Uhhhhhh. OK.

LOL...I'll tell you what we will do...we will come up with a bunch of great ideas, take it to market and the world will think it is awesome. Then we will mismanaged the growth and will get bought out by a bunch of Americas in Wall Street, Silicon Valley or from the Energy patch in Houston or some state run company from China. That's pretty well the story of Canadian business management.

There's no salvation!

Then we would have the Ironman 113 World Championships and everyone would have 226 stickers?

Well, first of all, it should say "was run", we'd correct that for sure eh.

Then, if it was held in the East we could say "A Triathlon can no more lose money than a man can have a baby". For those that don't know, that is a 1.5 Billion dollar (in 1970s dollars) statement that took 30 years to pay off. I suspect that the current WTC may be a bit more fiscally prudent although when it is all being paid for by taxpayers I suppose it is different.

---

BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

Nope, but it would be sponsored an American company, you've probably not heard of Tim Hortons though ;)

I actually recall seeing an add for Tim Hortons years ago. They offered donuts with a lunch order. I have cheered only for Canadian hockey teams ever since.

Isn't that what happened with NA Sports getting bought out by WTC? (For the newer athletes, NA Sports, owned by a Canadian, used to own Ironman Canada, Lake Placid, Florida, etc. The racer experience was much better when they ran the show, and they didn't cheap out on things as much as WTC does!)

I would predict a sharp drop in participation when we move Kona to Nunavut in February.

Finisher hats replaced with touques (How many 'u's can we fit in that short word?!)

Mike Reilly would have to say "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" followed directly by "VOUS ETES UN IRONMAN!!" to every finisher.

Races would last until 12:00am, or 12:30 for participants from Quebec.

Candied salmon, maple syrup, and beer offered at all aid stations. Chicken broth to be replaced by Tim's double double.

"On your left!" would be replaced by "Sorry, on your left, eh" followed by a brief exchange of comments about the weather.

I could go on.

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

Haha....you read in between my lines, however, Graham was managing his Canadian company just fine. I was more referring to the various Canadian companies in my industry (or closely related ones) that can't seem to hit a home run internationally before being gobbled up by a US one. That happened to my last company and for the last 5 years, been working out of Canada for a US company that by and large is far more competent in the business world than the previous Canadian regime that was floundering around even though they had awesome technology and products under their hood. Now all that revenue we generate goes to California instead of staying at home, but the Canadian economy does not deserve any better if it can't get its business shit together to actually run the local businesses.

Maple syrup in stinger waffles and gels instead of honey?

Oh how I miss those glorious days. They did such a good job.

---

--------------------------------------------------------
John Behme
Charlotte, NC

I did IM Moo before and after the WTC takeover, and I'd be hard pressed to name any real differences. Specifically, what did NA Sports do better that made the race experience better?

Spot

---

___________________________________________________
Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

First IM (and I guess 2-3 HIMs too?) NAS 2d IM WTC. Far as I was concerned, race execution was identical but for location.

Swag was different and of higher quality. The IM Foundation stuff for IMAZ (not that you do IM Foundation for the swag, or even an IM for that matter, but it's the only noticeable difference to me) included jacket and visor. IMC foundation cotton tee.

Best thing NAS used to do, and I think even WTC did it for a while, is to have "finisher" and the year on each hat, and each race had different hats. Now, it's just a generic white hat with the race name on it.

No backpacks with NAS but the WTC ones aren't that sturdy and, again, are fairly generic.

Doesn't change the enjoyment of the race, just the bragging afterward :)

Oh man, best laugh I've had for a long time! Thanks.

The merch tent would sell Ironman branded bunnyhugs

You know, the funny part about that was while passing people at IMC on the weekend, I often found myself apologizing saying "Sorry, that was a dumb move, I'm sure you'll pass me back in a minute" and follow it up with something like "Damn, it's really getting hot out eh?". Talk about reenforcing the stereotype!

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

Less people on the course

---

--------------------------------------------------------
John Behme
Charlotte, NC

1. All the verbs in our headlines would be conjugated properly... I, for one, welcome our new Tim-Horton-consuming overlords.

Still corporate feel then yes, but much more of a local flavor/hometown feel to the race. Back in the day, it felt like it was Graham and his family organizing the race, without the cookie-cookie impersonal feel of things now

Less cheapening out on stuff back then- every year, they seem to cut things more at IMLP now that WTC is in charge

The old Gatorade swims, which were the place to be before the race

Small changes, yes, but I've been going up to Placid for nearly a decade now, and the overall feel of the race is different now, and not in a good way!

I've raced in Canada so here goes:

Injured and want to defer to next year? No problem.

Hydration station every 2Km. HTFU.

No magic thermometers. No, you can't wear a wetsuit if the water is too warm. Don't worry water is never too warm. :D

More likely to get a penalty when drafting.

Cops are better at directing traffic, probably because drivers are more respecting. I yelled a thank you at a cop at a Canadian race and he actually said you're welcome back at me.

In an unlikely event you get kicked in the swim? You'll get an apology.

Overall better atmosphere. Feels more grassroots than races in the US.

Used to finishing top 10% or top 20%? Enjoy your 50% finish because there's a lot more fast people.

Don't feed gummy bears to drug sniffing dogs on the way back across the border.

Lol, I've said the same things! "Hey, I'm sure you'll see me walking up ahead in a while! Etc.

Ironman Yukon

Seriously, don't mean to discriminate and generalize but I like the Canadians on this forum much better than the Americans.

Thank you.

People would be surprised at the number of historically significant roads in the sport of triathlon that either originate in Canada or loop back through here!

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog