When Colleen Latham ran across the finish line at the 12th annual Whitehorse Triathlon on Sunday in two hours, 11 minutes and 46 seconds, she was not only ahead of her fellow female competitors – she was first overall.

The win topped off an event which saw an extra heat being added to the Olympic division to accommodate the large number of entries, said lead organizer and race director Kathy Zrum.

"It was really, I think, another successful triathlon,” Zrum said Monday morning.

The triathletes set out on a swim at the Canada Games Centre, then proceeded to bike a route that followed Sumanik Drive, the Alaska highway to Robert Service Way and up the Hamilton Boulevard extension. The final event was a run, where participants sprinted to the finish following Hamilton Boulevard.

The cycling portion of the event moved to the new track on the Hamilton Boulevard this year following last year's opening of the extension, and Zrum said it was a huge success.

"It was nice having things close to the Canada Games Centre,” she said. In previous years the cycling portion has been held away from the swimming pool.

Zrum said although planning for next year has not commenced, the new cycling route will most likely be a part of the 2011 triathlon.

"I would definitely consider it,” she said.

The Olympic category had the athletes swim 1,500-metres, or 60 laps, bike 40-kilometres and run 10-km. In the sprint category, participants swam 500-m, cycled 25-km and ran five-km.

This year saw a quick pace for the individual entries and teams.

"We had some fast times,” Zrum said.

This year there were 47 triathletes in the Olympic category, and 58 in the sprint.

The numbers include nine Olympic teams and five sprint teams.

"(We had) lots of people participating this year, which is awesome,” Zrum said. "The Olympic category was definitely up this year.”

About 20 volunteers helped pull off the event in addition to a small team that helped Zrum. The Whitehorse Glacier Bears counted laps during the swim portion of the traithlon.

Results for the triathlon were not available as of press time.