As a former high school and college athlete from Eagle River, Helen Wilson knows that triumph often requires overcoming some level of adversity, whether in the form of weather, elite competition or personal injury.
On a brisk Sunday morning in East Anchorage at the 42nd annual Gold Nugget Triathlon, the 24-year-old battled through all three. She recorded the fastest time at this year’s event and, despite the staggered start times, was also the first to cross the finish line in a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes, 58 seconds.
“I decided to do it anyway for fun and see what would happen and didn’t have any expectations,” Wilson said. “The goal is always to have fun, and I did have fun, so it was good.”
Two Saturdays ago, she was biking on a path in Sun Valley, Idaho, where she lives and works as an accountant, when an intoxicated person operating an electric bicycle collided with her head-on.
“We both went flying, and I landed on my hand, and it was pretty scary,” Wilson said. “I went to the (emergency room) the next day, had a lot of X-rays, CAT scans, and have four fractures in my hand right now and one in my wrist.”
She is less than a week removed from surgery and just had her stitches removed just a few days ago.
The Gold Nugget Triathlon begins at Bartlett High School with a 400-yard snake swim followed by a 12.1-mile bike ride, then wraps up with a 3.25-mile run to the Pena Park Sports Complex.
Having signed up for the annual women’s triathlon several months ago, Wilson was disappointed after initially making the decision to withdraw.
“I thought I couldn’t do it anymore,” she said.
Since she had already purchased her ticket and made other travel arrangements, she followed through with her trip to visit home and show support for the race. Then she had a change of heart about participating.
Wilson hadn’t brought her bike, helmet or running shoes with her, so once she decided to compete after all, she had to borrow equipment from several of her friends. Gold Nugget Triathlon board president Sara Miller even donated her bib number to Wilson so she could compete.
“Everyone is out here supporting each other and on the bike, everyone is cheering each other on, and that’s the spirit of the Gold Nugget,” she said. “That’s what makes it fun.”
To go from thinking she’d have to miss this year’s action to being the first to cross the finish line was a “good feeling, for sure.”
“I think I had so much adrenaline going that I didn’t really feel the pain, but getting out of the pool with one hand was a bit of a challenge,” Wilson said. “I had to body-whale myself up on deck, but it worked.”
Her mother was worried about her rejoining the race and suggested she at least wear additional protective equipment, but the competitive part of Wilson didn’t want anything to slow her down.
“She definitely thought I should’ve worn my brace,” Wilson said. “She was like, ‘Helen you should wear this waterproof bandage, and you probably shouldn’t even be in chlorine water and should have your brace on the bike, and what if you fall?’ and I was like, ‘Mom, that’s extra time and this is a timed race here.’”
As someone who grew up in Alaska and loves coming back to visit, taking part in the race just made sense for the Eagle River High School graduate and former University of Alaska Anchorage skier. It usually takes place around Mother’s Day and serves as a huge community event.
“I came home, celebrated Mom, did the race for fun and saw lots of familiar faces,” Wilson said.
Drawing inspiration from a legend
Among the more than 1,700 in-person and virtual competitors in this year’s event was Olympic gold medal-winning skier Kikkan Randall, someone Wilson and many other young Alaskans revered growing up and still look to as source of motivation.
“I grew up Nordic skiing and looking up to Kikkan,” Wilson said. “She was definitely a role model and someone I looked up to. Whenever I’m in the (Ted Stevens) airport, you see her picture in the carousel at the Delta baggage claim.”
She thinks it’s “really cool” that Randall is still very involved with the community they both grew up in and takes part in events such as the Gold Nugget.
“She’s just like everyone else here competing,” Wilson said. “That’s what it is about. She’s one in the field of all of us, which is awesome to see her out here.”
Randall has participated in the Gold Nugget more times than she can remember over the years, dating back to high school, but this marked her first since 2022. She recorded the 29th-fastest time, at 1:12:43.
“I haven’t raced a lot lately, so it just feels good to put the bib on and go hard again,” Randall said. “It’s great to be back.”
She loves the fact that she gets to follow in the footsteps of the triathletes she grew up watching and supporting.
“I dreamed of being there some day and got to do it myself, and now I got a daughter who could be out here competing some day,” Randall said. “I think it’s really cool to have this tradition where you have elite athletes all the way down to women trying it for the first time, and it’s a great way to kick off the summer season.”
She takes pride in being an inspiration for Wilson and others and looks forward to events such as the Gold Nugget Triathlon continuing for many generations to come.
“I just think we’ve created a really cool circle of inspiration out of events like this,” Randall said. “I watched my aunts do it, and then wanting to compete myself, and it’s really cool to be able to turn around and inspire others, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be inspiring my daughter someday. It’s really cool to see the evolution of sport.”
2026 Gold Nugget Triathlon
Sunday in Anchorage
Top 10
1. Helen Wilson, Eagle River, 1:02:58; 2. Karina Packer, Anchorage, 1:03:54; 3. Eileen McKean, Anchorage, 1:05:07; 4. Katie Green, Anchorage, 1:05:17; 5. Claire Trujillo, Anchorage, 1:05:25; 6. Jennifer Schmidt, Anchorage, 1:06:15; 7. Kinsey Loan, Eagle River, 1:07:05; 8. Alisa Vereshchagin, Anchorage, 1:07:15; 9. Kaelan Dickinson, Anchorage, 1:07:16; 10. Rosie Conway, Anchorage, 1:07:20
