On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of canada, a multisport event took place for one week. Athletes from over 60 nations competed to crown their world champions in various distances and sports.
Thomas geiger of ASC kronach-frankenwald competed for the national triathlon team over the long distance in his age group. As a native of teuschnitz, he naturally also promoted the bayern3 village festival.
Contrary to the usual distances (3.8 km – 180 km – 42.195 km), in canada there were three kilometers of swimming, 120 kilometers of cycling and 30 kilometers of running to be completed. These competitions were held in penticton, a town well known to endurance athletes. In 1983 the oldest long distance triathlon in canada took place here under the ironman label. Penticton hosted ironman canada for 30 years until it moved to challenge in 2013. The ITU (international triathlon union), based in switzerland, organizes the long-distance world championships in a different country every year. Next year it will be in denmark.
Thomas geiger arrived with the goal of finishing on the podium. During the race he was recorded by two swiss expatriates at their home in penticton. Both have lived for over 20 years on this really beautiful spot of earth, as thomas could only confirm.
Swimming took place in lake okanagan, which is 135 kilometers long and between four and five kilometers wide. The water temperature and quality were excellent, so the three kilometers of swimming were really enjoyable. Thomas was fourth in his age group when he arrived back at the sandy beach; the clock showed 48:21 minutes.
Four minutes caught up
Thomas geiger used the 120 kilometer bike ride with 1000 meters of altitude to catch up with the fastest riders. After about half the distance he caught up with the american welch, who was the first in his age group to get out of the water. Thomas had already caught up four minutes by this time.
His goal of being the first to switch to running came off, albeit only very narrowly. With 3:19:02 hours he had the second fastest bike time. A canadian raced three minutes faster and changed almost simultaneously with the triathlete of ASC kronach-frankenwald.
Running this year is not so good for thomas geiger. He knew that before. His tactic of seeking salvation in the escape while cycling was still successful at the world championship in samorin. This time, however, it did not work out. The lead was too small. Too fast was the competition from canada and the USA.
At meanwhile 34 degrees, he covered the 30 kilometer run through downtown penticton in 2:34:55 hours. With a total time of 6:47:46 hours, thomas geiger finished in fifth place behind three canadians and one american. Just under three minutes off the podium. So he had not reached the goal.
But he did not regret the trip to canada."It was a great impression and a really nice competition", was his summary. It remains to be seen whether he will start next year in denmark.
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