IRONMAN CANADA RACE REPORT
By Aaron Brogger

August 26, 2007

Overview

I’ve tried to make this report down the middle on detail. Some of you won’t understand a few parts…the triathletes will get bored with some of the detail. But here’s a not-so-quick recap of my first Ironman event. The best part is that I’m definitely up to do it again. Which is good considering I am doing another one on October 13th in Kona, Hawaii. Here we go….

The Swim (2.4 miles)

This was the largest start to any Ironman event ever. What does that mean you ask? Well, it means that there were over 2500 people that started swimming when the gun fired. Yeah, chaos.

The course was basically a very long triangle…all right turns. So, I started to the left a bit to try and be out of the huge crowds that always seem to stay close the buoys marking the course. There were a lot of people out there, but it never got horrible. There would be traffic for about 5 mins…then it would thin out. And then randomly I would hit a bunch of traffic again. I got kicked in the face twice…had to reset the goggles. Nothing too tragic. I have four words that I recite to myself while swimming. Reach. Pull. Glide. Breathe. After repeating those words about two thousand times, I found my self at the beach! Time 1:08…goal was 1:10. Lookin’ Good! Special thanks to Sierra for showing me my new swim moves!

Swim to Bike Transition

So I’m feeling pretty good at this point. The wetsuit strippers peel my suit off and I grab my bag to head into the tent. I get my bike gear on, stop at the suntan lotion stand for a quick apply and I’m off on the bike. Time: 4:38

The Bike (112 miles)

So my goal here was 6 hours. Looking at my friend’s times from years past, I knew this was going to be rather optimistic. They are all stronger cyclists and have consistently had faster bike times in other races. So, I was praying that the bike Gods would be good to me. The plan was to keep my heart rate (HR) as close to 140bpm for the first 30-45 mins so I could ease into the bike…then turn it up to 150bpm for the remainder of the ride. I stuck to that plan. I passed people. Some people passed me. Such is life. The first big hill comes by around mile 40. I was feeling pretty good here. Gear down, sit up, take it easy and don’t let the HR get crazy. Climbing…climbing…climbing…and finally to the top. Aaahhh…that wasn’t so bad. Now down hill…fast! And man do I mean fast. I passed everyone that I could see. Not sure why, but gravity liked me on the way down the hills today. I hit the rolling hills after the Richter Pass climb and the wind really picked up. It made for some sketchy descents, but I just tucked in and watched that heart rate. Made it to mile 80 which is the turn around. I stopped to pee. Had to wait in line for about 2 mins before I could get in the damn port-o-potty. Hated seeing people passing me, but nature called. Back on the bike with one major climb left and then the long descent into town. Climbing again…the crowd was crazy. It was like being on the Tour de France. They lined the road leaving one single lane for us to ride. Got to the top…tucked into my aero position and let it fly down the hills. I hit over 50mph on the way down. After a long descent, I’m now back in town and feeling good except for my shoulders and neck. I stayed in aero position for nearly 6 hours straight. That killed the neck. But, I was back and ready to hit the run. Time: 5hrs 52mins. My goal was 6:00 hours….sweet Jesus! I done good!

Bike to Run Transition

It’s awesome to just roll in and have people take your bike for you. Love it. So, I grabbed my bag and hit the tent to change. I sat down in the chair. And that was by far the most comfortable folding plastic chair that has ever been manufactured. Haha. No joke! I lubed up my toes and my arm pits (you have no idea the places that will rub raw when you run for hours on end). I ate, drank and stretched. Since I was a head of schedule, I was in no rush to get out on the run. Put on some more sunscreen and I was on my way. Time: 9mins 41secs

The Run (26.2 miles)

And so it begins…the real part of the race. I was clicking off 8 minute miles for the first 3 miles. Feeling really good. My HR was around 150…a pace I can hold all day long. Starting off fast is fairly typical for most…especially rookie Ironman athletes like me. The adrenaline will have you flying. But, I really did feel fine. That is, until my left IT band decided to act up. I’ll spare you a lesson in physiology, but IT band syndrome isn’t an overly serious problem, but it hurts like a mother. The pain is localized to the outside of the knee. Thankfully it can be relieved a bit with some regular stretching. So, that’s what I did. I ran for about 5 mins…then stretched for about 30 seconds…then ran another 5 mins. You get the picture.

I settled in for what was going to be a longer run that I had hoped for. I stopped a few times to pee. I also had a little kid race me the whole length of road in front of his house. He gave me a hi-5. It was awesome. I drank the chicken soup and the “cola.”. Which was Pepsi…if you know me, that’s not a good thing. But At mile 20, I realized that I had one hour to make it back under my 12 hour goal. It was time to block out the pain and make sure I ran under 10 minute miles from here on.

I rolled into town and no amount of pain was going to hold me back now. I made the turn on to Lakeshore for the final little out and back. I picked up the pace and broke the tape at 11hrs 58mins and 02secs. And then I heard it….”Aaron Brogger…you are an Ironman.” Almost the sweetest words I could ever hear on race day. Haha. Big thanks to my girlfriend Jessica and friend Jami. They are great athletic supporters!!! And special thanks to my Dad and Rae. You made the day possible! Thanks to all the friends and family that gave support and encouragement along the way. Love you all!

Times:
Swim: 1:08:19 (1:48/100m pace)
T1: 4:38
Bike: 5:51:55 (19.1mph)
T2: 9:41
Run: 4:43:31 (10:50 min/mile pace)

Total: 11:58:02

Congratulations Rick ... 10:44:48 finish time !!!

Congratulations Aaron ... 11:58:02 finish time !!!

Santa Barbara Triathlon – Long Course. The weather was great, the water a chilly 61 degs. And the bike course had it all (from train crossings to countless blind turns). This is definitely not a race for someone that is lacking bike handling skills or confidence.

-Jeff Vicario

Good luck to POLAR LA athlete’s racing this weekend in Louisville & Canada.

Rick (Ironman Louisville)

You can track Rick Sunday at by clicking the imbedded link above.

“Athletes are in for a challenging day – Louisville has experienced record-setting temperatures this week, with little relief in site for Sunday’s inaugural Ford Ironman Louisville.

Thanks to “significant rainfall upriver,” race organizers were forced to change the swim course, which will now consist of a short leg upstream followed by a fast downstream journey along the Ohio River to Louisville’s Waterfront Park. The pros will head off in one wave at 6:50 AM, while the age group competitors will start one-at-a-time in a time trial fashion 10 minutes later.

The bike course promises to be a deceptive challenge. While it begins with a 10 mile stretch along River Road before heading into the beautiful “horse country” that this area is so famous for which offers a series of relentless “rolling hills” that will make this a tough ride for pros and age groupers alike.

The flat run will pass many of Louisville’s well-known tourist sites including the University of Louisville campus and Churchill Downs (the home of the aforementioned Kentucky Derby).

It all ends with a finish line sure to be one of the most memorable in Ironman racing at “Fourth Street Live,” a closed off street area in the heart of Louisville’s downtown that features a number of restaurants and bars and certainly has the potential to be one very loud and exciting finishing venues.”

Aaron (Ironman Canada)

You can track Aaron Sunday at by clicking the imbedded link above.

It all started in 1983 when 26 athletes entered Lake Okanagan for the first Ironman distance race here in Penticton. Little did anyone know that time the race would develop to the point that there could be as many as 2500 athletes at the start line a quarter of a century later.

On Sunday, August 26, 2007, the 25th edition of Subaru Ironman Canada will take place in the Penticton, British Columbia in the Okanagan region of the province. Few would argue that the race is one of the “crown jewel events” in the Ironman family of races.

2007 Dwight Crum Pier to Pier Race start

Here is a video someone shot of the Aug 5th 2 mile Pier to Pier swim held annually here in the Southbay. Great practice for the triathlon mass starts.

2007 SEAC - Jeff Vicario

2007

Siku Extreme Arctic Challenge

by: Jeff Vicario

Team POLAR / Feed the Machine

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Adventure Racing at the end of the world… Tasiilaq, Greenland is the stage, population 1,849 where the summer is a miraculous combination of almost 24 hours of daylight, huge icebergs, vast glaciers, monumental mountains and crystal clear air.

Our team, Team POLAR/Feed the Machine, includes Jon Barker, a UK guy living in Atlanta, Christian Burke a good friend from LA, Egon local Greenlander who has placed 3rd in this race twice and myself.

Getting here is of course no simple feat. A myriad of planes, trains, automobiles, boats, trucks and donkey carts (not really) and we arrive in the town of Tasiilaq, Greenland, about 1000 kilometers off the end of the planet. This was to be our base camp for the race duration. It is very small Inuit town with seal and polar bear hunters, fishermen, and sled dogs waiting for winter again. Seventeen teams of four, mostly from Northern European countries descend on the town to tackle icy fjords, man-eating glaciers and mountain peaks on foot, canoe, and mountain bike for five days. Greenland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, England, Scotland, United Kingdom, and of course us Americans are represented.

After a couple days of non-stop preparation of gathering food, testing and outfitting inflatable canoes, organizing gear, we started stage 1 on Saturday morning.

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Stage 1:

After some agonizing hours by race officials when Air Iceland didn’t deliver the gear we needed for the race including our team’s bikes they were able to find everything to substitute the missing gear. The first stage started as planned and our team was good and fast. It was relatively short in comparison to the next three stages. Stage 1 began as a mass start in our inflatable canoes paddling the icy fjord to the foot of the Polhelm Mountain. We had nice movement together and moved quickly through the 35 degree water. We exited the water in fifth place. After that we quickly transitioned to our trekking gear and headed for Polheim's Peak, a very famous mountain peak in Greenland. If you ever see pictures from Greenland and they show mountains, you were probably looking at Polheim's Peak. We powered up the mountain very quickly, although it was not easy. Very loose rock and very, very steep. Once we arrived at a ledge (the checkpoint), most of the way up the mountain, they smartly stopped the clock and allowed us to head to the summit for the photo-op with safety in mind and not worry about knocking someone off the hill to their imminent death trying to race to the top. When we arrived back to the checkpoint, the clock started and the game continued.

We flew down the hill opting for a not so obvious route choice though we were not alone since there are other Greenland teams here as well with local knowledge. We arrived at the water, again, quickly transitioned to our water gear and canoed back to the Tasiilaq and the start/finish line.

After Stage 1 we sit in fifth place. 1st and 2nd place are occupied by Greenlandic teams.

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Stage 2:

This stage began with 35 Kilometers of mountain biking on a course that gives new meaning to ‘single track’ and makes you work for every hill, every turn. We got the bike part done, quickly transitioned, and were on to the trekking leg in, what else, fifth place.

The trekking venue consisted of ascending...then descending...three mountain tops, and back to the start/finish. Teams that ranked with an even number in Stage 1 go were to go clockwise over the tops, while those ranked with an uneven number summated the peaks counter clockwise so as to make it more difficult for close competitors to get an idea of how the other teams are doing. It is very hard to describe the violence in which Mother Nature created these mountains. A trail in Greenland is non-existent, the rocks are severe, there is no such thing as gradual; it is either straight up or straight down. On each ascent, we took the most direct lines, usually the steepest too. On climbing the second peak, it was nearly vertical, ascending through these vertical slots of granite rock, with the ground sliding away from us with every cautious step.

We finished the stage in seventh place.

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Stage 3:

Again we were to begin this stage from the town with a two man time trial followed by the other two teammates along the same course. Egon and Christian went out first and returned in second place. Jon and I headed out and tried to hold the lead as the other team tried to narrow the gap. Our team did very well and we had a good head start to the trekking section.

We started out on a cross country run with a path to the Kittimenfkasfnaf glacier. Once we passed a long valley, we started our climb up. Once again, steep and rocky was the theme. Greenland, France and Iceland passed us on this assent. We made it up to the glacier trying to stay clear of the many crevasses, started our way to the checkpoint and eventually down the glacier. We worked our way down to the end, finished with a canyon bouldering session over all the rocks that the glacier tossed out of its mighty way, and made it to base camp on the beach.

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Stage 4:

We woke, ate, received our maps and instructions, and began to prep for the expedition leg of the race. It was an estimated 120 kilometres (depending on your navigation and route selection), a long hard navigationally difficult course that covered the entire island. The stage would start with a short canoe section, then a difficult trek section, glacier work, canyoneering, coasteering, canoeing, the longest glacier trek on the island, more canoeing, trek with very difficult navigation, shorter glacier, canyoneering, and then finally a canoe to the end.

With our course instructions understood, the short canoe section started with helicopters flying overhead. We get out of the water uneventfully in about fifth place. Off on what we could see would be a difficult navigation section. Everyone was everywhere. We eventually decided to take a very uncommon route and it paid off. We hit the glacier very quickly and without much expended energy, which would turn out to pay off in a big way later. Unfortunately we took forty-five minutes to figure it out. Climbing up the glacier, as we had done before, we felt that the glacier was solid enough to allow us to travel without crampons, we would however rope in. The crevasses were simply out of control, we found ourselves jumping over one or working your way around another literally every few feet. Eventually we arrived at the top of the glacier in seventh place. Lost two positions, but the other teams that heard of our route selection were jealous.

Down the glacier, into and down a valley to CP3, the canoe. After a short canoeing section to CP4 and realizing that a few teams lost their way, we left CP4 in 5th. Up, up, up the longest glacier of the trip. Again, no crampons until we needed them. Being the very early hours of the morning the sky remained as bright as mid-afternoon. Being so far north, literally on the polar ice cap, there is no real darkness only a few hours of twilight each night. This helped fight off the sleep monsters as we continued through the night and into the following day. Upon arriving at CP5 we learned that we moved up to 4th place. The French team seemed to have gotten lost along their way. Down, down, down the other end of the glacier and then what seemed a forever long trek to CP6.

We make it to CP6 and third place is just heading out on the canoe section. Totally energized by that, we frantically inflate our boat, ready our gear, and head out. As we are depart Team France is coming in, a few minutes later, we see Team Intersport Iceland, and in the distance, Team Explorer.

Into the water, we move. In the distance we see third place, the Greenlandic team. We eventually make it to CP7 only seconds behind third place. Now the pace picks up. Team France lands on the beach just minutes after us. This next section turns out to be one of the trickiest navigation sections. We head out and notice that Team Greenland is taking a different route. We absolutely nail the first part of and re-join them and traveled together. We make it to CP8 in what felt like record time. We proceed up a valley and onto the final glacier, with second place at the top and in sight. We're sans crampons of course even though this glacier is a bit slushier and no less difficult. Greenland does pull away ever so slightly and the race is back on. CP9 is at the top. Looking back down the glacier and valley we cannot see any teams behind us.

Off the glacier, we had a simple downhill to the final canoe section and to the finish. Starting down we became separated as Christian and Egon who suggested they would move ahead to prep the canoe. Jon & I were without the map and ended up descending the wrong valley. After an hour plus we arrived at CP9 and frantically swap our glacier gear for paddling gear. We paddle hard and come out and up to the finish line with the canoe on our shoulders. We have finished the last stage in 4th place.

Now, the clock runs as we wait for the other teams to finish. A change of clothes, food, and stories abound. The times start coming in and our fears become reality. We have landed in sixth place overall, twenty five minutes behind the French, and ninety minutes behind Explorer. Our mistake cost us fourth place overall. Final results:
1. ISI Salomon - Danish
2. Neriusaaq - Denmark/Greenland
3. Maniitsoq 225 - Greenland
4. Explorer - US/Kiwi
5. Les Couleurs - France
6. POLAR / Feed the Machine - US/UK/Greenland
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Thanks to all who responded for your kind words of support.