Three years ago, Beth Hillhouse's husband Brian gave her an expensive triathlon bike as a birthday present.
Ever since then, that bike hasn't had much of a chance to gather dust.
The 39-year-old mother of three young children has made it her routine to to train for two hours every morning before the kids got out of bed and that bike figures prominently in her triathlon equation.
"Brian races Gran Fondos and he got me into biking three years ago," said Hillhouse. "He handed me a bike for my birthday and I said, 'that's nice, let's hang it on the wall.' It was too beautiful to ride."
On Sunday, after swimming 1.5-kilometres, Hillhouse cranked her bike for 40 kilometres at racing speed, battling steep climbs on the way out and head winds on the return trip to West Lake Provincial Park, which gave her enough of a lead to hold off Gillian Roberts in the mad dash for the finish line to win the Pormeroy Inn & Suites Prince George Triathlon Olympic distance event.
"The bike is pretty fun, it starts with a hill and I find it really enjoyable," said Hillhouse. "I try to get a few rides in a week and training is from 5-7 a.m. It's so good to get some cross-training so you don't run into an injury like you could if you ran six days a week.
"Running is what I love to do and I've been running since I was about eight years old but I've never managed to be very fast so if you throw in a couple more sports it's more interesting for me."
Hillhouse stopped the clock in 2:42:15, 27 seconds ahead of the 24-year-old Roberts, who moved to Prince George from London, Ont., last summer. Natalie Vogt was third in the Olympic race in 2:55:44. Roberts had a three-minute led out of the water but was caught by Hillhouse halfway into the ride. Roberts made up significant ground on the run but needed a longer race to pass Hillhouse, who celebrated her first win after five triathlons.
"It's pretty cool to win," said Hillhouse.
"To be honest, this is a pretty slow first-place time. When Marika (Jurgens) or Lorelei (St. Rose) are here it's pushed a lot faster. It's a pretty challenging course with all the hills on the run but the organizers do a first-rate job in everything from transitions to setup. The dedication of the organizing team and volunteers is second to none."
Rob Millar, 39, successfully defended his Olympic distance men's title, covering the course under the hot sun of a 27 C day in just 2:16:40. 1:43 ahead of Michael Buchanan. Mike Smith wasn't far off the pace, finishing third in 2:21:15. Scott Forrest, 59, was fourth overall in 2:29:44.
Millar and Buchanan each suffered leg cramps during the first two kilometres of the run, which is mostly uphill.
"After you've been swimming and biking it's hard on your legs and I've had problems with that in this race previously where I've had to stop and walk for a few minutes -- it's so hot and unless you're from Penticton or somewhere like that you're not used to the heat," said Millar, who won the Tyhee Lake Triathlon in Smithers triathlon on a much cooler day a week ago.
"I was surprised by my time because its a tough course. It's easily the toughest (Olympic distance) course in B.C. The bike course is hilly and the run is super hard."
Rob Vogt won the men's sprint in 1:13:43, followed by second-place Will Andal (1:21:32) and Lucas Stelzer (1:23:03).
Andal, 21, couldn't catch Vogt but was still impressed with his time. Andal ski raced for years with Caledonia Nordic Ski Club and that left him with a well-tuned engine. He took last season off but plans to return to the racing team this year and triathlon training is perfect for what he'll be up against once the snow flies.
"The swim is always difficult but this year the most difficult part of the race was the ride," said Andal. "There was a headwind out and a headwind back. It was a pretty tough ride. You just stand up and pedal. I was worried about the legs cramping up but they stayed fine."
Leanne Garrison notched her first triathlon victory, winning the women's sprint in 1:25:20, followed by Amy Ballantyne (1:27:30). Pippa Roots, 19, a former competitive cross-country skier, completed her first triathlon and was third in the sprint (1:29:50).
"The run was tough for me, it's a really hilly run," said the 30-year-old Garrison. "It's a lot of work. I joined the (Prince George Cycling Club) a couple years ago and that makes me a strong biker and helps with the run. I lived at Summit Lake when I was younger and spent a lot of time swimming and I've always been a decent swimmer."
Sprint distances are 750-metre swim, 20km bike and five km run.
Dan Bedard won the duathlon (two five-km runs and a 40 km bike) in 1:48:19.
Rapid Thigh Movement (Nick Bartell, Ron Lowe and Terry Rankin) won the Olympic team event (2:26:43), while Andalmania (Cynthia Andal and Kaia Andal) won the sprint team race (1:30:10).
The 35th annual race drew about 70 competitors.
