IM CDA '15 was my first IM, My bike read 104 at the end - and, it only got hotter on the "run" I hit every run aid station with a re-fill of my oversize bike bottle w/half water and half Gatorade. I drank all of that each mile and still lost a ton of weight. My fastest IM ever, and, from a USAT points ranking perspective - my best IM ever. Go figure.

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

I'm a CDA native and really grew up watching that race and getting that seed planted a long time ago. The plan was always to have CDA as my first, so it was pretty damn dissapointing when they nixed it. There was a lot of local politics involved that I don't think people outside the community really saw though, too. The CDA Board is just... It's important to remember that downtown CDA is essentially owned by the Hagadone corp, and essentially the whole council/board is one degree seperated at best. CDA seems to have an attitude, politically, that outsiders should 'earn/beg' the right to be in the town, and IM didn't seem willing to flex. I can level a lot of the same criticism at WTC for their handling, but CDA really seemed like they wanted to be paid for the honor of hosting an IM. Not literally, but that's the vibe I got. Combine that with the fact that CDA summers are so short, and the rest of the year so bad, there's practically a major event every weekend. The volunteer community was getting tapped out. Anyway, that's all just my opinion/how I view things, but I'm not surprised WTC pulled the plug.

But yeah, absolutely great course, and I'll probably go back at some point to do the half at least.

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JustinDoesTriathlon

Owner, FuelRodz Endurance.

I'm going with 2002 Ironman Utah. Worse water conditions I've ever seen. I almost didn't start because the water looked so dangerous. High winds, very high choppy swells - unpredictable uneven swells. Not like ocean waves. I was out in front of the start line testing the waters and trying to determine if I would even start the race.

The cannon went off 10 minutes early as I was swimming back towards the line, so I just turned around and went for it. Within 15 minutes you couldn't see another swimmer, we were scattered in the chop. I swam for the first main buoy but never seemed to reach it. That's because it had come unhooked and was drifting away. I never saw a boat or kayak.

After well over an hour in the water, I came across another swimmer, one of the pros. We both decided to follow each other to the shoreline. We got out a couple of miles down the lake from the start line. We hitch-hiked back to the start line to find out the swim was cancelled almost immediately after the start - but no one in the water would have known that. Unfortunately one athlete drowned that day. My wife and young children were a mess. All they knew was I started and didn't come out of the water for a long time - and never came from the direction they were expecting me.

I believe that was the end of Ironman Utah.

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jun/20/sports/sp-triathlon20

Definitely IM StG 2012. The Swim was absolutely brutal (large swells and buoys blown off their moorings so navigating was basically impossible) and then it only got worse on the bike. I remember getting to "the wall" and thinking it was the easiest part of the ride because we happened to have a tailwind on the climb.

There were a total of 5 athletes who went under 10 hours (all male pros) and the winning time was 9:07 (Ben Hoffman). You know it's a tough day when Ben Hoffman and Maik Twelsiek, two of the strongest riders in the sport, set the fastest bike split of the day at ... 5:10.

This. Almost no one ever comments on any of my Ironman T-shirts, except that I almost always get a couple of comments when I wear my Tahoe shirt.

Another proud finisher of IMCDA in '15. Wow what a hot day. Kudos to their volunteers.

I have raced a frigid and wet IM Switz in '08, IMSG in '12, a absolute scorching Kona in '15 and Boulder this year (hotter than hades) along with 12 other IMs and the worst day was IMSG.

The winds made that day brutal and very dangerous. It was the only time I have seen people blown off the road (including several pros). The swim was one where I really thought 'I may never get to the shore' several times over. As someone who loves to swim in rough water, it was not overly stressful, but I did fear I would never make enough progress to find land. On the bike, I was done after one lap, but for some reason, made the turn for lap 2 and then in my anger, forced myself to go through the wind tunnel again. It was like a sad WWI battlefield, with people littered all over the roads, some holding on to their bikes (to keep either themselves or the bike from being blown away). I did have a few laughs at the absolute absurdity of the day.

I do love that race, and am gutted it's gone, despite the miserable experience.

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
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I won M40-44 with a 10:18! Off a 5:36 bike, I totally ran out of nutrition because I didn't expect to be out there that long.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

I was at IMSG in 12, it's still the maddest race I've ever done. The unexpected wind, the waves, the hell on the bike, I've never seen anything like it since.

Haha. Me too! I was on the bike for 6:12! I definitely didn't bring enough gels for that.

I think someone should compile stories from that day- from racers of all skill levels, volunteers, and witnesses. And publish it. I'm sure that there are some great anecdotes and individual experiences that would be worth sharing, even if the overall purpose might just be for posterity 's sake, and it need not have some deeper meaning

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"There are two ways to slide easily through life- to believe everything and to doubt everything- both ways save us from thinking "- Korzbyski

I did a self-supported Ironman once where it was misting rain off and on all day and the temps hovered between 35 and 45F the whole time. I had hypothermia really bad when I finished. My wife found me sitting down in a hot shower shaking uncontrollably. I kinda-sorta set up my own aid stations as best I could every 20 something miles on the bike and about every 3 miles on the run instead of the 10 and 1 you usually see, so that didn't help much either. lol.

Did another one a few years later during a tropical storm, nearly a hurricane. That was tough on the bike, but actually kind of fun on the run.

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Not an IM, but Beach2Battleship in 2012 was pretty cold and wet. I remember it being in the upper 40’s for most of the bike, and I came very close to calling it a day. The only way I could take in nutrition was to stop and use both hands as they were so numb from the cold that one wouldn’t cut it. The sun did come out near the end of the bike, but it was pretty miserable until that point.

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
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My mom and a few other medical staff used to run the medical tent out in Cawston. I remember her talking about all the athletes that got heat stroke, cramps, bee stings, etc, on that day. On a side note, Cawston is in flames right now! Not a good time to cycle the old Ironman Canada loop. https://globalnews.ca/...ain-wildfire-update/

Three I did in my younger years.
- 1983 Kona. Winds gusting over 60 to Hawi. On the drops, pedaling as hard as possible, I did 4mph uphill. A woman passed me pushing her bike. Going down the wind picked my training parter from mid-lane and dropped him on the shoulder. Luckily he didn’t crash.
- 1984 Kona. Very hot, humid. I think they said it was over 130 on the Queen K.
- 1985 Japan in the remnants of the typhoon.

Thanks for the update on the fire situation in Cawston. Hope things get under control there quickly!

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

...snip

Agreed, and agreed. I'll take heat over extreme and gusty winds.

I've done 12 IMs, including a hot 'n humid. St. George was a different beast entirely.

Dealing with conditions in the hot 'n humid IM was, relatively, easy. The hot 'n humid didn't affect the swim, and barely impacted the bike. (Aside, living in the desert ofter requires riding in triple-digit heat.) The real impact was on the run. Dealing with the threat of a DNF, however, only required that I slow down. I was hot, but I knew I would finish.

The wind at St.G, however, was the opposite. The threat of a wind-forced DNF was significant and greatest during the swim, and eased up only slightly on the bike. The run was the first time during that race that I not only stopped worrying that I would end up in a hospital but stopped worrying whether the mere effort to keep moving forward had exhausted me to a DNF.

But, it was a beautiful course and a great race.

Not sure about you guys, but every time I think about my greatest triathlon achievement it always comes down to surviving IMSG. No PR or other well executed race brings up the same emotion as when I think about IMSG. Though I should say, at the time the race had a big impact on me. I got such a beating that it took me several days to realize finishing the race that day was in fact a major accomplishment, and it took until my next Ironman a year later before I had fully accepted that it really wasn't me sucking that time on May 5, 2012 but rather that forces of nature had simply been extreme. Basically it took a new Ironman race to restore my own confidence that had been destroyed and only partially rebuilt after IMSG 2012.

This thread prompted me to pull up my IMSG race report and re-read it. I can still remember (and feel) the intensity of the wind when we made that turn. The funny thing was my RR was very much, ok, this is crazy and I may never get to land, but who cares, and just get on with it. My whole day was pretty much that mental approach. Utter amazement at times, and moments of wondering if I would move forward, mixed with the sights of seeing people blown off the road, the volunteers holding on to things to hold them from stumbling, and yet most everyone out there was doing their best to move forward, with little complaint. Such a crazy day

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack