A local triathlete entered a race in Osoyoos on Sunday and after a bit of a blunder came oh so close to winning it all.
Rossland’s Dallas Cain entered the Persona Desert Half Iron Triathlon, along with 135 other men in the field, expecting good results.
“It went well, I wish I’d have been a little bit quicker, but it was fun,” said the professional triathlete.
After a two-kilometre swim followed by a 90-km bike and 21.1-km run, Cain finished second behind Vernon’s Nathan Champness, but finished first for his age category, 30-34.
“I felt great, from start to finish; it was pretty much an enjoyable experience which is a little different than usual,” said the 31-year-old. “Usually you suffer pretty bad but this one was just a lot of fun.”
The track is half the distance of a regular triathlon like the Ironman Canada race he is training for in Penticton at the end of August.
Cain finished just over three minutes behind Champness, in a time of 4 hours, 23 minutes and 29 seconds. Ynuk Bosse of Vancouver finished third in 4:27:26.
Cain came out of the swim in 19th place but as a strong cyclist, he caught and passed all competitors in front of him – or at least so he believed.
“I thought I’d passed everyone on the bike and had opened up a comfortable lead. I didn’t realize until late in the bike that there was still one more guy ahead of me.”
With the half-marathon run to go, Cain kicked it into gear and began closing the gap as spectators along the course began yelling out the lag time.
At the start of the run, Cain was about four minutes behind; at the halfway point he cut it to three minutes, and by the 20-K mark he was only two-and-a-half minutes back of the leader.
“I just ran out of room to catch him, but it sure makes it fun when the crowd’s all into it, it keeps you moving along – it made it way better to be in the chase.”
Cain has taken a different tact to training this year. After withdrawing from last year’s Ironman Triathlon in Penticton - a disappointment from his 23rd placing the year before - he has decided to enter shorter triathlons to prepare for the big event.
“This was a ‘see-where-you-are’ for a tune-up for the Ironman, but it turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be and a lot more competitive.
“It was good, so I think things are definitely on track for the end of August (in Penticton).”
Cain is heading to Sylvan Lake in two weeks to compete in another half triathlon before returning to defend as three-time champion of the Nelson Cyswog’n’Fun Triathlon.
Last month he competed in and came 11th in the Calgary Marathon.