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Husband fuels wife to victory

Sarah McMillan’s Age Group victory pushed by husbands ability to run
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Penticton’s Sarah McMillan won the 45 to 49 Age Group Cross Triathlon World Championship title for women in the Multisport World Championship Festival held in Penticton on Aug. 23. Submitted photo

Days after winning the ITU Cross Triathlon 45 to 49 Age Group World Championship, Sarah McMillan still couldn’t believe it happened.

“It was a day that all came together just perfect,” said McMillan smiling, as she completed the 1.5-kilometre swim, 31-km bike and eight-km run in three hours two minutes and nine seconds.

Crossing the finish line and hearing Steve King call her name, McMillan said it felt “hell a good.”

“The best feeling ever. I crossed the line and Steve King said I think we just witnessed a gold medal. I couldn’t believe it,” she recalled. “I didn’t know where I was in the race. That was the first I had heard it. I wanted this really bad. I was committed to wanting that spot. It felt so good to get it.”

Penticton's Sarah McMillan won the 45 to 49 Age Group Cross Triathlon World Championship title for women in the Multisport World Championship Festival held in Penticton on Aug. 23.Submitted photo

Weeks before the race, Sarah, and her husband Scott, who also competed in the race, joked about their competitiveness. She talked about hoping to beat him, while he said he couldn’t let it happen. It did though. Scott finished the race in 3:11:01. Sarah didn’t bug her husband about it because he wasn’t sure if he would even finish after he crashed days before race day. Scott landed hard on some rocks and couldn’t really run. Physio and chiropractic treatments helped him be able to jog the course, which he finished in 56:07. When Sarah was running the course, people told her he was ahead of her.

“I was just stoked. That got me so pumped that he was actually able to run,” she said. “Fuelled me up to go harder.”

“The best part is being the husband of a world champ,” said he smiling, as she laughed hard. “I was very proud of how well she raced. She put it all together.”

Sarah said the water was calm and the course was perfect. While she loved the views, she made sure not to take her eyes off the trail while cycling. Scott said it was good to finish as it had been a long two years getting ready for the race. Their kids Levi, four, and Brooklyn, seven, participated in the kids race on Aug. 26.

Sarah celebrated her victory with some partying and tried to drink beer.

“It didn’t go down too well,” she joked.

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Penticton’s Scott McMillan competed in the 45 to 49 age group of the Multisport World Championship Cross Triathlon race, finishing in three hours 11 minutes one second, placing 114 out of 315 athletes. Submitted photo