Anne Marie Charles completes her first half ironman event. (Facebook/Christina Charles)

By Nigel Maxwell

Survival of the fittest

Iron strong: Prince Albert athletes go the distance in Calgary

Aug 3, 2021 | 12:00 PM

A group of Prince Albert athletes travelled to Calgary this past weekend for the ultimate challenge.

Sunday’s ironman event involved a 1.9 km swim; an 85 km bike ride with 1000 metres of climbing; and a 21 km run. All done during hot, humid, and at times windy conditions. Christina Charles finished with a time of four hours, 55 minutes, and 26 seconds — her first race since the start of the pandemic.

“It’s been a long journey and there’s been a lot of uncertainty around it. Races have been cancelled and delayed so to finally get to that start line was like, ‘wow, we’re actually here,'” she said.

Charles’s time placed her 72nd out of more than 1,300 athletes. Lyle Federenko, competing in the male 55 to 59 year old age group, crossed the finish line at seven hours, 54 minutes, and four seconds.

“It was hilly, hot and thank goodness it didn’t get windy untill the start of my run. It’s always great to get out to these races,” he said.

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A picture of Christina and Anne Marie Charles standing together. (Facebook/Christina Charles)

Anne Marie Charles, Carmen Doyle, and Mark Nagy also competed, as well as Brendan Zarazun from La Ronge.

All the athletes are now turning their attention to the next big race; the Frank Dunn Triathlon at Waskesiu on Aug. 15.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell