Didn't see a thread either - Good luck tomorrow, I will be on the course racing as well. Should be an awesome but tough race.

Best of luck to you. Looks like it’ll be a hot one.

Be interested in hearing your experiences.

If you’re doing it again next year, let me know. Planning on signing up ASAP

Thanks and have a good race.

Temps reaching 35 c that is 95 americano. I doubt most athletes are prepared for that at whistler. One year you get hypothermia the next heatstroke.

20 percent DNF rate? Excluding DNS.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

The heat combined with all the climbing on the bike should make for a rough day out there

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Matt

TOP 10 Pro Men - Thru Bike Split 4 - 45 km's


1 2:18:11 Brent McMahon
2 2:18:14 0:04 Mark Bowstead
3 2:18:17 0:06 Jeff Symonds
4 2:22:09 3:59 Marino Vanhoenacker
5 2:22:52 4:41 Andrew Talansky
6 2:23:09 4:59 Tripp Hipple
7 2:23:15 5:04 Sam Long
8 2:23:19 5:08 Justin Metzler
9 2:24:05 5:55 Matt Russell
10 2:25:12 7:02 Nathan Killam

Thanks for posting. I have a question for today’s IM Canada racers who have also done the previous course including the Pemberton Valley and that climb out of the hole at mile 90.

If you’ve done both races, could you compare the difficulty from old to new?

I love a single-loop course, so going to three loops makes Canada/Whistler a less attractive option, so I’d love to know from people who raced both old and new courses how it felt to be doing three loops versus the big single loop?

Whistler is still a great place to race, with the convenience of having T2 and the finish in the village and that beautiful Alta Lake just the right distance walk from town.

Bottom line, worth a return visit?

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

Its really hot. Im here, not racing broke collarbone thursday

Whistler is such an awesome venue

It’s baking here in the Fraser valley - hottest day of the year. Massive congrats to everyone that got it done today.

This is my 4th ironman at whistler. Today I dnf’d (PR: 10:55)

I did not enjoy the new course. Nothing wrong with the roads or anything, but doing it 3 times was extremely draining mentally for me for some reason.

Probably because of all the elevation and having to do the same climbs over and over

My opinion may be swayed by the heat and my dnf though...

One word to describe today , “HOT AS BALLS” ok maybe 3 words. Going thru the lost lake out and back someone said it hit 39 Celsius in the tree cover. It was like breathing super heated air. Another thing it is way tougher than last year! 700 more ft of climbing and in like last year there is no rest down to pemberton and then a flat 40 km out and back. It was up and down all day. look at the finish list only 70 people under 11 hrs.
Having said all that the weather probably won’t be like this again and Whistler throws one heck of a Ironman.

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"Be your best cheerleader , not your worst critic.”

Penticton had a single-loop, T1, T2, & finish in the same place, and 2 beautiful lakes! Ah, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that one day the race returns.

Sorry about the DNF. I bet you have lots of company and tomorrow they announce the lowest finish rate since the rainy year.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

I had my first ever DNF today in the full (9 IMs without issue). I’m a good climber and accustomed to heat, but the bike course completely destroyed me. Significantly harder than last year’s course, which I handled fine. It also was not enjoyable and seemed pretty dangerous in parts. I started the run and then dropped when I couldn’t actually run. It stayed very hot for the next few hours so my situation would not have improved.

I was watching pros ride back into town finishing loop 2. Between 70.3 BOP, 140.6 on course, fans, dogs, and cars its a miracle i only saw 3 ambulances in that short 20'min span! (Not kidding).

It was nuts. IMO that stretch thru village on highway was not safe. 2 lane hwy with shoulders turned into make shift 3 lanes. People are stupid so i saw parents self directing cars to stop so they could get their kids across road. I was only there max 20mins before i had to leave.

Stoked for Symonds!

But i think Marinho V nailed it on his FB page-:(

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@rhyspencer

Hi — So sorry about your DNF.
I’d like to hear more about why it felt dangerous.

I was wondering about the three-loop format and how well the 70.3 riders would integrate with the full IM riders. Did the course seem crowded beyond your other IM experience?

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

Tough day out there and the combination of heat with the hills made for an exceptional day.

I came into this race very undertrained and was stoked with a 1h22’ swim. The swim course is the best i have ever done. Beautiful and not at all crowded.

Bike was killer. 3 laps are mentally and physically draining but i am ok with mental challenges being included in an IM event. The 70.3 racers made the course very crowded. I am always a come-from-behind racer so used to working my way through traffic and i thought today was not that different. That said the roads by Alta Lake are sketchy with so many newbies on the road. 6h00 bike split to go from 982 to 138th place, it was brutally hot. Really suffered on that last lap and got way overheated.

That killed my run - i could run in the shade but had a pounding headache and could barely walk in the heat especially going towards Green Lake. Bonked anyways. At some point walked for an hour eating lots of bananas and oranges and came back to life.

Finished in 13h 07... way slower than expected even tough i think i had a great race given the circumstances.

My family and I have absolutely loved this venue. I would definitely recommend this race though i can imagine it will need some more tweaking.

So glad I got to do the race in 2015 before this 3 loop and a simultaneous half-ironman bullshit. Thanks for passing on Marino's assessment.

No return to Ironman Whistler for me...unless no half and at least a two 90km loop.

This thread has sealed it for me. The other week the wife and I were talking about me maybe 'going big' again next year and doing a foreign IM. She like the idea of Whistler as a destination race for the whole family. My only concern really was travelling over from the UK, and wanting to have a decent enjoyable race, and the self induced pressure for it to be a good race/trip for the investment.

Then I looked at the course online, and thought the 3-lap course was unappealing...and now this thread and Vanhoenacker's assessment.

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29 years and counting

Plenty of people did very well today. They were better prepared than I was.

I will be back, if that helps your thoughts on coming here.

Also, the town of whistler was incredible again for my family. The atmosphere in the village was spectacular - amazing experience.

MVH sounds like sour grapes to me. His view probably would be different if he had placed or won. Saw him walking the marathon so he is probably in a bad mood.

To me, 3 loops isn't ideal but necessary for some IMs. AZ and COZ come to mind and they don't seem to get the bad rap like Canada is getting.

MVH sounds like sour grapes to me. His view probably would be different if he had placed or won. Saw him walking the marathon so he is probably in a bad mood
—————
Probably yes but he did win this race before so he knows the 2 courses.

I’m doing AZ with a bunch of guys from town. It will be my first 3 loop course. So I will be curious how the safety plays out.

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@rhyspencer

Were you here yesterday?

Marino was spot on. I have raced or been on the sidelines for every Ironman Canada since 2006. This race took a major step back yesterday.

Yes I raced yesterday. I don't have a comparison to past years but the congestion on the course was not any different than the 9 other IMs I've done. Also, in MVH's post he said 3000 on the course but it was 1400 doing the IM and 1200 doing the 70.3, so 2600 total.