Thanks to Tyler Mislawchuk for his contribution and congrats from the Trimes team for his 1st ever junior series win!
Pike Lake: Junior Series Round One
The first stop in the 2012 Junior Series was Pike Lake, Saskatchewan. It was basically the same course as two years ago, when I completed my first junior elite race. For the first time in history, I had a really good swim start. I managed to hold second to the first buoy. I managed to position myself right behind Myles Zagar, who I sat on for another 300m, before he attacked around a buoy. By the end of the 750m swim, Kary and Zagar lead out of the water; 15- 20 seconds later I exited with Unger and Danielson. 20-30 seconds later a larger group came out of the water, including Bigsby, Pennock, Maguire and MacCharles.
After the first 5km of the bike, a lead pack of 4 athletes had formed consisting of myself, Unger, Zagar, and Kary. About 20 seconds down was Riley MacCharles soloing, followed by a larger group of about 10 athletes. At the 10km mark, Kary got dropped going around the turnaround and we noticed MacCharles had closed the gap significantly and was almost on the back. Anyone who knows his biking ability will know he’s someone you want in your pack.(Macca of Junior Series?) We slowed the pace down and waited until he was with the group. By the end of the 20km bike, the four of us managed to put one minute and fifty seconds on the chase pack of 10.
Within the first 100m of the run I got a stomach stitch, probably because I drank way too much on the bike. The run course was two laps of 2.5km, with a big hill on each lap. Zagar passed me and put about 30-45m on me, before the cramp became less painful. I managed to close the gap by the 2.5km mark, before slipping around the turnaround. By the end of the run I managed to come across the line in first. I was joined on the podium by Zagar and fellow teammate MacCharles. Bigsby managed to close the gap from chase pack and catch Unger with 50m to the finish.
It was a good start to the year. Next Stop, PATCO in Edmonton.
Tyler Mislawchuk
Photos from the race:
