Blake, Murphy Win New Balance Half In Victoria, B.C.

In a repeat of the 2009 Subaru Vancouver Triathlon, hometown heroes Jasper Blake and Cheryl Murphy took the respective men’s and women’s titles over the half ironman distance in the 14^th edition of the New Balance Victoria Triathlon.

Blake, the 2006 Ironman Canada Champion, blazed his way through the run clocking a course record 1:10:57 run split on way to a 3:54:39 overall time.  Steven Kilshaw, Blake’s protégé, was not far behind equaling Blake off the bike and posting a 1:12:09 run split to finish just 72 seconds back.  Rounding out the podium was former National and Commonwealth Games

Team member Kelly Guest with a 4:04:45 clocking.

On the woman’s side, the duel between two of the best Master’s women athletes in the world, Cheryl Murphy and Lucy Smith, did not materialize however Smith’s 1:22:49 run split, the best of the day, was enough to move her into a second place finish (4:42:14) to Murphy (4:36:18).  In a close third was Vancouver’s Amy Kirkham in 4:42:24.

Over 800 participants took part in this classic event including 20% of the field from the US representing 11 different states. This year’s race also included a Sprint division for the first time. The overall results are as follows:

New Balance Half Results

Victoria, BC, Canada, June 21, 2009

Men

1^st – Jasper Blake, 3:54:39

2^nd – Steven Kilshaw, 3:55:51

3^rd – Kelly Guest, 4:04:45

4^th – Adam O’Meara, 4:06:09

5^th – Paddy McCluskey, 4:11:34

Women

1^st – Cheryl Murphy, 4:36:18

2^nd – Lucy Smith, 4:42:14

3^rd – Amy Kirkham, 4:42:24

4^th – Carolyn Hubbard, 4:45:01

5^th – Janet Nielsen, 4:45:12

New Balance Sprint Triathlon Results

Men

1^st – Jairus Streight, 1:01:33

2^nd – Mike Janes, 1:02:36

3^rd – Ben Rutledge, 1:03:59

Women

1^st – Lysanne Lavigne, 1:08:20

2^nd – Shelley Thomson, 1:10:54

3^rd – Sandy Wilson, 1:13:18