Crossing The Line At The 5th Annual Sydenham Triathlon

Jul 11, 2013

The beautiful rural setting of Sydenham is a big part of why the annual Sydenham Triathlon/Duathlon, which took place this year on July 7, continues to attract athletes of all ages and skill levels from larger centers around Ontario. So says Christine McKinty, partner in the Somersault Events Series, who puts on the Sydenham event, just one of the many events they run in the province.

The Sydenham Tri/Du began five years ago and was the brain child of its long-time race director Richard Cadman, who unfortunately will be retiring from that role this year. The event has been growing steadily in popularity since year one and this year it attracted over 600 participants, with 500 racers pre-registered long before race day and over 100 more registering the day of. “People really seem to love this event because its removed from the big city”, McKinty said when I spoke to her during the event. “It's a beautiful rural location and there is a lot of camaraderie here. Participants don't just come to run their event, collect their prize and then leave. They come to race and then relax, and they tend to stick around after their event and cheer others on.”

The premiere race of the day is by far the Olympic triathlon, which McKinty calls “one of the sexier events, for lack of a better term.” It includes a 1500 swim in Sydenham Lake, a 40 km bike ride and a 10 km run. The Sprint Tri is also popular and is comprised of a 500m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. “We've seen the Olympic triathlon grow hugely here since we started; I think because it's part of the Olympics and also because of people having seen Canadian triathlete Simon Whitfield in all his Olympic glory. I also think a lot of people want to go all out and really challenge themselves. People who run or who might come from another discipline want to put everything together and give it a try.”

McKinty also said that the shorter events are also very popular. “The shorter events tend to attract those who might be just getting started or else getting back into the events after having kids and it gives them a stepping stone to the longer races.” Race day involves the efforts of over 100 volunteers, who included members of the Sydenham Legion and the Kingston Multi Sports Club, plus many individual members of the community at large. Sydenham resident Marianne Takala has a big hand in organizing the event locally along with Richard Cadman, and they also bring along their own small army of volunteers.

Present at the event, though unfortunately this year only on the side lines, was long time and well-known local triathlete Scott Takala of Sydenham. Takala, who has won the Sydenham Olympic tri event for at least two consecutive years, was not able to run because of having suffered heat stroke during an earlier run this week, but he was present as a volunteer.

The weather proved to be pretty good. Although it was reported that parts of the courses could be a bit slick in certain areas due to the occasional bouts of rain, the overcast skies provided a break in what would otherwise have been a very hot day for the racers.

The Sydenham event is the furthest west event that Somersault puts on in the province and it tends to attract athletes and participants from Ottawa, Kingston and the Toronto area. McKinty said that Somersault is currently looking to hire a new race director for the Sydenham event. Anyone interested can make inquiries atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.