Adam O’Meara stamped out a winning lead in the run of Saturday’s Shawnigan Lake Half-Ironman Triathlon. It was Subaru West Coast Triathlon series’ fifth year at Shawnigan Lake, with sprint, Olympic and Half-Ironman distances.

The pack of O’Meara, Elliot Holtham (Vancouver), Leif Baradoy (Victoria) and Chris Boudreaux (Portland) exited the water and stayed together through the 88 kilometre mark of the bike ride. Not until the run could O’Meara escape, when he surged early through the first eight kilometres to establish a lead which he never relinquished.

Vancouver’s Rachel McBride was the top woman. Victoria’s Janet Nielsen took second just ahead of Rachel Kiers (Vancouver) by nine seconds in a surreal sprint after four hours and 46 minutes.

The next race in the Subaru triathlon series is the Victoria Triathlon, June 19 at Elk Lake. Full results at www.triseries.ca.

Top 5 Results for the Half Iron Distance are as follows:

Men

1. Adam O’Meara, Victoria, 4:03:36

2. Elliot Holtham, Vancouver, 4:05:12

3. Leif Baradoy, Victoria, 4:08:43

4. Chris Boudreaux, Portland, 4:09:31

5. Andrew Powell, Vancouver, 4:27:34

Women

1. Rachel McBride, Vancouver, 4:22:45

2. Janet Nielsen, Victoria, 4:46:29

3. Rachel Kiers, Vancouver, 4:46:38

4. Stephanie Ossenbrink, Richmond, 4:56:54

5. Gillian Clayton, Vancouver, 4:57:39