Trips to Hawaii often include sun, sand and relaxation but for Brackendale's Brandi Heisterman, her visit to the Aloha State was quite a bit more taxing physically.
Heisterman took part in the annual Xterra Off-Road Triathlon world championships in Maui on Sunday (Oct. 23), finishing a solid ninth out of 23 competitors at the event. She qualified for the event after a second-place showing at the Xterra Canadian Open in Whistler on Sept. 4 and said the championships were quite challenging.
"I don't know if I could have done any better," she said. "But I wasn't in a body bag and I ended up with the last money spot on the awards podium."
The race kicked off with a 1.5-kilometre swim in rough water at D.T. Flemings Beach in Kapalua, located on the northwest coast of Maui. Heisterman said she enjoyed the scenery but said the swim was tough.
"Every time I wanted to go faster and pass someone, I was whacked and kicked," she said. "So I figured I shouldn't push my luck, and just stayed where I was comfortable."
The biking portion was next and Heisterman picked up a lot of ground on the 29.5-kilometre ride, which loops its way through the lower slopes of the West Maui mountains. Heisterman said it was a fairly basic course, especially considering what she's used to in Squamish.
"This course had nothing, I mean absolutely nothing technical on it," she said. "Even the climbs were buff, not even a good old loose hill section to force inexperienced mountain bikers off their bikes. I had fun on the descents, took some risks on the corners and saw lots of guys go down."
She passed a handful of racers on the bike portion and then moved on to the running section, which saw participants run close to 10 kilometres. A late push in the run moved Heisterman from 10th to ninth, where she finished. Overall she said she was pleased with her result and looks forward to tackling the race again next year.
"I was hoping for better at the start but perhaps I was a bit na茂ve to think that I could run like I used to when I only ran for three weeks to train for the race," she said. "I took 10 years off running but I guess I was hoping there would be more in the legs than what I had yesterday. Next year, I will be more prepared."
For more information and full results from the race, visit www.xterraplanet.com.
