With an even dozen events on the go, spread between this past Saturday and Sunday, the folks involved with the 2023 XTERRA Conquer the Crater pride themselves on offering a little something for everyone.

Good thing, given the wide variety of talent represented in the 300+ athlete field that made their way to Kivi Park.

Winner of the marquee full distance off-road triathlon in 2022, native Spaniard and now Torontonian Francisco Montoya was second only to Mathieu Bilodeau from Fossambeault-sur-le-lac (PQ) this year, the latter clocking a time of 2:05.46 versus 2:15:14 for Montoya.

Perhaps more important for race organizers is the fact that the second place finisher made a return visit this year to Sudbury with friends.

“He brought in six more guys this year,” noted Felix Martinez, who originally hails from Venezuela but now resides in Mississauga near the bulk of the competing sextet. “We are all friends from the Latin American community. We used to train with him (Montoya) – obviously we are not at the same level, but we are getting there.”

“He has been pretty much a mentor for us.”

A former competitive swimmer who represented his state in South America, Martinez seriously started targeting his first ever trip to northern Ontario back in late summer of 2022. “I started training last year after almost ten years out of the pool,” said the 35 year-old. “I focused on getting back in the pool and now getting comfortable in the open water.”

All of which was the basis for the following race game plan, as he described it while checking out the course on Friday. “On the swimming, I want to get comfortable in my pace – and then get well prepared with hydration and fuel during the mountain bike. I want to try and keep a good pace for the running trail, keep it up on the up hills and go crazy on the downhills.”

The first woman to cross the line was Heather Pady from Mono (ON – 2:32:01), a couple of minutes ahead of local Sara McIlraith (2:34:31).

While events like the 42km and 21km trail runs are considered qualifiers to move on to various international meets, offerings such as the short distance off-road triathlon and the 5km and 10km runs were among the more popular races.

Already making a name for herself as an up-and-comer within the female officiating ranks, local product Abiguèle Perreault was adding the sprint tri to her summer training regimen this year, tackling the challenge for the first time Saturday along with boyfriend Simon Bégin from Hearst.

Sliding in right in the middle of the pack with times of 1:54:01 (Bégin) and 1:55:12 (Perreault) respectively, the pair acknowledged pre-race that this was destined to be a learning experience.

“We have no clue what to expect,” said Perreault with a smile on Friday, their registration and introduction to the transition area preparation complete. “We’ve been practicing at my camp, doing mock triathlons. We have an idea how to pace ourselves, but other than that, we are winging it.”

“We watched a few You Tube videos – How to Prepare for your First Triathlon – but other than that, it’s going to be a surprise,” added the 20 year-old graduate of E.S.C. l’Horizon.

Keeping herself in shape by virtue of a very busy on-ice schedule – Perreault had actually planned to compete at the 2022 Conquer the Crater but was forced to pass up the opportunity when she was selected to work the Ontario Summer Games for the OWHA last year – the well-rounded athlete veered towards triathlon specific training in the spring.

“We started with the running and then added the bike portion when the snow melted – and when the water was warm enough, we did the swimming. We’ll see how this goes.”

Twenty-four year old fellow Sudburian Kevin Powell shared many of the same thoughts as Perreault, likely not a surprise given that he was also tackling the short distance triathlon for the first time ever as well.

“I signed up kind of on a whim – it sounded like a fun event,” suggested Powell, who did have some hands-on experience as a volunteer with a previous Conquer the Crater to establish a base of knowledge. “I have done long road rides (cycling) before, but nothing like this.”

Giving his particular background, Powell acknowledged that the triathlon could be somewhat hit and miss as he contents himself with simply remaining reasonably competitive and completing the course, when all is said and done.

“I am probably better with cycling; I do a lot of road cycling,” he said. “I am more limited in mountain biking, but not to say I haven’t done any. I was a lifeguard, doing swimming lessons and stuff. My swimming is strong enough, but I haven’t trained in a long time so this should be interesting.”

“I am going to try and pace myself with the swim, not tire myself out and then make up some time on the bike. Running is more of my weakness.”

With a time of 2:19:53, Kevin Powell can now strike the short distance off-road triathlon off his bucket list.

Now 55 years of age and with an athletic resume that covers a spectrum that features competitive swimming growing up and into the masters’ category with more recent tangents into high-end paddling and the world of ultra-distance running, Lisa Champion of Oakville was one of the final competitors to leave Kivi Park Sunday afternoon having just completed her 63km trail running challenge in a time of 9:08:58.

Considering only 17 hardy souls completed the longest of the runs, getting to the finish line in and of itself marks another tick on the bucket list that must number several pages in length for Champion. Now preparing to tackle her longest distance ever, a 100-miler next May, the first time participant in Sudbury outlined how she found her way to the expanding nickel city proceedings.

“I have a friend that did it last year and he’s from Sudbury,” she said. “We’re always looking for something different – and something technical. I like technical trails. You kind of feel like you’re young, doing a parkour in the woods kind of thing.”

“With trail running, you have to pay attention; you have to keep an eye on your feet. Time kind of clicks by. It’s very different than road running – you have to pick up your feet.”

Different styles of running, different athletes, different events: it’s kind of a theme with Conquer the Crater.

Finally, I would be remiss not to throw a shoutout in the direction of my younger brother, Terry, who flew in from Calgary on Saturday afternoon and proceeded to dash his way through the five km course in a time of 30:48, 17th in a field 66 and not bad at all for a still-spry 58 year old.

(full race results for all events can be obtained by clicking the link to: https://results.raceroster.com/v2/en-US/results/phbtd7hpr4tcunb2/results?subEvent=171341&page=1)