Banner day for Yanke Clan — Jaclyn, Darren top respective races
By The Nelson Daily Sports
It was a banner day for the Yanke kids as both Darren and Jaclyn finished in the winner’s circle during two competitive events in Kimberley and Penticton.
In the Bavarian City, Darren Yanke captured the Men’s Open Division at the Rocky Mountain Spartan Sprint while Jaclyn Dexter topped the Penticton Peach Classic Triathalon in the South Okanagan.
The 41-year-old Darren Yanke won the Rocky Mountain Spartan Sprint in a time of one hour, 21:40 minutes, edging Corey Thatcher by more than 10 minutes.
The 23-kilometer Beast Race, requiring cardiovascular fitness, strength, and mobility,saw competitors overcome 30 obstacles stations — including Hercules Hoist, seven-foot wall, Monkey Bars, Bucket Carry and Spear Throw — while crawling, climbing, pulling and lifting all the while trudging through mud.
The open category is for anyone including novice athletes and rookie racers.
Other Spartan stops include North Vancouver, Red Deer, Calgary, Masonville, QC, Stoneham, QC, Oshawa, ON, Collingwood, ON, and Calabogie, ON.
In Penticton, Dexter captured the women’s division at the Peach Triathlon in a time of 2:36.40, less than a minute in front of Kelly Stark and four minutes ahead of third-place finisher Haley Berrisford.
Competing in the 35-39 category, Dexter finished the swim in 27:12; the bike in 1:15.28 and run in 51:30.
She finished 26th overall behind winner Robert Johnson, who captured the men’s division.
The Peach Classic includes a sprint race of 750 metre swim/20 km bike and five km run as well as long distance course of 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run.
The swim consists of one loop while the bike is an out and back to Naramata. The race finishes with the run, an out and back along the KVR.
Organizers expected approximately 350 athletes to participate in the 36th annual event.
