Slick course conditions couldn’t shake a field of ­­­determined competitors at the Long Lake Triathlon. They emerged from the trails, wet, muddy, and in some cases, a little bloody.

This year’s winner, Ian Weir, competed the first half of the run with his shoes, but since he’d skipped putting on socks after the swim – his hands were too cold – the backs of his heels paid the price and Weir took his shoes off to run the final 2.5 kilometres of the 6-km run barefoot.

Weir was the top finisher at the Long Lake Tri, now in its 13th year. He finished the Xterra course ( mountain biking and trail running, as opposed to the asphalt version seen in the summer Olympics) in 1:41:15, beating teams as well as solo athletes.

Just about 40 people took part in this year’s race, almost double from last year.

Race organizer Jody Eikelboom, in her junior year at the helm of the race, said the cold and rainy weather didn’t deter people from coming out – there were even a few who signed up the morning of.

“We had a lot of fun,” she said. “People were in good spirits despite the rain.”

In addition to organizing the race, Eikelboom also participated, starting her team, Mamas on the Move, off with a strong swim.

It was a warm year for the lake, but the bold swimmers who tackled the one-kilometre turn-around course in Long Lake sans wetsuit still surprised her.

And minutes before the start, she was informed by her safety boat that the turn-around buoy’s anchor hadn’t weighed itself down properly and had floated off course.

So, she stood in the water and announced to the crowd that the safety boat would be the turnaround buoy.

Everyone took it in stride, and soon the water in front of the boat launch was a churn of whitewater as the swimmers set out.

“I really like it (the swim),” she said. “It’s long enough and far enough that you feel like you got a good swim in.”

Weir and buddy Ian Hawking were among those who opted to forgo wetsuits.

“I should’ve,” said Hawking. “It was cold. It looked like most other people had wetsuits.”

Hawking, now in his 20s, won the Long Lake Tri in 2011, his first-ever triathlon.

“I pretty much just did it for fun,” he told the Star in 2011. "I've always wanted to try one, and it seemed like this was a good event to try.”

This time, the veteran used his knowledge of the trails to catch up to the rest of the field.

“I haven’t done any triathlons for awhile,” he said. “The swimming was a bit of a shock.”

He said he stayed to the outside of the swimming group and was middle-of-the-pack exiting the water.

He used the about 17-km bike to get back into contention.

“By the end of the mountain bike, I’d passed most everyone,” he said. “Except for Ian.”

That’s because Weir, who was a member of his high school swim team, was close to the front of the pack in the swim and used his mountain biking skills to build his lead on the second leg. He described the bike as rooty and wet, but fun.

“Triathlon is weird because you think coming off the bike you’re going to feel pretty good because it’s a new motion,” said Hawking.

“It’s a bit of a rude shock when you head up that first hill.”

The Hill, racers had to navigate twice over two loops of the three-kilometre course.

“(It’s) a pretty wicked uphill that seems to go on for quite awhile,” said Eikelboom. The second half of the course is flatter, but rooty and more technical, especially with the rain-slick roots.

Weir said he had a tumble, that was after he ditched his shoes.

The men and their friend, Logan Potter, who was third, had signed up a few days before the event.

“Lee was pushing us for sure,” said Weir.

There was never any doubt that they’d each tackle the course individually and not as a team.

“We all wanted to do it solo,” said Hawking. “It’s always fun and I think doing it as a team would be a little too short. The challenge of the triple event is part of the fun.”

The trio swept the podium: Hawking going 1:46:17 and Potter going 1:58:50. The rookie took the win.

Before the day was over, more awards went out, such as the Chad le Clos award, inspired by the South African swimmer’s fourth place finish in the 200-metre butterfly at the Olympics two weeks ago.

It went to the fourth swimmer out of the water: Lesley Carson.

Although there was some contention over whether it was hers or not – she had come out of the water at the same time as her husband, John Carson.

It was finally decided that Lesley was indeed the deserving recipient as she had been drafting her husband.

Awards such as these, and the Polar Bear Dip Award (which went unawarded since more swimmers surprised the organizer by going without a wetsuit in the lake) are what help to make this triathlon a fun event that people come back to year after year.

“It’s one of my favourite events in the summer for sure,” said Hawking, who partnered with Weir earlier this summer to take on the much beloved Yukon River Quest. “Very low key.”

This “pretty chill vibe” is what endears the event to Eikelboom’s heart.

As the last remaining adult-friendly triathlon in Whitehorse, Eikelboom doesn’t want to see it go after 13 years.

“If I’m in town again next year,” she said, “then I would make sure it happens again.”

RESULTS

Open Men

1. Ian Weir 1:41:15

2. Lee Hawking 1:46:17

3. Logan Potter 1:58:50

Open Women

1. Megan Seiling 1:56:57

2. Maren Bradley 2:43:37

3. Kayla Fitzsimmons 3:15:46

Team

1. 3 Amigos (Lesley Carson, Greg Hale, David Eikelboom) 1:46:23

2. Can our dog do the run (Kirsten and Ryan Sylvestre) 1:51:13

3. Pelly Road (Shannon Mallory and Manuel Sidler) 1:52:52