Long before Simon Whitfield's Olympic heroics and Peter Reid's and Lori Bowden's multiple wins at Ironman Hawaii placed Victorians at the centre of the triathlon universe, there was the small race in 1980 at Elk Lake.
Few people had even heard of triathlon when about 40 hardy souls took to the water for the inaugural Sri Chinmoy race, now Canada's longest-running triathlon. Re-named the Self-Transcendence Triathlon, the event celebrates its 30th anniversary today when more than 500 competitors hit the water at 7 a.m. at Hamsterly Beach.
"When we first started this race, people wondered why we were organizing something that sounded so weird," says race director Sumitra McMurchy, who has been involved in some capacity in organizing all 29 previous races.
"Since then, people have come to love it.
"Ours was the third triathlon race ever held on the continent. This is truly a pioneer event. There were no wet suits or anything like that."
Ironically, and perhaps fittingly, this year's race may be forced to go retro. International rules prohibit the use of wet suits for the swim portion if the water temperature is above 22 C. That's not usually an issue at Elk Lake, but could be this year because of the blistering heat last week.
The triathletes this morning will contest the Olympic distance, consisting of a 1.5-K swim, 40-K bike race and 10-K run. The duathletes will do a 5-K run, followed by a 40-K bike race and 10-K run. Among the competitors will be the B.C. and Manitoba triathlon teams preparing for the 2009 Canada Summer Games later this month in Prince Edward Island.
The late Sri Chinmoy, an Indian-born and New York-based guru/spiritual teacher with a world following, believed in achieving inner and world peace through art, music and long-distance endurance sports. He attended one of his namesake Victoria triathlon races in the 1980s, handing out the medals.
"The name of the race was changed at the request of Sri Chinmoy himself," said McMurchy.
"The emphasis is about going beyond what you've done before. He wanted everyone to be healthy. This is a great race for all levels of ability, from the top international triathletes based in Victoria, to people of all ages and racing-skill levels."
