Tisseyre and Symonds Golden in Olympic City Vancouver's Famous Greenmen Delight the Crowds

Jul 04, 2010

The shores of Vancouver were alive this morning as over 800 athletes from 10 countries plunged in to the waters at Jericho Beach for Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon - one of Vancouver's fastest growing sporting events.  

The professional women's race quickly became a tight battle between last year's defending champion and recent Ironman 70.3 Texas Champion, Magali Tisseyre and Heather Wurtele - who claimed the title of Ironman St. George Champion earlier this year.

Tisseyre and Wurtele exited the swim side by side and battled on the bike with many lead changes.  Tisseyre, St. Sauveur, Quebec, took advantage of a faster second transition to take the lead on the run - a narrow margin which she held for the half marathon eventually finishing just 1 minute in front of Wurtele to claim the victory.  Amy Kirkham of Vancouver had a breakthrough race to the final spot on the podium with a 3rd place professional finish.

On the men's side, Penticton's Jeff Symonds led from wire to wire to claim the title over Victoria's Steven Kilshaw who had to settle for 2nd place for the straight year.  Trevor Wurtele, husband of Heather, made it a family affair by taking 3rd spot.

One of the highlights of this year's race included "Sully" and "Force", otherwise known as the Greenmen. These 2 highly popular crazed Canuck fans outfitted in their green spandex costumes are known for mocking opposing players in the penalty box and have garnered a national celebrity status.  The Greenmen discovered the day before the race that they can't swim so they have recruited Canada's best female swimmer, Olympian and current world record holder Annamay Pierse, in hopes of beating Olympic Gold Medal Rower Ben Rutledge.  The "Green Team" was soundly defeated by Rutledge but turned many heads as they cycled and ran in their full green suits to the delight of the athletes and the thousands of spectators around the course.

An honourable mention goes to the overall age group (amateur) winners Luke Gillmer of Northmead, Australia and Rhae Shaw of Seattle. The Sprint Race was won by Ramsey Ezzat for the men, and Martina Wan on the women's side.


Half Ironman Distance (1.9k swim/90k bike/20k run)

Women
1st - Magali Tisseyre, Victoria, 4:12:13
2nd - Heather Wurtele, Kelowna, 4:13:22
3rd - Amy Kirkham, Vancouver, 4:29:45     

Men
1st -Jeff Symonds, Penticton, 3:50:14
2nd -Stephen Kilshaw, Victoria, 3:57:12
3rd - Trevor Wurtele, Kelowna, 4:00:30    


Sprint Distance (500m swim/25k bike/5k run)

Men
1st - Ramsey Ezzat, North Vancouver,1:06:56     
2nd - Robert Johnson, Vancouver, 1:07:02
3rd - Ryan Smiley, Vancouver, 1:07:34     

Women
1st - Martina Wan, Vancouver, 1:11:35
2nd - Stephanie Kieffer, Vancouver, 1:13:09
3rd - Suzanne Chandler, West Vancouver, 1:14:32     


Background on the Race:

The race's rapid rise in popularity has been in large part due to the fact that it is one of the few triathlons in the world that takes place in an urban setting yet has the stunning natural beauty of the Spanish Banks beaches framed by the backdrop of the city skyline and panoramic North Shore Mountains.  Last year the event was named "Top 10 Urban Triathlons on the Planet" by US-based Triathlete Magazine.  The event has attracted athletes of all ages and abilities from around the world - some who are simply looking to finish, others such as the professionals preparing for the famous Hawaii Ironman.  The race has also garnered a great deal of national exposure being aired multiple times nationally in a 60 minute program on Rogers Sportsnet over the last 2 years, and will be again this year.

The Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon is the 3rd stop in the Subaru Western Triathlon Series (www.triseries.ca). Next stop on the Series is the Subaru Sooke Triathlon on August 8th.

For more information contact Shantel Cordeiro at Shantel@triseries.ca or 250-858-0174

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