Just got off the phone with Ottawa based Tri Coach and super-master triathlete Rick Hellard. He was telling me that the city of Ottawa has qualified 17 people for the Ironman Hawaii triathlon. Rick checked-in with Marc Roy at SportStats to run a search and Ottawa has the more people entered in the race than any other city in the world! #2 was Seoul, Korea!! Ottawa - a triathlon training hot-bed. Who knew!! Must be something in the snow and ice!
What happend to the other so called triathlon training hot-spots like Boulder and San Diego?
i knew!! After getting to train with them last weekend in the Gats I can see why there are so many strong bikers and runners and they have a tonne of access to open water. And everyone up there seems to be a Xcountry skiing nut, so I can definitely see why they are so strong.
I would move there in a second. Oh and I should mention the tri community seems to be really close up there. Everyone is very supportive.
Huh? Maybe they are doing it to seek asylum due to the North Korean nuclear testing…
Sounds pretty weird…I suppose that this (Korea being #2) is because the high percentage of Koreans at their own IM (i.e. there is likely fewer international entries to IMK) so they are more likely to get qualifying sports, where as IMAZ has lots of euros who qualify. More Seoul-ites as a percentage qualify at IMK than Tempe-ans qualify at IMAZ
Fleck…like I said, we had 13 Kona qualifiers from Epicman, of which 12 were from Ottawa :-)…Murphy’s Law was the honorary import presence!
So you’re saying we got more going from here than San Diego, Boulder or Austin? That rocks. No wonder each time I turn around I am getting pummelled by one stud after another in training sessions. There is an endless supply!
Just got off the phone with Ottawa based Tri Coach and super-master triathlete Rick Hellard. He was telling me that the city of Ottawa has qualified 17 people for the Ironman Hawaii triathlon. Rick checked-in with Marc Roy at SportStats to run a search and Ottawa has the more people entered in the race than any other city in the world! #2 was Seoul, Korea!! Ottawa - a triathlon training hot-bed. Who knew!! Must be something in the snow and ice!
What happend to the other so called triathlon training hot-spots like Boulder and San Diego?
Fleck
Because hardly anyone actually lives in San Diego. They’re all in the sourrounding towns. Same thing up here in the SF area. I know at least 10, but not one who actually lives in the city itself.
“So you’re saying we got more going from here than San Diego, Boulder or Austin?”
Yep. That’s right. I do get a chuckle out of this because those three cities continually get tossed around as some sort of training Nirvana here and elsewhere and always seem to make it onto those top 5 or 10 lists in Outside magazine and other magazines as the BEST places to live and train. Yet Ottawa easily tops all those places for Kona qualifers. I should ad that most of those IMH qualifying spots were won at IMUSA in Lake Placid and at IMC, two of the most competitive age-group Ironmans around. As I said, must be something in the ice and snow up there in Canada’s Capital. I think I read somewhere that Ottawa is the second coldest national capital city in the world. Second only to Ulan Bator - the capital of Mongolia!!
Look it’s just a stat, and as I am sure you know you can bend stats anyway you want. I just think that it’s rather interesting that a smallish city( about a million people) like Ottawa, that get’s a modest to severe winter can qualify this many people. You can take it or interpret it any way you want.
You can add another 1/2 to that 17 because T-Racer was born and raised in Ottawa. I stole her away and now she claims Colorado Springs as home…but is still an Ottawian, or whatever you call yourselves, at heart. She’ll be in Kona again sportin’ Canadian decals and temporary tatoos.
Had to represent San Diego properly…and I was curious and I’m bored at work today.
total from San Diego county - 28
Solana Beach (1), Encinitas (2), Cardiff (2), La Jolla (3), San Diego (14), Rancho Santa Fe (1), San Marcos (1), Carlsbad (1), Del Mar (1), Bonita (1), Chula Vista (1).
not to mention the pros that come here to train that list a different city of residence (Al Sultan, for example)
I counted at least another dozen from Orange County, the inland empire and LA. Southern California total is somewhere close to 50
Had to represent San Diego properly…and I was curious and I’m bored at work today.
total from San Diego county - 28
Solana Beach (1), Encinitas (2), Cardiff (2), La Jolla (3), San Diego (14), Rancho Santa Fe (1), San Marcos (1), Carlsbad (1), Del Mar (1), Bonita (1), Chula Vista (1).
not to mention the pros that come here to train that list a different city of residence (Al Sultan, for example)
I counted at least another dozen from Orange County, the inland empire and LA. Southern California total is somewhere close to 50
OK, that is better. I’d expect San Diego County to beat us…28-17…sounds like a good football game. Just wish we converted a few more field goals and a touchdown :-). Seriously, it is an honour for our community to post that many, and for the record, I believe the 17 is Ottawa-Gatineau, which gives us the 1 Million total. If not, it is more like 12 from a population of 700K. Gatineau qualified 5 from a population of 300K!
After getting to train with them last weekend in the Gats I can see why there are so many strong bikers and runners and they have a tonne of access to open water. And everyone up there seems to be a Xcountry skiing nut, so I can definitely see why they are so strong.