I agree that the race organizers, volunteers and community worked hard and put on exceptional events( both sprint and xtreme). the "customer service" was outstanding and that will serve them well.
The swim at daybreak with lights was unique, made even better with the full moon. There were some swells adding to the challenge but not outrageous.
The bike route was gorgeous and road quality ranged from good to excellent. The degree of difficulty was severe in my opinion. This was true even before the strong crosswinds and thunderstorm added to the fun. I did persevere and complete the bike but it took at least 2.5 hr longer for me than a more average course.
The run is well described. I reached 25k and chose to stop rather than face the task of mountain climbing in the woods. Really happy to read your description. Sounds like a grind.
So Devashish was right in that it will be a smaller cohort to whom this race appeals. For those who are up to it you will do one of the most beautiful and challenging events, and you will be treated exceptionally well by all involved. I hope it succeeds and thrives.

Congrats to your team. It was a pretty cool race. I was the swimmer for our team. Thankfully there was a full moon. The walk down to the start was amazing. Hard to sight with the dark and waves but I had by far the easiest day.

My wife was the support runner for the last 8k. Took them 1:52 but said would be almost impossible in the dark. Said hardest run she has ever done.

Congrats to your friend on finishing and you for making sure he got up.

First of all congrats on your day. I really do hope the event survives economically because at the end of the day, the main reason the Quebec Govt is subsidizing this even is for the economic revival of the region after the massive train crash a few years back and fire in the town. On the one hand, just putting on an IM distance race does not get to the economic revival because it will get squashed by IM Lake Placid and IM Tremblant. So putting on an extreme race makes sense for differentiation, but the hard part is monetizing that into an economically viable thing. If they can get the subset of extreme guys on the one hand for differentiation, complement with relays and grow the revenue base with other events in the "festival" then that would be awesome. For example, they could run a grand fondo style ride on the same bike course maybe a few hours after the IM guys are all done swimming, or maybe a "light version" of the extreme which would be the full swim, the full bike and either the run you did or 21K (basically the Epicman training day format I used to run). At the end of the day, you need to open the thing up to "lesser athletes" who don't want the full challenge but want some of that. In this vein I did a 100K skate ski XC ski event in Forestville in Northern Quebec for 3 years. It was this awesome single loop course on snowmobile trails with a zillion meters of vertical. I don't think the 100K event got more than 50 people ever. The 54K event, got up to around 400 or 500. Eventually they cancelled the 100K due to the effort and cost of putting it on for 50 people. At some point you end up with volunteer fatigue for "not much". I hope they can add to the "volume" of the entire event to make the economics work (unless of course the Quebec govt keeps spending forever on it and they have been known to sink cash on all kinds of stuff).

They did have a sprint triathlon the day before. The full was completely sold out (and they added extra spots) and afaik the sprint was as well.

There were talks of creating a "circuit" with Celtman, Swissman and Norseman (they're all under the same banner anyway). I didn't reall listen to that though. Canadaman is under contract for 5 years with the brand, hopefully it goes beyond that.

One issue though for making it "bigger" is the lack of sleeping venues. As far as I know, there are no hotels in the area (or maybe 1?). I was added at the last minute as a replacement for a team, and all I could find was an airbnb room. 200 athletes and family filled up motels and campings quick... I don't think the region could get more people unless they extend campgrounds (I doubt an hotel would make sense for a weekend...). Or the extra races would need to be arranged to have people arrive in the morning and leave at night. But it's still about an hour from the closest "large" city (Sherbrooke).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJN0-HLUE9s

Video recap of the race from organisation.

Anyone else signed / signing up for 2018? The relay is sold out and solo numbers are getting there...

I'm looking for a bit of race chit chat, comparing prep notes etc. The bike elevation isn't awfie severe, I'd be interested in hearing anyone's ideas for gearing on this course - did you ride it last year?

I registered solo this year. I did relay last year, bike and the ascent (running) with a friend. It was an awesome experience.

Bike: the initial part climbs pretty fast. I mean, it's not brutal, but it's a good 5-10min climb right at the start, after swim. After that, it's pretty flat until 40km or so, when you hit back into town. Another decent climb, then rolling hills for a while until 90km - first major climb. It's not long, it's just pretty steep and twisting. Then fairly flat and fast until you hit town again, you redo the initial climb and then you turn right - a very sharp turn, into a fairly sharp climb. Again, nothing serious, but to the unprepared, you come fairly fast then almost a hairpin and then go right up. After that are rolling hills, again. LOTS, and last year had a very strong headwind in that section, which made it quite unpleasant. Doesn't leave you until 165km or so. Flat until 179km, and then the second major climb. Again, not very long, just very steep (I think they said 13%? - that would sound about right).

I rode 11-32. I wouldn't recommend below 28 unless you are a very strong cyclist, that last climb could be brutal - I think I passed 7-8 cyclist last year who were simply doing very big S in the climb, or just walking up.

Run (ascent): it's hiking. Not running. That would sum it, pretty much. Some small section you can run, but the rest will be hiking, or at best fast hiking. There are very technical section (read, rock climbing) that prevent running.

That's great information, thanks. What chainrings are you using? I have an 11-28 cassette, and can run either a compact or semi-compact crankset, but I was considering this being the year to go 1x!! I could go 50T at the front, but would need to be able to run a 40T cassette to get the same gear - maybe not the year after all! Putting a 32 on sounds like good advice.

Does the run warrant hill shoes? and did many consider changing from road to trail shoes along the way, do you know?

I run compact 50/34.

Yes, bring trail shoes. A must. Especially if a) you run late (dark) and b) it rains (it did this year). Very slippery, muddy, etc. There are sections before the ascent that might warrant trail shoes as well, but I haven't done these so I can't really comment.

When you get to T3 and meet your partner for ascent, change shoes and refill nutrition. Ascent might also be colder than the rest of the run, so a long sleeve sweater or shell might also be a good idea.

I'm in for 2018. Looking forward to it plus an extended vacation post race in Quebec City.

I did Norseman in 2016, plus looking to add on Swissman or Celtman in a few years. I enjoy these smaller races over the larger fields.

Me too, I don't really enjoy the big race hoopla. This will be iron-distance #7 and I've only done 1 Ironman-branded race. I'm looking forward to this epic day out - I'll be racking up a stack of basement bike miles this winter. I hope the training goes well for you guys.

The bike route doesn't sound super gnarly. 2600m elevation compared to ~1800m at IMMT, and those two sharp climbs, but I guess you don't want to be grinding uphills, cooking your legs prior to the hill run, so a spinning gear would be worthwhile. It also sounds like there is plenty of flat and downhills to warrant a disk despite the total elevation?

Congrats on the Norseman finish - I actually come from the Celtman part of the world originally, and those two courses look a different level of 'extreme' than this one!

I think ultra runners are a lot more flexible with their regard to distance (and terrain).

I agree and think triathletes are far more concerned with their finishing times which is why there is so much demand for the flat courses. In ultra-running, so much depends on the course that the time is far less relevant than just finishing or if you're in the top tier, your placing.

Ultra-runners as a whole are far less interested in having mass exposure or big crowds. The solitary draws them to the sport in the first place and they don't want the aid stations every few miles with crowds cheering them on.

It's also easier to be in the middle of nowhere, no issue of drowning or having a mechanical. If you're not fit enough to run, you can walk.

In the race video many runners are wearing trail run vests at the finish, but I can't tell if they wore them for the whole run, or just from T3 up the hill. Is there any mandatory gear that you have to carry up Mont Megantic?