Just a general question to those in the know ... with the WTC offering up more Kona slots at the TBA IMC, and at Aukland 70.3, and with Kona slots being offered at expansion events ... how many people will now be competing in Kona? Didn't it used to be, like, 1500 plus 200 lottery spots? I confess it's been a long time since I looked at entries for Kona, but it has the appearance of being larger than it ever used to be. I also don't happen to know if there's a limit to the number of athletes they can host in that race. Anyone have thoughts on this?

Three finalists for Ironman Canada are: Kelowna, BC, Whistler BC, and Huntsville Ontario. My bets are on for Kelowna. The mayor, city staff, and an entourage went to personally deliver the bid and present the bid to WTC headquarters in Florida, instead of attending the Union of BC Municipalities conference. Kelowna has city park, and a large parking lot for transition, and a beautiful rock free beach (Hot sands beach) which to swim from, which is traditionally also the finish the the Kelowna Across the Lake swim.

please not kelowna. They can't even apparently get enough volunteers for the apple triathlon, and the bike route for the grand fondo Kelowna was apparently very average. guess they want to crush the challenge.....any of the other places mentioned would be waaay better....

Yes, here's the official announcement from ironman.com "Today, World Triathlon Corporation (WTC, d/b/a IRONMAN) announces three finalists from the bid process to host the 2013 IRONMAN Canada: Kelowna, British Columbia (BC); Huntsville, Ontario and Whistler, BC.

The selection of the three Canadian communities was based on criteria as stated in the bid process that closed on Sept. 24. There were seven communities in Canada that submitted bids.

As part of the next phase in the selection process, IRONMAN staff will conduct in-depth visits to each finalist community. IRONMAN expects to announce the host for the 2013 IRONMAN Canada, as well as additional event-related details, by mid-October."

I agree with others that a Kelowna race would be just too much like the old IMC, would pale by comparison and would be total stupidity if on the same day.

But Whistler or Muskoka - I'm there! Both awesome places and sure to have epic courses.

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"No more hurting people - Peace"

Very much hoping it will not be on the same day as challenge penticton. that would be the best of western canada and the sport. But I highly douth WTC care about the good of the sport and western canada.

As for kelowna, never been a fun of that city, not the prettiest place in the okanagean. It would be a huge downgrade to the penticton course.

I m definitly hoping for muskoka or Whistler with a date of july. we need a good race for july and have nothing at that time.

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram

Well...I am cheering for Whistler as the new western event

....Muskoka as the NYC replacement until they can find a new one in the Eastern seabord....but by then Muskoka will be a proven sellout event that makes goddess money. Everyone wins as long as this thing is not in Kelowna on the day of IMC....then everyone loses.

Muh-sko-kah. July.

Muskoka in July is a slam dunk if they want to go there....In the perfect world, Muskoka early July, whistler late July, Challenge. Penticton late Aug...all Canadians win...

The entire Kelowna angle really ducks badly for everyone.

Wow,

Now that my city is out ('Loops) I can go back to thinking objectively ;)

I am pretty surprised that Victoria, didn't get in. It seemed like they had a lot going for them- scenic course established race etc.

Also surprised at Whistler, I thought they would have some pretty serious logistical concerns (bike course, volunteers etc)

Not too surprised at Muskoka, although regardless of the quality of their bid WTC may go "strategic" on this one (keep it out west to hurt challenge)

Best of luck to the short listers!!

Please make it a tough bike course!!!

The final 3 cities, as reported by Competitor.


Kelowna.......Whistler.......Huntsville (Muskoka)

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If you run long enough....something is bound to happen

I don't know the details of the other bids that were excluded,but some bidding cities wanted to keep ownership of their event and WTC's business model generally precludes that as their core business (as Messick pointed out when divesting Lava) is putting on an running world class events. So I don't know if Victoria fell into that camp.

I am personally hoping that the 2 race option, one in the east and one in the west is still potentially on the table.

fffttttt....fffffttttttt.... thats my attempt at whistling for whistler! :D

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~sarcasm saves lives

I second that- Whistler for the West! I think there are already too few IM's in the West, and given how quickly Tahoe sold out I think others would agree.

I'm not against Muskoka if it ends up being a replacement for NYC, but if it's a replacement for IMC then I'm definitely out- no way I'm flying 2500 miles to compete in Canada! I'd sooner race in Europe.

Likewise, I would rather fly out to Europe over Kelowna . Whistler I would fly out for.

Have to admit I have never been to Muskoka but Whistler vs Kelowna? Are you kidding me? Whistler is a slam dunk! I have spent allot of time cycling & running in both area's including riding the Whistler AND Kelowna Granfondo and the bottom line is that Whistler is epic and Kelowna is boring. Also, with regard to Muskoka, I'm pretty sure that most of the people who signed up for IMC 2013 TBA the day after the 2012 race were assuming that they'd probably be racing in western Canada.

The WTC probably knows that Whistler would be the winning choice. Question is, is their ego big enough to pick Kelowna anyway?

I would have been fired up for cranbrook. An event like this would be a big deal in a small town.
Count me out if kelowna gets it on the same day as the challenge. That would be pretty petty and a slap in the face to triathletes in western usa and canada....but what else should we expect from a wall st hedge fund..... It would be nice if there was more than one Tri that was in aug/sept for those of us in colder climates

Well put. We've had several pros stay with us over the years both during IM time as well has Honu & various training periods. To a person they've all far preferred the treatment and atmosphere of the Challenge series.

If I ever do another full length race, it won't be an IM brand race. And as I've told people before, February would be a great time for a iron distance race out here.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Which just about sums it up for me. There is a real split in the Kelowna triathlon community between those that think it's a good and those that don't. Those that think it's a good idea keep mentioning economy, money for the area etc etc. Those that don't seem more concerned with the sport as a whole, being protective of the Penticton race and a level if distaste for the attitude of WTC.

I am not saying that money doesn't play a part. It just sucks that in this day and age that's the only thing people can consider. The Kelowna Mayor stated 'Ironman is too important to lose it from the Okanagan Valley'. If it's so important why wasn't he there watching it last year, why wasn't he there volunteering? It's not triathlon that's important, it's his coffers which is why he ponied up for a couple of his cronies to head off to meet WTC. A delegation sadly lacking in people who actually race in triathlons, although I believe one bike store owner went with them .... so financial interest rather than anything else.

For the past I don't know how many years the council have been skimming cash out of our local triathlon, The Apple, demanding money from the (I believe not for profit) organisers just to hold the event. Even when it was a National Championship and bringing in around 1,500 athletes over the weekend they still demanded cash.

Another classic quote from our Mayor. Bear in mind that the Apple has been a National Chamionship ITU race for the four years prior to this year and had the likes f Simon Whitfield (Canada's Olympic flag bearer) and Paula Findlay competing.

" .. Mayor Walter Gray referred to Apple athletes as "recreational competitors" and IM athletes as "clearly the championship, hard body, serious contenders .." _ Castanet.Net

I think he meant 'clearly the blue chip, more financially muscular, serious money draw .." but I could be wrong. Obviously he'd find doing an Olympic or Sprint at threshold a piece of piss.

There is even talk of a delegation from Kelowna starting up to support Whistlers bid! Would it be cool to have a big triathlon in my home town. Yep. Do I want it. Not really, no. The whole thing leaves a sour taste in my mouth to be honest. I don't want my sport to be about money. I want people in it for the love of swimming, biking and running. I want people running it who have a passion for making the sport better, improving the experience. I just don't see that from either the council who haven't given a rats ass about our local race for years or WTC.

BUT ... If it comes to Kelowna, I'll support it, I'll volunteer, I'll do my bit to make sure that any triathlete who comes has the best experience they can get for their entry fee. I know don't any of the locals that wouldn't feel that way. So, if it does and you want to do it, as athletes you'll have open arms from me at least.

Apologies for the long post ...... venting.

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https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

Looking forward to this!

Your dilemma sounds similar to what we had for Tremblant. At the time (in 2010) there was a full 140.6 bid in for Ottawa. Many of us got prettty excited, but we also took a step back objectively. It would be great to have it on our town, but several contacted WTC and encouraged them to go with the Tremblant bid. Tremblant was the perfect spot. We could make something work in Ottawa and it would be amazing having the run going right in front of Parliament and so on, making it iconic in its own way, but logistically it would have been tough, and we'd have to close down parts of the core of the city of effectively 24 hours. In the end, many of us backed Tremblant, and supported WTC to go that way.

Who knows if it makes a difference, but if the triathlon leaders in a community are telling WTC to do something that is not in the favour of their own community, amazingly they listen because they know that there is something compelling elsewhere or those same athlete-leaders would be lobbying WTC like heck to pull the event in the direction of their own community.

So you can make a difference if you want. AND YES, I am biased towards Whistler over Kelowna, so if there are those of you from Kelowna, who would rather see this go to Whistler for objective reasons, then you should make your voice heard.

And as much as you guys think that WTC would exclusively put a race in Kelowna only to hurt Challenge Penticton, you don't have the entire picture. Look, an IMC in Whistler will also hurt Challenge Penticton to some degree, but I think we can all agree that the two can co exist and both parties can make money and athletes have more choices. Put an IM in Kelowna the same day Penticton and you have a gong show in the making. Can the valley really support 2 events on the same weekend of this magnitude?

Anyway, Kelowna athletes, if you think objectively you still have Challenge Penticon to go to and you will have IM Whistler...best of both worlds....which is exactly what we have here in Ottawa...IMLP and IMTremblant...both 2-3 hours away. You can have the same deal. Almost all the benefits, without the headache, because when it is in your town, you really have to step up in a massive way to pull it off and make it happen.

Actually, I just realized that I will not volunteer or do my bit. Due to the fact they are insisting on the same race date I, and a bunch of others, will be in Penticton. Sorry! If its a different date I'm there.

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https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. thats my message to kelowna.

Gong Show is right. The two events (Kelowna & Penticton) would almost be bumping into each other. The Kelowna event would be marginally successfull for one year only and that's only because so many people have already signed up. After the first year the politics would be forgotten about and everyone would go back to Penticton simply because the course and atmosphere are better.
Of course the Kelowna bid is economically motivated. With apologies to West Kelowna the city grew way too quickly in the 80's and 90's and turned into a giant strip mall with suburbs scattered all over the place. They got way behind on things like municipal services etc.
The biggest difference for me between Whistler & Kelowna is atmosphere. Whistler is a resort town that knows how to throw a party. All of the hotels are in a condensed area and the lake is a 10 minute bike ride. Just look at the Crankworx mountain bike festival and you would realize how Whistler would become Ironman City for a week. Obvious bios here but no, I don't live in Whistler.

If the WTC is monitoring the chat rooms and comments made by athletes, they will already know that Kelowna would be a poor choice, especially if they hold it on the same day. There is an overwhelming athlete loyalty to Penticton that would only hurt an event in Kelowna. Between the three choices, Whistler surely stands out as the front runner. Muskoka would be alright, but unfortunately, I think that WTC has to keep IMC in the west.