Ironman Canada 2008...PentictonAnother Ironman Canada in beautiful Penticton, British Columbia is upon us as the oldest Ironman on the North American Continent edges ever closer to the Sunday August 24th race start. It's expected that around 2400 entries will be taking part in this years race. Some of the foreign entries include....... --Around 760 Americans --39 Mexicans --32 Japanese --16 Australians --8 New Zealander's The 1440 Canadian entries come from small towns and cities across the country. Some notable entries are.... --60 from Victoria --111 from Vancouver --59 from Penticton --35 from Kelowna --14 from Vernon --26 from Winnipeg --38 from Toronto --8 from Montreal --6 from Halifax And how about my home province of Alberta???? --6 from Lethbridge --4 from Red Deer --8 from Canmore --6 from Banff(the very first winner of Ironman Canada in 1983 was Mike Wagstaff, a Banff resident. --107 Edmonton entries--And this is not a typo.....251 from Calgary. Wow!! I believe that is the biggest single city entry for any Ironman race in the world. Please email my contact page on this website if you happen to know of another city with that many entries for an Ironman race. It was pedal to the metal and some late nights as I made every effort to have my second book "Ironstruck? 500 Ironman Triathlon Questions and Answers" ready for this week. However the effort paid off as the first of the new book has just arrived at Coles in Penticton. Will introduce it at Cherry Lane Mall (Coles) with a three day signing..........Wednesday August 20th, Thursday 21st, and Friday the 22nd. All three signings are from 3 pm. to 6 pm. May also do a signing on main street at either a book store or at the flea market that goes every Saturday at the bottom of main street. Not sure about those yet.... Come by and say hello and if you already have "Ironstruck...The Ironman Triathlon Journey" bring it by and I will sign if for you and talk Ironman talk.... The books can be found online here>>>>>>>> http://www.lulu.com /content/543252 and http://www.lulu.com/content/3227806 PENTICTON UPDATE TUESDAY AUGUST 19TH Pouring rain most of the day today. Good news for the Ironman if the trend continues as it brought the temperature down about 12 degrees C. Had fun setting up my tent in the pouring rain today at a campsite alongside Skaha Lake road. (Not the race side.....the other side).. Just thought $25 per night made more economical sense than $140 per night. Especially since I'm not racing and don't need all the comforts. However I am scrambling to see some of the Olympics and presently am sitting in my favorite coffee shop on Main street eating pasta salad and watching the games on a big screen. Hoping to catch some of the BMX races at the games as my son and his new wife will there watching as they know most of the cylists. My son is into BMX biking and has taken part in meets across Canada with our Olympic hopefuls.....My son said to watch out for Samantha Kools from Aidrie, Alberta as she is a serious threat for a medal...........Best of luck Samantha.. The heats go on Thursday apparently...... Notice more Ironmen coming into town.Tomorrow(Wednesday) there will be lots more as Wednesday and Thursday before Ironman are usually the most common arrival dates. Also the expo will be opening tomorrow as well....UPDATE****Wednesday August 20th.....Well at least the rain has stopped for now. More and more "NO VANCANCY" signs in the town now as the motels and hotels are filling with triathletes... I'm sitting in the cafe on Main street and will be heading down to check out the expo shortly. Looking forward to my first book signing at 3 p.m. tonight at Cherry Lane Mall.......Hope to meet some of the athletes who have purchased my book online from Amazon and perhaps sign their books for them. It is fairly cool today, but apparently HOT weather is predicted(over 30 C.)for Sunday, so I hope everyone adjusts and takes it easy out there. From past experience I have learned that any time one imagines themselves doing becomes virtually impossible in that kind of heat, so don't feel bad about ramping back your expectations, as everyone else(including the pros)will have to as well. If it's really hot, don't just drink water, but pour it over your head, shoulders and chest as well. This is critical to keep yourself from overheating... Best of Luck to everyone.......Look for an update tomorrow(Thursday August 21st) Friday August 22,2008 No update for Thursday as it was pretty busy with the expo opening, my book signing at Coles, and Grant's wine and dinner party at Sumac Wineries in Summerland. Met some great people and renewed some acquaintances. It was a treat to meet so many people there who are using "Ironstruck" as their guide as they take on the Ironman challenge in just TWO more days. I'm currently sitting in Fibonacci's coffee shop on main street. Have a coffee date with Donna across the street at Tim Horton's. Donna qualified for and competed in Ironman Hawaii last year and I really want to hear her story. Also have another signing this afternoon at Coles...Cherry Lane Mall from 3--6 pm. and then weather permitting will be setting up for the street dance on Main Street. Looking forward to tomorrow(Saturday) when there should be hundreds of people at the business and flea market fair that will take up several blocks of main street. Still camping and still not sure about staying all day for the race on Sunday. However, I keep meeting more and more people I would like to cheer on, so it looks like I will be hanging around. Weather is cloudy and overcast and I sure hope it stays this way for the race. Water is a bit cold as there was one on those famous(infamous)Ironman swim course thermal inversions earlier in the week. That's what happens when the winds kick up enough to make the cold water on the bottom of the lake to come to the top. Must go now to meet the beautiful talented Donna. Will try for a busy Saturday update.... Saturday August 23rd Race eve.........IMC 2008 2:30 P.M. in Sunny downtown, Main Street Penticton. It's getting hot and this time tomorrow there will be a steady parade of bikes streaming down Main toward the bike/run transition. The race leaders will be fighting it out somewhere on the run course around Skaha Lake. The good news is that the water is warming up, but it looks like it could easily touch on 30 degrees C. by mid-afternoon tomorrow unless some clouds roll in over night. Here's hoping. Book signings have gone well and meeting so many people who already have my book and are using it to help tackle their first Ironman here in Penticton. I have also met so many amazing people with great stories to tell... Like Gary who is doing his 60th Ironman tomorrow...That's only part of the story....The other part is that Gary and his wife have 13 kids.....Wow!!! Actually they have adopted many of the 13 who have faced struggles in their life. Nine of the children are now in triathlon....Gary says the self-esteem growth of the kids has been a wonder to behold. It was an honor and very humbling to meet Gary. A gentlemen passed by my table and looked at the 1984 Kona finisher picture I had on the table. He said "either I finished just in front of you or just behind you, but we were in the same race." That was almost a quarter of a century ago. Small world. It turns out he also raced Kona in 81 and 82....... Well the town is full of athletes wearing the silver registration band and there is not a motel room to be found. looking forward to the mosh pit race-start tomorrow morning. I guess especially since I will be a spectator... If possible I will try and give a race up-date tomorrow,,,,Sunday August 24th, 2008 from downtown Penticton. Bye for now from Ironstruck Ray....... Race-day Sunday...... A 45 minute swim for the leader out of the water... Just waiting on Main Street to see who is leading the race. Coverage and the live feed very poor, so nobody knows right now who is in front and by how much. We expect the leading cyclist to come ripping down main street toward transition any minute now.. Almost a perfect day so far in Penticton with a cloud cover for the bike and a tail wind coming home. The general consensus is that the race win time will be around 8:12-----8:15...... Will have to wait and see... rain expected for the run and as far as this past Ironman is concerned, that's great for the marathon. |