Ironman Canada

What an amazing experience. Hands down one of the most emotional races I have ever attended.

Amber and I headed up to Penticton on Friday afternoon. Border crossing sucked as it was reduced to one lane. Got into our marginally acceptable hotel room early evening and drove into Penticton for dinner.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early to meet 2 team mates at the swim start for a 45 min. swim and run. The whole beach area was just electric with nervous athletes getting in their last swim before the race on Sunday. The water was clear and the beach was not rocky at all. It stays shallow for quite awhile so I was able to walk out a ways and get used to the cold water gradually. I was able to see the marker for the turn buoy far in the distance. 2.4 miles is just a really long distance to swim!

Got out, dried off and slipped on some shoes for a fun 5 mile run with friends. Running through Penticton and seeing all the hoopla surrounding an Ironman weekend was really cool. Met up with many members of the team who were racing the following day. I began to feel sick to my stomach at this point seeing how nervous they were.

After a nice lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant Amber and I headed to the local park near the expo to meet Lyle the Finish Line Captain and about 200 people who also volunteered along with me to "catch" athletes after they cross the finish line. We were instructed in the best way to offer support to the finishers without touching them unless they need to be touched.


Out to dinner an back to the hotel for an early night or so I thought. Sleep eluded me. I was so nervous for the team and anxious to see the race begin that I didn't fall asleep until midnight.
Up at 5. Got to the race site by 6 and staked a place along the waterfront for the 7 a.m. start.

Cannon boomed at 6:45 and the pro men and women surged into the water. Cannon boomed again at 7 a.m. and 2400 athletes piled into the water. It was just chaos. I left after the swimmers headed out and put myself on main street to see them as they came out of T-1 and out on the bike. 45 min. later the first pro male screamed by on his bike headed south out of town. The streets were covered in chalk with messages for the departing athletes. The streets were packed 4 deep with fans cheering the athletes as they started their long day.

I saw a few team mates leaving on the bike and then later(5-7 hours) I saw them come back in and begin the run. The 112 mile bike course winds through wine country and is relatively flat and/or rolling hills for the first 30 miles. The road then heads west for a sharp and long climb up Richter Pass, through more rollers and another even longer climb to Yellow lake. It was windy as hell that day and I know the bikes were getting blown all over the road.

At 4 p.m. I started my job as "finish line catcher" just in time to see one of my heros, Belinda Granger (a pro triathlete) I was in a tent directly behind the finish line with about 100 other people. Each of us paired with a partner and as the athlete crossed we ran to either side of them. I would gently put my hand on their back and tell them they could lean on me. 95% of the time they would practically collapse on my partner and I. We would have to keep them moving and walk them toward the medical tent and athlete recovery area. We tried to assess them on the walk over to see if they needed medical. Some people seemed just fine and could go get food and sit down. Some were in obvious pain or were incoherent at best. We handed them off to medical and got back in line to catch more.

I got to tag out other catchers and catch 10 people I knew who were racing. 5 of them were completing their first Ironman and I was honored to be there to support them. One woman on my team who raced faster than she expected nearly killed herself on the marathon and burst into tears after she crossed the line. It was so emotional. I have been training with these men and women for 8 months now and to see what they are able to do and how each one of them crossed that line within the 17 hour cutoff is so inspiring.

It started to get cold and rainy towards the end which did not runners out in the dark trying to reach the line. The crowd and finish line was pretty crazy with music blaring and the jumbotron showing the last little stretch before the finish line chute. And Mike Reily the announcer calling each athlete by name as they crossed the line and telling them that they were an Ironman.

Home late, freezing cold from rain I took a shower to heat up, emailed my coach with all the race details and passed out in bed.

Monday morning I woke early and headed down to the race expo to stand in a GINORMOUS line with 8 million other people to register for Ironman Canada 2009. When the line started to move I got put in a really short line with other volunteers for priority registration. I showed my passport signed on the dotted line and just like that I am in.



Amber and I could have a good time anywhere..but it was really nice to share this with her. Seeing the mad enthusiasm of the entire town for this race make me totally stoked. Next year it will be my turn and I will be the one being caught at the finish and becoming something a few years ago I would never have believed.