I took the deferral to September 18, 2021; re-booked my hotel in Cervia and cancelled this year’s flight. It didn’t take me too long after I got that same email from Ironman either. All week, whenever I catch myself wondering or second guessing my decision to defer, I take a breath and reflect on the fact that there are much bigger things going on in the world today and many more people going through truly hard times. That helps me with perspective.

To your question if Ironman Italy will be cancelled for 2020, your guess is as good as anyone’s. However, I did read the Italian Triathlon Association’s latest guidance for racing for the balance of 2020; I did not see anything that would be holding Ironman back from putting on this race. For example, there is no limits specific to the number of participants as is the case here in BC. I continued my best to prepare for IM Italy throughout the summer with the idea that the race could happened based on that guidance.

The one of the “gotchas” for me was the requirement for quarantining for 14 days upon landing in Europe. It is a €1000 fine if you are caught outdoors during those 14 days. I’d want to run a little, bike a little and maybe get wet once or twice in the weeks leading up to an IM.