Monday, August 30, 2010

10 Things I learned watching Ironman Canada

10. Like life, sport has many shapes/sizes/personalities with some good and some bad; but Ironman Canada has so much GOOD, so much KINDNESS, so much RESPECT that all other Ironman's I have done or watched (LP, Wisc - a very close 2nd BTW, UK, Hawaii, FL etc.) and sports (be it major league pro sports or the local arena) pale in comparison.

9. You get your $$ worth, all $600 of it @ironmancanada - Simple. But I will warn WTC and their Private Equity owners, you are gutting the fringes and should be very, very careful with your direction. Competition to their prize is heating up and races like Canada's does not need your M-dot (WTC) brand to make big money. Believe me when I say, a good 60% of athletes I talked to during the week talked about this point, feeling the sport is getting far to *business*.

8. Spectating is hard work! RESPECT to all supporters (especially my wife for 10 years of that!)

7. Staying out of town, be it in Summerland or Naramata really helps if you are racing. Calm energy for break through performances.

6. CARBON is everywhere!

5. Money is to be made on fashion consulting for race kits. Seriously, some major mistakes on men out there, a few on women; but boys please keep 'er covered!

4. There are some seriously great roads to train on in the Okanagan!

3. I saw one female pro gutting it out into a major headwind on the bike, then again with 2 miles to go on the run and my light bulb went off in a big way - THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES to PERFORM. FW/FG I was seriously impressed with that effort - SERIOUSLY IMPRESSED.

2. Iron dames cause is really inspirational and starting a day at 5am and finishing it at 1am to watch athletes do their thing is worth it to see these girls complete what they started. Smiles on at 11:45pm they did it. I was blown away. amazing. Please check their cause out at Irondames.ca - VERY COOL!

1. I LOVE IRON DISTANCE TRIATHLON. It has everything a sport could ask for - breakthrough performances, gut wrenching stories (like the brothers crossing the line together to honor their dad who died racing IMC last year!), community, manners, toys to spend money on, but most of all REWARD FOR ALL THE HARD WORK!

Congratulations to all racers, supporters, and particularly to the Iron Dames; you all rock!

1 comment:

  1. If you think it's great WATCHING IMC, try entering. I've watched on line a couple years, and volunteered last year. Doing the race this year is a whole different ball game. It's an amazing experience! One can't say enough about the volunteers and spectators. I'm going to remember that day the rest of my life.

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