The 29th annual Freewheel Biathlon rolled out of town Oct. 5, as 33 participants struck out for glory, laughs and even a free pit-stop beer.
The laid-back event is a milestone of Jasper鈥檚 cycling season that sees participants compete solo, or in teams, to tackle a 30-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run, beginning at Miette River Bridge and ending at Athabasca Falls.
This year鈥檚 event saw many of the same faces return, but a few newbies made an appearance as well. Among those participants were a few brave souls who tackled the challenging climbs on mountain bikes.
And while many come out just to enjoy the day, a fair number show up laser-focused on nabbing the best time.
This year David Percy came out on top of the men鈥檚 solo event, finishing his run in a blistering 42:58 to bring his total time to 1:34:58. Katy Poirier landed atop the podium in the women鈥檚 solo event, with a time of 2:14:23.
Declan Unsworth and Michael D鈥橝ntonio won the men鈥檚 team event (their combined time was 1:30:53), and Allison Mason and Terri Smith finished first in the women鈥檚 team event with a combined time of 2:03:56.
Finally, Rob Prinz and Elaine Hutchens took home the mixed team title, finishing with a combined time of 1:44:41.
The event ended with a dinner and prizes that evening, and鈥攁s per tradition鈥攁ll of the losers were entered into a draw for prizes.
Trevor Nichols
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