Last time next month.
Last time next month.
wow, that’s momentous. wasn’t it the 2nd oldest on the circuit?
The race had already moved away from Pentiction to Whistler and then recently back to Pentiction.
So is the 70.3 gone next year as well?
I wish they would make these announcements a little longer in advance, like saying the year after (2025) will be the last year. They did the same last year with Tremblant, and I would have liked to have done it the last year if I had known it was the last year (I did it the first year, so would have been nice).
Yeah, the first clue was naming the new Ottawa IM as Ironman Canada. They’re certainly burning their bridges out here in the west, dumping Whistler mid contract and now Penticton so soon after relocating back there. Victoria 70.3 is the last one standing.
They should have kept a 70.3 in Whistler, that was really popular. The legacy of Penticton is undeniable although plagued by annual forest fires and limited accommodations. Not a bad opportunity for a grassroots race to take its place I guess…
Oh crap, I was thinking about 70.3 Penticton this year to revisit the place I did my first Ironman (1991). I think I better get on the program and look into booking flights and hotels.
The writing was on the wall for this for a while now. Sad to see it go but with the wildfire cancellations and the change in attitude towards all things Ironman in the expanding Penticton community ,I am not at all surprised and predicted this would be the final year.
Victoria 70.3 is the last one standing…
Calgary 70.3 would like a word.
Victoria 70.3 is the last one standing…
Calgary 70.3 would like a word.
Ha, yes, fair point. What we’ll really be missing is a full distance race. With CdA gone (I think?) is the closest one in California now?
The writing was on the wall for this for a while now. Sad to see it go but with the wildfire cancellations and the change in attitude towards all things Ironman in the expanding Penticton community ,I am not at all surprised and predicted this would be the final year.
The Okanagan Gran Fondo still gets a huge number of participants and seems to welcomed by the community. Huh. Wonder why…
Yeah, the first clue was naming the new Ottawa IM as Ironman Canada. They’re certainly burning their bridges out here in the west, dumping Whistler mid contract and now Penticton so soon after relocating back there. Victoria 70.3 is the last one standing.
They should have kept a 70.3 in Whistler, that was really popular. The legacy of Penticton is undeniable although plagued by annual forest fires and limited accommodations. Not a bad opportunity for a grassroots race to take its place I guess…
On the Ottawa site it’s named “Ironman Canada - Ottawa†and on Penticton’s site now it’s “Ironman Canada - Pentictonâ€. Maybe they’ll drop the Ottawa from the site name after next month’s race in Penticton since that site was listed simply as “Ironman Canada†prior to Ottawa. Burning bridges out West is right.
I was in Penticton this past weekend for the Peach Classic. Which I believe is the oldest triathlon in BC.
There was a great turnout and great support for the race. I hope the city can continue its tradition of hosting triathlons in the future despite losing Ironman Canada (for now)
Where isn’t Ironman burning bridges
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The writing was on the wall for this for a while now. Sad to see it go but with the wildfire cancellations and the change in attitude towards all things Ironman in the expanding Penticton community ,I am not at all surprised and predicted this would be the final year.
This and other races.
Quoting me from a year ago…
My guess in a few years there will only be six IM races in North America besides Kona: Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, Cozumel, and Lake Placid. I don’t see how Canada, Wisconsin, Maryland, and Chattanooga are going to survive.
Wisconsin, Maryland, and Chattanooga won’t exist past next year. They added Ottawa but we shall see how that shakes out. Will probably do well the first year then start falling off a cliff.
If I remember well, when the event moved to Whistler, the Penticton full distance race went on as part of Challenge family events, for some time
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If I remember well, when the event moved to Whistler, the Penticton full distance race went on as part of Challenge family events, for some time
It did but registration numbers sucked. If the name of the race didn’t start with Ironman nobody cared.
Looks like now no one cares even if it does start with Ironman.
Sad, my first Ironman was in 2004 and the way the atmosphere and festival like nature of that race was awesome - the only thing comparable to it that I’ve experienced since is Kona. It’s depressing having witnessed Ironman Canada devolve from a world class 3000 person race to an afterthought and cancellation.
I’m assuming the 70.3 is going away as well? The email wasn’t quite as clear.
Looks like now no one cares even if it does start with Ironman.
Which was to my point. Slight tangent here but Ironman has painted themselves into a corner that I’m not sure they know how to get out of. The 140.6 distance is dying while the 70.3 distance does well. People just aren’t as interested in the 140.6 distance races anymore. Problem is that Ironman’s crown jewel is the IM World Championship. IM needs to pivot away from the 140.6 distance being their marquee event distance. The market has spoken. The 70.3 distance is their future. Easier to manage, easier for people to do, more races, etc.
I think rotating the race away from Kona is moving them in that direction. Every other year the men and women won’t give a shit about the race when it’s in Nice. Eventually, they won’t give a shit when it’s in Kona.
Looks like now no one cares even if it does start with Ironman.
Sad, my first Ironman was in 2004 and the way the atmosphere and festival like nature of that race was awesome - the only thing comparable to it that I’ve experienced since is Kona. It’s depressing having witnessed Ironman Canada devolve from a world class 3000 person race to an afterthought and cancellation.
I’m assuming the 70.3 is going away as well? The email wasn’t quite as clear.
Here is my historical view. Intial Penticton killed the goose that laid the golden egg by going to Challenge in 2013. Penticton did not like Ironman’s demands and they thought they could have at it with Challenge, so they did and Ironman set up 5 hrs away in Whistler close to Vancouver (I had done IMC Penticton 6 times before that). Numbers were steady in Whistler and down at Challenge Penticon. Then they did the ITU worlds (I believe 2017) in Penticton.
By this point it has been an entire Olympic cycle since anyone did an Ironman in Penticton so you don’t have people doing the race and coming home and telling their friends to go. Eventually Ironman comes back to Penticton, and we get pandemic and forest fires and you still don’t have enough people doing the race and coming back and telling friends it is a “must do event”.
IMC Penticton general entry and 70.3 Penticton are still open 6 weeks out from race day in 2024. 15 years ago, that would never happen. (for context my last IMC Penticton was 2008 and had the full on Kona atmosphere).
In parallel the sport got older and a lot of people stopped doing Ironman (we see them dying all over the place to GMAN’s points).
So here we are in 2024. An older sport, less interest in Ironman and for the last 12 years not much of a legacy from races in Penticton to create pull and buzz from pass participants. So you have those of us from 15-30 years ago passionate about the race, but our time is long expired in terms of carrying that momentum back to Penticton.
As for the new Ironman Canada in Ottawa, as I live here, I worry that after the first year we keep the buzz going. The good news is that I did 70.3 Muskoka last weekend and the 25-44 age groups were the largest. First time I have seen that is age. There were countless people I met at Muskoka who are signed up for Ottawa next year. Let’s see. Between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto + Southern Ontario + Southern Quebec, there are plenty of athletes to pull from.