Hawaii is calling Angela Duncan-Naeth.
She's earned an invitation to race with the best on the planet at the Ironman world triathlon championship In Kona, Kaiua.
The 33-year-old from Prince George fought off the effects of oppressive heat and humidity Saturday in The Woodlands, Tx., and won the Texas Ironman women's pro race in eight hours 55 minutes 19 seconds - by far the biggest win of her career. Her victory in what doubles as the North American championship guarantees a spot for Duncan-Naeth in the Ironman world championship race Oct. 10.
"Last year I missed qualifying by one spot so this is a huge opportunity for me - I don't have to chase points anymore, I can just focus on that race and recover and have some fun," said Duncan-Naeth, who was presented a $30,000 cheque.
Race conditions were far from ideal for an Ironman-distance race. The temperature was in the low 20s C at the start and reached 30 C later in the day, with 90 per cent humidity. Duncan-Naeth lives in Las Vegas with husband Paul Duncan and thrives in heat but to get used to the humidity she spent three weeks before the race training in Texas.
"I love and humidity and heat, something we don't have in Prince George," she said.
In only her third Ironman-distance race, Duncan-Naeth gave her coach, Jesse Kropelnicki, a few anxious moments when she veered off-course during the 2.4-mile (3.9 kilometre) swim leg. Despite losing her way briefly in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico she got to the first transition in 59.35 (sixth quickest).
"I don't know what I was thinking but I totally went off on tangent and my coach couldn't even watch at that point," Duncan-Naeth. "Once you lose that pack right at the beginning you lose the ability to stay with that pack. Two minutes into the race I was like, 'where is everybody?'"
But the 112-mile (180 km) cycling bike leg is Duncan-Naeth's strong suit and by the 50-mile mark she caught up to the leader, Leandra Cave of Great Britain, who had a six-minute lead over Duncan-Naeth at the start of the bike leg. Duncan-Naeth had the fastest bike split (4:41:38)
"The first 10 miles I made up 3 1/2 minutes, which is unheard of, but I was just following my plan and executing my race the way I wanted to and got to the front a lot earlier and I thought 'maybe I'm going too hard,'" she said. "My coach was really stressed out that I was blowing the whole race."
Cave stayed right behind on the bike but couldn't keep pace on the run. Duncan-Naeth covered the 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run in 3:09, second-fastest among the women.
"That is my best marathon time through an Ironman, I've never done a marathon, and I'm definitely happy with it, I pushed myself, but I think I can go faster," Duncan-Naeth said. "The heat and humidity obviously takes a huge toll."
Cave went on to finish second overall in 8:58.12. Matt Hanson of Minnesota won the men's race in 8:07:03.
Duncan-Naeth was still recovering from an intense training camp in Florida in January when she started her race season on the 70.3 Ironman circuit March 16 in Monterrey, Mexico with a third-place result. Two weeks later in Oceanside, Calif., she ended up fifth after having to serve a five-minute penalty for drafting during the bike event. Triathlon racers must stay 12 metres behind the lead rider unless attempting to pass and Duncan-Naeth got caught behind a pack of pro male riders while she was making a move on one of the female riders pass. By that time, the judges ruled the penalty a warranted.
"I sat in the penalty box for five minutes, that was awful, and it took my out of contention for sure," she said.
She made up for that disappointing result with a second-place finish in Galveston 70.3 on April 10.
Duncan-Naeth had her first pro race in 2008 but didn't start racing full-time with the pros until 2010. Winning Texas raises Duncan-Naeth's profile considerably in the triathlon world and could lead to more sponsorship and endorsement deals. She will be in Santa Monica, Calif., this week getting tested at her sponsor Red Bull's global athlete development program facility.
"I'll spend a whole week with them just learning how to be a better athlete," she said. "They have a huge performance centre there and tons of scientists and they'll hook us up to wires and all sorts of things.
"My body felt a little bit sore (after Saturday's race). You're usually on a high for a few days and then you get into a pretty big low and I'm going to Red Bull hoping that will help me get through the mental and emotional part."
Now that Duncan-Naeth knows she'll be racing in Hawaii, that gives her mother Kim, father Don and sister Miranda time to consider travel plans from Prince George to watch her race in October.
"My mom's my biggest fan, it's always fun to hear from her -- they had a live feed all day yesterday and she was glued to the TV the whole time," said Duncan-Naeth.
Duncan-Naeth's next race will be June 21 in Mont-Tremblant, Que., and will try to qualify for the 70.3 world championships in Zel Am See-Kaprun, Austria, Aug. 30, five weeks before the Kona race.
