As a doctor of internal medicine, Michael Buchanan knows a lot about what makes people sick and how to put them on the road to better health.
As a weekend athlete, Buchanan also knows a thing or two about how to succeed in his chosen sport. He's an above-average hockey player, and as he proved Sunday at West Lake provincial park, he's also an accomplished triathlete.
Buchanan, 47, broke the tape first at the finish of the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prince George Triathlon, completing the Olympic distance race in two hours six minutes 49 seconds, his first triathlon win.
"It was fun, it wasn't quite the field we've had in previous years," said Buchanan, who won by nearly six minutes over second-place Rob Vogt (2:12:37). "You just do your thing and sometimes you don't know where you are in the race because there's teams and duathlons, but you get through it and it turns out I came first."
Nick Chng was third in 2:13:21.
Buchanan doesn't compete in more than one triathlon per year but says he'll consider entering the Apple Triathlon in Kelowna, Aug. 18. He's also a regular in the Prince George Iceman in February. That winter race and the P.G. Triathlon give him reasons to train year-round.
The warm sunny weather on Sunday was nearly ideal but there was a steady breeze and the water did get a bit choppy for the 1.5-kilometre swim, which interfered with Buchanan's breathing. The 40km bike course was shortened by about six kilometres due to the presence of a mother bear and cub that refused to leave. Rather than deal with the bear, course volunteers moved the bike turnaround three kilometres closer to the lake.
Sarah Barr won the women's Olympic race in 2:24:17. Lorelei St. Rose (2:26:02) and Cortney Shier (2:30:19) were also on the medal podium. In the sprint event (750-metre swim, 20km bike, five km run) Malcolm Stinson won the men's race (1:15:04) just ahead of female winner Marika Jurgens (1:15:43). In the bike-run duathlon, Dan Bedard (1:36:16) and Sonya Zurevinski (1:59:43) were the respective male and female winners.
Rapid Thigh Movement (2:01:20) captured the Olympic team triathlon event, while College Heights secondary school Splash, Flash & Dash (1:13:51) took the sprint distance team honours.
