Carlsbad Women Set Pace at Encinitas Sprint Triathlon

When it came to the fast ladies taking part in the Avia Encinitas Sprint Triathlon, the city of Carlsbad led the way.

Heather Jackson, a relative newcomer to the area, joined longtime Carlsbad residents Susanne Davis and Rachel Challis aboard the podium after strong showings in Sunday’s sixth annual event that highlighted the two-day Encinitas Sports Festival.

Jackson was the women’s elite champion with the fastest time among the female finishers, finishing just ahead of Challis. Davis was the amateur champion with the top age-group time among the women.

More than 700 triathletes were greeted by choppy seas as they began the event at Moonlight Beach, but Davis said she was ready for the rough ocean conditions.

“I was feeling a little flat until Saturday after four hours of riding on Friday, but we came here with a group and checked out the water conditions, so we came prepared,” said Davis, a 39-year-old mother of two whose time was 1 hour, 10 minutes, 12 seconds for the sprint-distance course that included a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and a 5K run.

Since she turns 40 later this year, Davis now competes in the 40-44 age division for Team Timex Multisport.

“I came off my bike strong, and the run felt smooth,“ she said. “This is a fun local race."

Also taming the course was Jackson, who pulled away from Challis on the run course and finished fourth overall as the top female in 1:07:16.

“I think I was more nervous for this race than some of the bigger ones,” said Jackson, 27, the women’s runner-up six weeks ago at the Ironman 70.3 California triathlon in Oceanside. “This is more of a local race, and there are a lot of people you know along the course.”

Challis, 35, led the women out of the water, but Jackson made up a 1-minute difference on the bike and both Carlsbad athletes transitioned to the run together. By the end of the first run loop, Jackson had an 18-second lead, and she eventually won by 29 seconds over Challis, whose runner-up time was 1:07:45.

“I knew it would be a struggle with the swim,” said Jackson, a former Division I ice hockey player who recently moved to Carlsbad from Los Angeles. “I was all over the place. I knew I had to make up time, so I just kept my head down on the bike.”

“I felt sick on the run,” said Challis, a native of New Zealand who like Davis is also a mother of two. “Maybe it was from the swim. It was like a washing machine out there.”

Former Solana Beach resident Zach Paris, now a student at UC Santa Barbara, was the men’s elite champion. Paris, 22, finished in 1:04:05, more than two minutes ahead of Mac Brown, 34, of Cardiff, who was the men’s runner-up in 1:06:37.

Carlsbad also had a first-place finisher Sunday in the beach duathlon, which included a 2.5K beach run, 10K bike and 2.5K run. Kevin Gillotti of Carlsbad was the men’s winner in 34:29.