At some point this last year I decided I was going to 1) volunteer at Ironman Canada 2010 and 2) register for the 2011 race. I'm not sure WHY I decided that this was something I needed to do but the decision was made, emails were sent, and before I knew it I had a spot volunteering at the bike-to-run transition area from noon until 5. Now if you know me at all you will not be surprised by the fact that I promptly conned a group of friends to volunteer as well - with the intent of registering of course. Who wants to train for this epic race alone?! Yea - that's right! NO ONE!
Originally I was headed up there sans husband but at the last minute I was able to convince him it would be a fun 'mini vacation'. So we packed the new dog (yea, I'll come back to this) off to the boarders, loaded the new car (again, I'll get back to this) with swim, bike, run atire (no, we weren't racing but might as well be active around uber-active people) and headed north for the 5 hour drive to Penticton, B.C.
The drive up was relatively uneventful but gorgeous. We took the northern route (I think it's Highway 1) this time as opposed to earlier in the summer when we headed to Oliver, B.C.
When we hit Lake Okanagan the wind was rocking. Gabe has paddled on this lake before for the race - Length of the Lake - and said that the cross wind can get pretty ridiculous. Of course the pictures below don't show any of the wind I speak of but whatever. Just imagine huge lake waves - like 3 feet at least.
We arrived in Penticton around 4 PM and promptly headed to the classy '5000 Motel'. I stumbled on this place in late June and thought 'How lucky, a motel right on the run course, 5 minutes from the start/finish line, and relatively inexpensive.' Yea - that's because it's a Motel...like with an 'M'. Needless to say there aren't many 'Hotels' in the area and the majority of the lodging is in fact Motels but still. I think this place was maybe a bit shabbier than others. Oh well, it's was clean (enough), close, and inexpensive. Oh yea - and available. The other folks that were coming up here to volunteer had to stay in Kelowna which is about 30 minutes north of Penticton. I wanted to be in the action of it all. Anwho. Here are a few shots of the room. We actually had an 'upgrade' to a two bedroom room with a psuedo kitchen. Basically enough room to store all the bikes and gear that we brought up.
Classy front patio!
The rest of that evening was spent relaxing (too much driving) and then the following morning we got up and hit the local farmers market. And what, pray tell, did I stumble on but my very first cupcake of the trip. Well, first and last but it was delicious. It was more like a muffin with a cheesy/frosting and coconut sprinkles. The cheesy/frosting was rasberry. Yummers!
In case you didn't know (and I didn't so don't feel bad) this entire region (the Okanagan area) is known for their fresh fruits. The entire valley, region, lake area... is filled with orchards. More specifically, I believe Penticton is known for peaches. I'm pretty confident that this is a true statement given the giant peach that sits on the beach. This peach is also like a giant land buoy that is going to help get the swimmers back to the transition area. Or at least that's how (in my triathlete mind) I see it.
Following the farmers market, beach strolling, peach eating and oggling, we headed to the transition area where we would 1) be amazed at the organization and 2) sign in for our volunteer duties. Gabe was able to snag a volunteer spot with me in transition.
It was amazing to see HOW the race would work. The blue bags below are the swim to bike transition bags. It's all laid out by number and when you run in from the beach someone is there to grab your stuff for you. Then you head into the changing tent, do your business, and run out to your bike which is racked on the far end of the transition area. Smooth as can be. When you come back from the bike a similar thing happens only with the yellow bags now. Everyone has to go through the changing tent even if you're just running through (as many of the pros do). This way everyone travels the same distance.
Seriously nice bikes!
After touring the transition area and checking in for volunteer work we met up with Roxie and Rusty to tour the expo. I'm pretty sure I've said this before but triathlon expos are kind of lame. They don't have nearly the number of vendors as marathon expos do and the swag is...well, lame (to over use that word). Of course I wasn't a participant in this race so I can't comment on the swag but the expo was better than expected. But, again, since I wasn't particpating in the race I wasn't about to buy Ironman gear. So instead I test rode a Cervelo P3 - loved it!
Once we had our fill of the expo we met up with Jeanette and headed to Skaha Lake (just 5 minutes down the road) for an open water swim while Rusty and Gabe headed out on their bikes. About 40 minutes later and we were all ready to kick back and eat.
Being the planner that I am, I had checked out restaurants before leaving Bellingham so I toook us all to a pub right across from Lake Okanagan. Apparently it was the happening place to be that night. We had a brief 10 minute wait and then got down to business with drinks and fish tacos. Yummy.
Stormy lake the evening before. Don't know if I would want to swim in these conditions.
Gorgeous sunset over the surrounding hills.
The following morning came quite quickly but I was soooo thankful that I wasn't racing. I guess that doesn't bode well for 2011 but it was definitely nice not to wake up with butterflies in your stomache.
We headed down to the lake, grabbed a fairly close parking spot, and then meandered our way through the crowds to the start area - which was already packed with spectators. For those of you not familiar with Ironman events there are about 3000 participants (and handful of which are pro triathletes). The pros start first in their own little group and then about 15 minutes later (or maybe more...I forget) the mass start takes off. That's right - some 3000 athletes all start swimming AT THE SAME TIME!!! WHAT?! It's chaos. There are some folks that stand on the beach and wait until the water clears a bit before starting. We did see a few stragglers that had that idea but once they got out in the water they must have had a panic attack because they promptly turned around and walked back in - calling it a day. That would be super difficult as you reflect back on the time and money put into this event. Heartbreaking.
Athletes starting to gather.
Pros taking off.
Mass start.
Still going...
And going...
And going...
Once everyone had started (or called it a day) we headed to the bike exit area. I have to say, watching hundreds of bikes go by is kind of nauseating. The trick, I soon found out, was to not follow the bike but simply watch one spot. It was hard though - you naturally WANT to follow the bikes. Below are a few shots of the first folks on the bike - all pros.
First female and winner from last year. She ended up having a rough day.
When the majority of the bikes had blown by we headed for brunch and then made our way to the transition area to wait for our turn to lend a hand. Turns out, Gabe and my job was to write down the numbers of the participants as they left the bike-to-run transition. We were the back up to the electronic timing. Painful! It was a lot of screaming out numbers one right after another and frantically writing down. Oh yea, and the normally 90 degree weather was a chilly 66 or something like that. We were freezing, hungry, and stressed!
First pro men off the bike. It's cool how they throw their bikes to the volunteers and then sprint to their transition bags. There is Rusty (in the background of the picture below) catching the first bike (probably looking to acquire said bike... :) ).
Go Matt go! Below is Matt Lieto. Our claim to fame (and to knowing this fine person) is that he raced on Gabe's Ski To Sea team.
Freezing and counting. Yea!
The next morning we were up bright and early to stand in line for registration. Since Gabe and I were the only ones actually staying in Penticton we arrived first. The line was already a block long at 7:30 and supposedly registration didn't open until 9. For some reason, however, they opened it early and people started flooding into the expo area. I panicked a bit since no one else was there from my group of friends and they were all staying a half hour away. The line was quickly diminishing and before I knew it we were at the front.
The idea behind registration is that those folks who volunteered get priority over other athletes but the lines weren't being separated. The 'other athletes' were only 5 people behind us in line! Again, more freaking out. Finally, someone ahead of us pointed this out to an official and the line was separated. More volunteers were arriving and all was right with the world. :) So the kicker to this entire story is that Gabe registered for next year's race. Yea, the guy that can't swim and has never done a triathlon in his life is going to do the biggest triathlon you can possibly do!!! Crazy!
