Arthur Williams
Citizen staff
Athletes braved strong winds to compete in the 2011 Prince George Iceman, Sunday.
Patrick Turner topped the solo men's competition with a time of one hour, 48 minutes and 21 seconds. Returning champion Shar Jackson set a stiff pace for the women at one hour, 54 minutes and 39 seconds.
"It's one of my favourite winter events," Turner said. "It's such a neat community event. I think it should be an exhibition event for the 2015 Canada Winter Games here."
In addition to sweeping the men's solo overall best time, Turner took top place in the men's masters division.
Turner said men's open division winner, Mike Smith, made him work for the title. Smith finished 19 seconds after Turner, and was the first competitor to hit the pool. Turner's strong front crawl allowed him to overtake Smith early into the swim.
For Jackson, it was her third gold medal in the Iceman. It was her third time soloing in the race and fourth competition.
"I would say the running is my best event," Jackson said. "I run a lot and ski a fair amount."
Jackson said she wasn't sure she'd be able to hang on to her title early in the race, when she fell behind the pace of second-place female contender Jacqui Benson.
"During the second lap of the ski, I couldn't see Jacqui at all," she said.
Benson had a minute and 38 second lead at the end of the ski, but Jackson ate up that lead by setting a blistering 41:39 pace on the 10 km run.
"Shar is awesome, she's an amazing runner," Benson said. "I had the lead, then during the run she caught me at Otway. "I could still see her until Foothills (Boulevard), but then she was over the hill and I lost her."
Jackson and Benson train together as employees of Stride & Glide Sports, the title sponsor of the Iceman, and have a friendly rivalry on the field.
The Vanderhoof-based mixed team The Young and the Not So Young posted the top overall team time in one hour, 40 minutes and 44 seconds. It was the third team win for that group, made up of cross-country running coach Brian Nemethy and high-school-age athletes Van Kingsley, Hilary Desmarais, Austin Bartel and Bailey Hardy of Prince George.
Nemethy said he encourages his top cross-country and track athletes to cross-train in winter events to keep them in top form all year.
"They're all really high-end athletes," Nemethy said. "The cross-training really pays off for them."
Nemethy used to compete solo in the Iceman, but in recent years has cut back to just running.
"At 50, I'm still running as fast as the high school kids," he said.
The top men's team was Nothin' Special with a time of one hour, 44 minutes and 18 seconds. The Pink Pantsers claimed the top spot in the female team competition with two hours, one minute and 46 seconds.
The Vanderhoof Icebreakers claimed the crown in the junior competition.
Full results can be found online at www.raceheadquarters.com.
See Tuesday's Citizen for a feature story on the Iceman junior teams.
