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While professional hometown favourite, Jeff Symonds, did what he was expected to do by winning the annual Peach Classic Triathlon on Sunday, a pair of veteran competitors from Kelowna surprised many by finishing second and third in the Olympic-distance portion of the event.
Symonds, a two-time Challenge Penticton winner (2013 and 2014) and 2015 Asia-Pacific Ironman champion, swam (1.5 kilometres), cycled (40 km) and ran (10 km) away with the Peach Classic title in a time of 2:00:47.
Gary Wade (45-49 age category) of Kelowna placed a distant — but respectable — second (2:13:22) in the event that attracted 171 participants, including 102 men. Third place went to Kelowna’s Ian Crosthwaite (40-44) who was clocked at 2:14:11.
Jen Annett, another pro, made it an all-Penticton gold-medal day by finishing first among 62 women in the race and fifth overall in a time of 2:15:08.
Sean Nugent of Kelowna broke into the top-10 with a ninth-place finish overall and was first in his age group (25-29) in a time of 2:24:26. Ian Bishop of Kelowna placed 15th overall and second in his age category (35-39) with a clocking of 2:27:30.
Second place among the women went to Kelowna’s Carmelle Guidi-Swan (40-44) who crossed in 2:28:09. Ashley Yip (25-29) of Kelowna took fifth place among the females in a time of 2:38:10.
The sprint (750 swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run) portion of the Peach Classic saw Kelowna’s Jake Van Allen take top spot despite arriving in Penticton with only one wheel for his bike. Fortunately for the 29-year-old triathlete, he was able to find one at the nearby Bike Barn in Penticton and went on to win the event (145 participants) in 1:06:12.
Owen Harris, 17, of Kelowna finished second in 1:10:03, while Kelowna’s Ian Sharp (35-39) was third in 1:11:55. Lake Country’s Joel Deleenheer placed fifth overall and first in the 40-44 age category in 1:12:44.
Jessica Deglau (35-39) of Kelowna came from behind to win the women’s race over 17-year-old Janae Hoel of West Kelowna who had finished first ahead of Deglau at the Cherry Blossom sprint in May in Kelowna. Deglau posted a time of 1:15:24 in Penticton with a stronger run (23:03) than Hoel’s (25:48).
For many of the participants, the Peach Classic was a lead-up to the annual Pushor Mitchell Apple Triathlon being held Aug. 20-21 in Kelowna. To Register
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