Ironman Canada Banner

And there was sunlight!  Lots of it!  Raceday temperatures were in the mid-30s (or, if you're the Ironman organization, 95F). 

This is one of the Ironman Canada banners on Lakeshore Drive in Penticton.

Mission Penticton 2011

I did this shot of Simon Davis in December.  The graphics are his.  He had this on his refrigerator as motivation during the winter.

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Sister Madonna Buder, from our photoshoot the day before Ironman Canada 2011.  The shiny bracelet is the competitor's bracelet which allows competitor's privileges to the competing athletes.

Madonna holds the record as the oldest woman to complete an Ironman.  She also holds the record as the oldest woman to complete the Boston Marathon. 

In this photo, she is 81.

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In the town that hosts Ironman Canada, the graphics on this parasail seem very appropriate.

This view is from our place on the east side of Lake Okanagan.

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This view is from the beach in Penticton where the Ironman Canada swim will start.

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This bronze sculpture is next the water, adjacent to the Transistion area and Swim Start.  The plaque has the following information:

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This bronze sculpture is next the water, adjacent to the Transistion area and Swim Start.  The plaque has the following information:

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The benches are a striking feature of the Okanagan Valley.  They were formed in prehistory by the accumulation of silt when the lake levels were much higher.  They tend to be quite flat, hence the term "bench" and may occur at several levels, so that there will be a lower bench, a middel bench and an upper bench bench.

If you use Google Maps and look at the country roads in the Valley, you will find a number that are named exactly that way.  Fittingly, the out-and-back portion of the Ironman Canada bike route, near Keremeos, takes place on Upper Bench Road.

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Part way up the Richter Pass you can pull off and look back as Osoyoos.  Across the water is the relatively flat portion of the Ironman Canada bike route which, at Osoyoos, turns abruptly and starts the clumb.

It's dry and hot.

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A few days before the race, we drove the bike route.  At abut at about 150 km we stopped at Bear Frasch's Farm Market near Keremeos.  Here, Marian harvests some local peaches.

On race day, the Market was a gathering point for spectators.  I though that they might resent all those people plugging up the available parking.  Quite the opposite, though.  At one point one of the staff brough around a tray of watermelon pieces.  That chilled treat was perfect for an afternoon with temperatures that must have exceeded 35C.

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A few days before the race, we drove the bike route.  At abut at about 150 km we stopped at Bear Frasch's Farm Market near Keremeos.  This young woman was the cashier.

On race day, the Market was a gathering point for spectators.  I though that they might resent all those people plugging up the available parking.  Quite the opposite, though.  At one point one of the staff brought around a tray of watermelon pieces.  That chilled treat was perfect for an afternoon with temperatures that must have exceeded 35C.

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Marc Roy.  Sportstats (Ottawa) CEO, in the registration tent on registration day.

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In the few days before the event, Ironman Canada competitors like to get their feet wet, so to speak.  With their wet-suited triathlon friends they will do easy swims, to keep limber and get the feel of the swim site.

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And there are geese, too.

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Tara-Lee Marshall is one of the principals of Canwi Coaching, which is located in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.  Tara-Lee represents Blue-Seventy wet suits and was to be found on the beach in the days leading up to Ironman Canada.  She helped Marian fix a few tears in her wet suit.

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Here, the spouse/assistant is blowing into the wet suit sleeve, expanding it slightly so that it will be easier to pull up.  The gloves are probably to help prevent finger nail cuts in the wet suit.

This is the day before the race.  We were chatting with Deanna and Darcy Mcleod, when Deanna saw the couple fighting with the wetsuit.  She went over and gave an ad hoc demonstration of the blowing trick.  Unfortuately I didn't have my wits about me and missed the photo op.

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Sister Madonna Buder was present at the Ironman Canada 2011 merchandise tent to sign copies of her book Grace to Race.

She is the oldest woman to have completed an Ironman, and is also the oldest woman to have completed the Boston Marathon.  Her book is the story of her life as a nun who is also a runner and triathlete.

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Sister Madonna Buder was present at the Ironman Canada 2011 merchandise tent to sign copies of her book Grace to Race.

She is the oldest woman to have completed an Ironman, and is also the oldest woman to have completed the Boston Marathon.  Her book is the story of her life as a nun who is also a runner and triathlete.

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Steve King, known as The Voice of Ironman Canada, was the MC at the athletes' banquet on the Friday night before Ironman Canada 2011.

In 2007, Steve raced the event and finished in 16:40.  Graham Fraser was at the finish to present him his medal.

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Sister Madonna Buder, was a popular guest at the Ironman Canada 2011 athletes' banquet.  As the record holder for the oldest woman to have completed an Ironman, she has competed in more than forty Ironman Events.

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I was taken with how her nails matched her swim cap.  It could have been on purpose.  The athletes pick up their race kit the day before, including the Ironman Canada required swim cap. 

Don't know who it is; the bib number (on the swim cap) actually belongs to Ryan Cain.

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The swim start. 

At precisely 7:00 a.m.  the sun came over the hills and gave this wonderful backlighting to the start splash.  I may never get a better shot of a swim start.

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A dejected competitor leaves the water after failing to complete the 3.8 km swim in the required time of 2:20 (hours:minutes).  For the half-dozen who did not make the cut-off time, the race was over at 9:20 a.m.

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A supportive crowd hangs around the swim exit at Ironman Canada 2011.  It is 9:29 local time.  For the half-dozen competitors who have been in the water for over two hours and twenty minutes, the race is over.

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A supportive crowd hangs around the swim exit at Ironman Canada 2011.  It is 9:29 local time.  For the half-dozen competitors who have been in the water for over two hours and twenty minutes, the race is over.

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Richter Pass, Ironman Canada

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The crowd gathered at this aid station, partway up the Richter Pass climb.  Behind and below you can see Osoyoos.  On the other side of the water is the relatively flat portion of the Ironman Canada bike route which, at Osoyoos, turns abruptly and starts the clumb.

It's dry and hot!

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Marian MacKay climbing the Richter Pass, Ironman Canada 2011.

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After peaking at the Richter Pass, the Ironman bike route goes by Spotted Lake, just enough to the side of the route that some cyclists may not notice it.

Spotted Lake is very highly concentrated with numerous different minerals.  It contains some of the highest quantities in the world of magnesium sulfate, calcium and sodium sulphates.  It also contains extremely high concentrations of 8 other minerals as well as some small doses of four others such as silver and titanium.

Most of the water in the lake evaporates over the summer, leaving behind all the minerals.  Large “spots” on the lake appear and depending on the mineral composition at the time, the spots will be different colors.  The spots are made mainly of magnesium sulfate, which crystallizes in the summer.  In the summer only the minerals in the lake remain, and they harden to form natural “walkways” around and between the spots.[

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Brenda Smith, Marblehead, Massachusetts, about halfway along the bike route in Ironman Canada 2011.

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At Keremeos, there is a painfully long out-and-back part of the bike, along Upper Bench Road.  There are orchards and vineyards as a distraction.  Here, boxes are stacked for the impending harvest.

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In Ironman, the setting sun usually is a reminder of the amount of time the competitor has been out.  In today's heat, it becomes more of a promise of relief.

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Jim Brockbank, Ottawa, a couple of kilometers from finishing Ironman Canada 2011.

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The prized prize.  Marian MacKay's Ironman Canada T-Shirt!

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A somewhat rueful Calgary triathlete, didn't finish the run by the midnight cutoff and then suffered a cut from tripping at the finish line.

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What other sport or product do you know of that when people buy it (enter and finish), they tattoo themselves?  Most other sports stop at the T-shirt level, or maybe a nicer T-shirt.  But IM finishers brand themselves for the rest of their lives with the logo.  ~ Rick Hellard