Frank Dunn Toyota Triathlon Race Report

I figured I should write a report about my race last weekend in Waskesiu Saskatchewan. I did a race called the Frank Dunn Toyota triathlon. It consisted of a 1.5km swim, 62km bike and a 13km run set in Prince Albert National Park.

I have been spending a chunk of my summer in Waskesiu every year since I was about two years old and have watched my dad do the race every year. I have done this race myself 3 times before and I won it back in 2005 when I was 17 years old.

Back then I thought that was going to be my first big win, the first big race of many races to come. It did show some signs of promise, but largely my career did not lift off the way I thought that it would, and I could not forsee all the issues that I had over the past two years creeping into my life.

The point is that when I began recovering from my broken ankle I decided that regardless of whether I wanted to race anymore or not, I would at least do the Frank Dunn Toyota race this year and decide after that. It had been 4 years since I had done this race, and I was not going to end my career without heading back there one last time, to the place that I believe my obsession and passion for this sport began all those years ago when i stood on the side of the road and watched my father race. The place where I had my first big win, and the place that feels as much of a home as any place I have ever been before.

I grew up around that race and the plan was to come back and pay homage to it one last time, and possibly be the last time that I raced.

Well we all know that somewhere along the road over the last little while I found my passion again, and have had one hell of a successful season both sporting wise as well as personally.

So the goal for this race went from paying homage to it with being motivated to compete, to wanting to honour the race by absolutely having the best performance there has been there. That's what I wanted to try to do anyway.

So I was more motivated for this race than any other race I have ever done. And I did what I set out to do.

I started the morning by having guys come up to me and say "It will be cool to see if you can track those guys down on the run and win again," I turned to my dad and said "these guys obviously don't realize I can ride now..."

The gun went off at 8am and I swam into the lead and opened up for the entire course, I ended up leading by over 40 seconds out of the water in a swim that was around 200m long. I exited exactly where I had planned to, had an amazing transition and warmed up into the bike.

I ended up having one of the best rides of my life and put over five minutes on the guy with the second fastest bike split. I ended up getting off the bike with over 11 minutes on the second place guy.

In the transition from bike to run I did something I have never done before in a race in over 11 years of racing. I put the wrong running shoe on the wrong foot. I guess there is a first time for everything and all I could do was stop and laugh.

I headed out on the run and passed my little bro and mom who were super excited and just going nuts. I felt super good and just settled into a rhythm. I got out onto the open road and there were age groupers rolling by me and yelling encouragement, it felt great and i was so happy to be out there. I hit the turn around 6.5km in and still felt great, then i passed the second place guy who was not 3km behind me. Everyone was super supportive and cheering me on.

About 700m from the finish i passed my dad who was just heading out onto the run, I high fived him and he looked as proud as I have ever seen him. It felt good.

It started pouring rain with about 1km to go and I thought to myself that it was just fitting for me to finish this race in the pissing rain, it just made sense that the sky would pour out its emotions just as I did on this race. As I ran through the main street filled with people I put a finger up in the air, and got really choked up. I actually started to cry, even though i was holding it back as hard as I could.

I came into the finish and just pumped my fists and went nuts, It was the greatest race of my life and i let it all out at the finish.

I ended up winning the race by 15 minutes, and it was the most successful race of my life, I put it all on the line and led from wire to wire without thoughts of anyone else, instead I was just completely focused on the emotions of the last year of my life, and of paying homage to a race that means so much to me.

I ended up having the fastest swim, bike and run splits, and I would have broken the course record if the swim had not been long. Race director Mark Nagy acknowledged this at the awards ceremony, and i thank him for that.

I feel like after this race there is no pressure anymore, i already had a successful season, anything else is just a bonus.

I also feel that after winning this race, I have opened a new chapter in my life. The chapter starts with this win and the emotions that went along with it, and with that I close the last chapter and can put all my agony and pain behind me.

I have a new breath of life and am determined this time to make this chapter a worthy one.

Thank you to my Parents, and my little brother, love you guys, you make it easy for me to do what I do because I see how much support you give me.

Thanks to my coach too, we did this together!

Kris

Pictures soon to come