It was a familiar first finisher on the solo women’s side of the 39th annual Prince George Iceman.
For the second straight year, Juliette Davies was the first solo female racer out of the pool with a total time 1:47:02.5.
“It feels really good, I didn’t feel quite as prepared fitness-wise this year, so I was just committed to going out and having fun,” she said following her swim.
This year’s race was different than usual. The five kilometre skate portion of the race was cancelled due to unseasonably warm temperatures in Prince George last week.
“I sort of was mentally prepared to have that break and when I found out the skate was cancelled, that was a bit disappointing, and it was just about reshaping what I was thinking in terms of my approach to the race,” Davies said.
The warm temperatures also brought tough conditions for the ski. The trails at the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club were almost ice themselves, but were also soft in some areas.
“It was a little rough, I fell twice on the first lap,” Davies said.
“It was entirely on me, I just caught edges.”
Another deviation from the norm saw the 800 metre swimming portion of the event moved to the Canfor Leisure Pool because of ongoing renovations to the Aquatic Centre.
The lane pool in the Canfor Leisure Pool is just 25 metres, as opposed to the 50 metre pool at the Aquatic Centre.
“There was a lot more people, especially at the turnarounds, at the end of the lane you didn’t have nearly as much time to pass, so it was a little bit more chaotic,” Davies added.
“I wasn’t expecting this one to be so warm, that was a shock when I jumped in.”
Racers in the pool had to complete laps in one pool, get out and move to another pool to do two more laps, repeating this process multiple times.
On the men’s side there was another repeat winner, but not as recent as a year ago.
Chris Pendray won the event in 2018, but hasn’t run the event solo since.
He won the 2026 Iceman with a time of 1:38:28.2.
“It was way warmer, just generally better conditions, conditions were fast,” he said following the race.
“Conditions were really fast on the ski, and then in the running it wasn’t slippery at all.”
Well over 400 participated, including 55 soloists.
In addition to changes in the course, a large gaggle of runners faced an unexpected roadblock: a train that crossed the path of the race.
Full results will be posted on the Iceman website.
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