Writen by: MONTY MOSHER Sports Reporter
32-year-old B2 will compete in Hawaii triathlon this fall
Brooke Brown was all smiles after telling supporters of her half marathon victory.
(Photo by: Tim Krochak/Staff)
(Photo by: Tim Krochak/Staff)
A little 21.1-kilometre run through the streets of Halifax on Sunday morning barely got Brooke Brown’s heart pumping.
Halifax’s Brown won the Johnson Insurance Half Marathon women’s race in 1:24:10, almost a minute under her goal.
The 32-year-old, nicknamed B2, is a dietician and sport nutritionist in training for the triathlon season which will culminate in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, in October.
Ironman events feature a 3.8-kilometre swim, a 180-kilometre bike ride and a full marathon at the end.
At the Ironman Cozumel in Mexico last fall, Brown placed second overall among the amateurs and ninth overall among the women in qualifying for this year’s worlds.
The Blue Nose weekend fit perfectly into the Mount Saint Vincent graduate’s schedule. She has a half triathlon on June 12 in Maryland.
"I was running to hold a race pace," Brown said a few metres from the Blue Nose finish line. "I’m ecstatic with the results."
She is one of two Halifax women to qualify for the Ironman in Hawaii with Laura Keefe being the other. Ironically, Keefe won the Blue Nose half-marathon last year.
Brown only began to take the sport of triathlon seriously last year.
"Right now, this is a perfect indicator," she said of her training. "So I’m hoping that in Maryland after all the swimming and the biking I can still pull off a high 1:20, like a 1:29."
She realizes it may seem unusual to take up Ironman in a meaningful way after the age of 30. She competed in the sport at 24, but more on a whim than a serious pursuit.
"I think I’ve just always had a passion for endurance events, even dating back to high school," said the reigning Valley Harvest half-marathon female champ. "I really like that longer, slower pace.
"So I’ve got to run this race again in two weeks (in Maryland). If I can do it five minutes slower I’ll be happy, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to repeat the time I did today. I just felt strong from the get-go."
Fall River’s Judy Lewandowski ran a solid second in 1:29:47 with Sherri Goodwin third in 1:31:17.
Elmsdale’s Corinne Hoffman was fourth in 1:32:12 and Toronto’s Cara Allaway fifth in 1:34:51.
