverick Multisport.
