Physical fitness is a lifelong endeavour that most people struggle with when they become adults, however, a local Swan River Constable has been using physical activity as a motivator to not only achieve her own personal goals but to do some good as well.
Briana Blencowe has participated in many events, particularly triathlons, over the years and for the first time, she competed at the World Police and Fire Games this past August hosted in Winnipeg.
“I competed this year in the World Police and Fire Games,” said Briana Blencowe. “This was my first time competing and I did the triathlon.
At this event, it was an Olympic distance triathlon, which is a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km bike ride and a 10 km run.
I started training at the beginning of April, specifically for that race, after I was cleared by the doctor to return to work and full activity.
“It was a different kind of experience for me. I have completed many triathlons since 2014, along with a few in Manitoba this year.
This one was smaller than I am used to as there are normally more triathletes participating in them.
However, the main difference in this small Triathlon was that it hosted many international athletes that are First Responders. There were 60 individual racers and nine teams from all over the world competing at St. Malo Provincial Park.
“This one was a challenge as it was only the second time I’ve raced the Olympic distance,” said Blencowe. “I was going into it with personal goals, rather than thinking of representing Canada on the podium. Just coming off an injury, I had goals I wanted to achieve for each discipline. My top two goals were to have fun and to finish.
My race-specific goals were to finish in under four hours, so the hope was to complete the swim in under 45 minutes; transition one in under five minutes; bike in under 90 minutes; transition two in under five minutes and run under 90 minutes.
“I completed all my goals with an official time of 3 hours and 27 minutes. I completed the swim with a time of 33:56 minutes; transition one was 2:54; the bike with a time of 89:26; transition two was 3:39 and the run with a time of 82:20.
“It was a challenge as you are swimming with all the other racers at the same time, then on the bike course the riding got tough as it was extremely windy,” said Blencowe. “It was a lot of fun and nice too. There were people there cheering us on along the course and through the park, which is where we got to see the different racers during the 2 loop run course. The cheering of ‘Go Canada’ or ‘Go Brazil’ or ‘Go Sweden’ was neat as I was running with people from all over the world. The triathlon community is always very supportive of their athletes and I was so happy to see that same support at this event as well.
Blencowe participated in other triathlons this summer including the Riding Mountain Triathlon which proved to be a course personal best.
“I completed my 15th triathlon and third race of the season, post-injury,” said Blencowe. “I raced the sprint distance at Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP) for the second time since 2019. The wind gusts on the water meant white caps, so for safety reasons, the swim course was cut short from 750 meters to 300 meters.
“Overall, I finished in fifth place in my age group, out of 13 women. My time was 1 hour, 33 minutes and 42 seconds. I was able to cut three minutes off both my bike and run time during this race, which led to me achieving my personal best on this course.”
Recently Blencowe did another event, but this time to create awareness and raise funds. It was held again at RMNP, but was strictly a bike ride.
“I did the MS Bike Tour in RMNP last month,” said Blencowe. “Normally it’s done over two days, but this year it was held in one. It started and finished at Elkhorn Resort and riders had two options. The first was to turn around at the 35 km mark to do a 70 km bike or at at North Gate (54km mark), and come back for a 108 km ride, which was what my husband and I chose.
“Our goal for this was more a relaxed ride and to take breaks at each stop provided. Our ride time alone was about five hours and 14 minutes but came in just over six hours with breaks.
‘The fun part was going down that really big hill at the North end of Riding Mountain, at one point my speed got to 61.9 km an hour,” said Blencowe. “It’s unfortunate that they started the event going down the hill as it made the climb uphill feel that much tougher.”
This is a cause very near and dear to Blencowe’s heart, for she has seen first-hand how MS impacts people who are diagnosed with the disease and their families as well.
“Before I became a police officer, I was a personal support worker,” said Blencowe. “I worked in home care and in nursing home care. Over the years I was the caregiver to people who had been diagnosed with MS and who were at different stages of the disease.
Just seeing their lives change as it progresses, is something no one should have to experience. I’m fortunate that myself and none of my family members have been specifically impacted by it, but I have seen how it does affect people and families. This is one of the reasons why I’ve chosen to participate in this fundraiser over the years.
“I have until the end of the month to continue to raise funds, but I am at $1,345 raised so far,” she continued. “I always try to support my friends and family who are doing their own fundraisers, but it’s nice to see that others support me as well.
“It’s not always easy to ask people for money, because there are always so many organizations in need, but at the same time I’m putting myself out there and doing something that is challenging. It’s nice to have that support and people recognize the effort.”
Blencowe has raised funds for a variety of charities over the years through physical activity. What she has achieved is remarkable and goes to show how one person can make a difference.
“I’ve kept track of my fundraising efforts since 2019 and totalled all the amounts I’ve raised for charities, which is over $7,000,” said Blencowe. “It’s been great to not only challenge myself physically but to help do some good through raising awareness and funds to help others too.”