Alberta Challenge

Well, I completed this race this past weekend and proudly came home with my first piece of hardware.  I placed 3rd overall and 2nd in my AG.  I know this isn't a hugely competitive event, but it's still nice to get a silver medal for busting my hump! 

My wife and I camped out there at Miquelon Lake from the Wednesday before the race forward.  It's a nice campground and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.  Outside of one evening it always seemed to be windy, but talking to some locals they said it was abnormal. 

Overall, it was a well run event and I would do it again.  A little delayed as Results Canada wasn't there on time in the morning, but not a huge deal.  HIM athletes started first, followed by Sprint, then Olympic and finally Duathlon.  I'm not sure why they started the Sprinters before the Olympics...but the course was big enough for us all.  The Olympic race didn't start until pretty much all Sprinters were out of the water.  Not sure why there was a such a delay there.

The water at Miquelon Lake is pretty salty.  I've never swam in a lake like that before.  Lucky for me I had a chance to swim in it a couple times so I wasn't surprised on race day.  The water doesn't get deeper than six feet, but it's murky on the bottom so you'd sink in sludge or something if you stood up.  Not the best water I've swam in, but I can't complain too much.  The transition was a little ways from the water so it made for a good run up to that.  Also the run up to the bike mount was a mixture of grass and gravel path so you couldn't really pre-clip in shoes and do a running mount start...not unless you wanted to run on gravel that is.

The bike was a nice big loop - 43k or so in total distance.  I really enjoy these type of rides rather than the multiple loop in a local community style.  This was on the highway and fairly flat with very little traffic.  A couple rollers but nothing I'd class as a hill.  I'm not positive, but I think I saw an aid station on the bike - but it was a table with water bottles and other items laid out on it with nobody manning the area.  If I was in the HIM race I'd be a little choked with the lack of support on the bike.  Were they to stop and refill bottles themselves and get their own food...not sure.  Not enough volunteers, I suppose, to man the aid station.  There was an accident on the bike course where a racer was taken away in an ambulance.  I don't know the details of what happened.

The run course is a mixture of trail running, gravel and grass.  It was very hilly, but not too long of hills or too steep.  It was just a constant up and down with a lot of hard right-angle turns.  You can't really get your speed going on this course and it's not one that you'll likely get a PR on or anything close, but it was an enjoyable run.  It is mostly shaded and there were plenty of volunteers to make sure you were going the right way.  It's a 2-loop course where the only flat part is the last km of the loop.  The twists, turns and hills in the run made it difficult to get a bead on who was in front of you and how far away they were, etc, etc. 

Post race munchies and food consisted of bananas, cookies, pears, apples, oreo's, beef or chicken burgers...pretty good stuff actually.  The only suggestion is to pack your own post-race water/drink.  The water that comes from the taps at the campground is what they used to fill their water jugs with.  It's pretty funky looking and I wouldn't drink it.  Not saying it was bad...just saying I didn't take the risk.

Yeah - I would race this again.  It made for a nice little vacation going up a few days early and just hanging out, biking the course and getting a swim or two in there.