Whistler Update

This was by far the hardest day I have ever seen at an Ironman (and I have seen a few).
Last year it was heat, this year it was freezing cold rain.
A very tough day for our Human Powered Racing athletes, but we are all still very proud of them.
They put in the work and showed up in amazing shape. Fawn, Ivor and Debbie were primed and ready to have great races.
BUT, anything can happen on race day. Ironman has been known to throw some curve balls. Weather is usually the one very uncontrollable factor on a day where you know you have to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles.
Sunday was one of those days that really wasn’t expected in a summer where there has been little to no rain and hot temperatures since May.  Athletes woke up to 10 degrees and raining (pouring) buckets for the first 5 hours. It was only 6 degrees at the top of the Callahan climb only 40km into the bike.

Ivor suffered from hypothermia and had to abandon early from the top of this climb. They were actually just leaving bikes on the side of the road and shuttling athletes on motor bikes down to waiting cars at the bottom of the climb.
Debbie was kicked in the head during the swim and finished the bike while dealing with dizziness and a bad headache. She toughed out the bike but made a very smart decision to stop as she has been dealing with post concussion symptoms from an accident earlier in the summer.
Fawn was having an amazing day and was on track for another great finish. Unfortunately, she suffered from serious stomach issues on the run and had to tough out a walk/run marathon that saw her still finish 19th in her age group. These three athletes will live to fight again :)

All in all, a very rough day for every single athlete out there. To those that finished and to those who managed to have great days out there, hats off. You should all be very proud of that accomplishment.