In montreal I've just heard good things about it...good organisation and like you said, great for the family and friends. By the way from the seats next to the Bassin they can watch the entire swim and run(not just once a lap)! In between they can walk 5 min to watch the 41 loops bike leg.There are not a lot of elite's there since it's just one month prior to Kona and since it's not part of the championship.

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Richard

"You're only young once, but you can be immature forever" - Larry Andersen

Watched the event last year: Well organized (aid & repair sations, transition) and the 40+ laps does not seem all that bad... the other distances are entering and exiting the course throught the day so there are new faces / paces. Light group riding is allowed (no pelaton).

Depending on recovery from IMUSA I will be there in 2003.

CM

How many athletes did the full distance last year? The website isn't clear on that.

49 finished & 4 DNF

http://www.sportstats.ca/res2002/esprit.htm

I'm assuming the bike times are a bit slow because there are so many turns. Why don't more people do this race - 53 seems a bit low. Is it just too unusual and not an M dot?

I've never done the full distance there but they had the World Olympic Distance championships there is 1999 and I raced age-group at the same venue. The swim is really cool becasue it is in the Olympic rowing basin. You swim up one side then back down the other .... sort of like a 2k long outdoor pool. They even had the lines along the bottom that the rowing lane markers are attached to so sighting is a non-issue. The bike course (I only had to do 9 laps) would probably get a bit tedious but the pavement is pristine (they run a Formula 1 auto race on the same track) with a slight hill at one end and a hairpin turn at the other. It would be great for spectators too since your cheering section would see you a lot. I know people that have done the race and been much faster there than in other irondistance races so if you can handle the monotony of going around and around in circles and the winds cooperate it would be a fast course. I'm surprised that more people thinking of doing an ironman race don't do Esprit since it is never too full and is relatively inexpensive. I was thinking of doing it last year but ended up racing the Canadian Long course championships the week before it.

I have not done it but have many buddies who have. I've raced the olympic distance on that venue many times and it is fast. My PB on that course was 1:59, and I was never able to get below 2:02 on any other course. It would be fast for an Ironman, if you can handle the 42 lap bike. Another issue is the multiple lap run course. I hear it is pretty tempting to bail as you pass the finish line many times. I would much rather be at mile 13 at OK falls in Penticton and have the choice of the broom wagon 4 hours later or shuffle back in 2 hours to get to the hot tub :-).

Perhaps a reason for the low numbers is the geographic proximity of Ironman USA LP. In years past Esprit would get almost 200, but they have declined big time since LP was introduced. Esprit also has a half Ironman on the same day as the full course.

on of the endursport staff members did it and put a great review on te website. Look under race reviews at www.endurosport.com

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