The Ultraman Canada Triathlon was held July 30 to Aug 1, a holiday weekend
in beautiful Penticton, B.C. The event drew a field of 16 athletes from
around the world to compete in the three-day stage race. The 6.2-mile swim,
260-mile bike, and 52.4 mile run were broken down over three days. The
first day was a 6.2-mile swim in Skaha Lake from Penticton to Okanagan
Falls, followed by a 90-mile bike, which is basically the Ironman Canada
bike course. The second day was a 170-mile bike ride from Okanagan Falls to
Princeton, and day three was a 52.4-mile run from Princeton to Summerland.
Each day must be completed under the 12-hour cutoff.

Skaha Lake was almost as smooth as glass when we stared at 7 AM on Saturday.
My paddler escort was a local fellow named Tom Jasper who wore his Texas
flag shirt in my honor. Each swimmer was required to have a paddler for
safety and to carry the swimmerâ?Ts nutrition. I had Tom stop me every 40
minutes so I could take in some calories. I gave him five bottles and a
flask of Hammer Gel. I had planned on a 4-hour swim. It took 4:41. Good
thing I brought the fifth bottle. My arms got heavy the last 30 minutes of
the swim. I saw the buoy at the finish over a mile away. It seemed to keep
its distance for quite a while before it finally got larger and let me catch
it.

Out of the water, happy to have made it no matter what the time, eager to
get on the bike. My crew greets me, takes my wetsuit and hands me a towel.
I towel off asking where the bathroom is. I take my bike clothes into the
bathroom take care of business and change clothes. Out and onto my bike, a
short climb to Eastside Dr. and a right turn and Iâ?Tm on my way. South
toward Osoyoos, my crew starts leapfrogging me, offering me water, Cytomax,
Sustained Energy. I drink and I peddle. I hang a right in Osoyoos and
head up the Richter Pass. Itâ?Ts about eight miles long, but not too steep.
My crew keeps me fueled and I handle the pass easily. I feel strong. Going
down the other side I pass my Samuel Goldsmith, a competitor from Michigan.
We exchange word of encouragement and off I go.

You see Ultraman is a triathlon like no other. We look out for each other.
Crews look out for their athletes as well as the other athletes. Helping
each other is not only allowed, it is encouraged. Over the course of the
three days athletes forge a strong bond and make lasting friendships with
people from around the world. We have the chance to push ourselves to new
heights and do things we didnâ?Tt know we could do. We donâ?Tt speak of
limits, for there are no limits at Ultraman.

Onward down the backside of Richter Pass toward Keremeos. About 10 miles
from Keremeos, I have 40 or so miles left and I started smelling the barn.
I lost focus on the here and now and slowed my intake of calories. Big
mistake. By the time I got to the climb to Yellow Lake, I was starting to
bonk. I wasnâ?Tt communicating with my crew, so they didnâ?Tt know exactly
what I was experiencing and what I needed.

Along about this time I passed Ellis Andrewsâ?T crew. Their SUV was stuck
in some loose sand on the shoulder. Ellis was ahead of them and would be
SOL without his crew. Fortunately, my crew loaded them up along with his
food and drink and went ahead to feed Ellis, take his crew the remaining 15
or so miles to the finish, and return to crew me to the finish. The last 10
miles or so were downhill into Okanagan Falls and I cruised into the day one
finish in 10:48. My crew said I looked very pale. They made sure I got
some calories in me right away. This part of the race is of the utmost
importance. Recovering for the next dayâ?Ts stage can make or break an
athlete. I got into the lake to cool off and immediately lost all my body
heat and got a bad case of the chills. I quickly got out, dried off and got
into some dry clothes. I hung around, got my massage, and watched the last
athletes finish the stage. Just under the wire, the final two athletes ride
in. All 16 athletes finish day one under the cutoff.

Day two started back in Penticton at Skaha Marina. We got there about 6:30
AM for the 7:00 start. That gave us a chance mill around and joke with the
other athletes. No pre-race hype or stress. Everybody seemed relaxed, just
like before any other Sunday group ride. With little fanfare we were on our
way south on Eastside drive. Skaha Lake was to our right as we headed to
Osoyoos on the initial out and back. The group quickly strings out. Close
behind me is fellow Austinite John McCarey. We stay near each other until I
stop to pee. No peeing off the bike for me. I soon pass John at about 55
miles where he is stopped for a quick bite to eat. Five miles later he
returns the favor when Iâ?Tm on a pre-planned snack break. At about 100K I
come to â?othe wallâ?ù, a 1.2-mile, steep climb similar to those around
Leakey.

I pass John as I climb out of the saddle, then I round a hairpin corner to
see the film crew taking video of us taking on the steepest climb on the
course. How motivating to have an audience just as I was getting into my
groove. This stretch is about 20 miles long and goes by an observatory on
the way to Twin Lakes. Near the observatory I catch up to Cory Foulk from
Kona. Iâ?Tm greeted with his customary, â?oright on.â?ù This guy always
has a smile on his face. You can tell right away he truly loves what heâ?Ts
doing. We chat for a bit, and then I take off. He catches and passes me on
the descent from Yellow Lake. We would repeat this for the rest of the day.

I learned the hard way the first day not to turn down my crew when they
offer me sustenance. I took what they offered when they offered it on day
two and it paid off. My energy never wavered and I remained strong. I
learned something from Cory that day. He said he recovers better for day
three if he eats a meal 40 or 50 miles from the end of the day two bike.
Coryâ?Ts done 10 Ultraman and 30 Ironman triathlons, so I figure he knows a
thing or two I donâ?Tt. We ride into Princeton with Cory about 300 yards
ahead of me. From there, we have a final 38-mile out and back to the
finish. Cory stops in town to have his burger. As I do the climb out of
town before I stop for my little meal of black rice crackers, avocado and
hummus.

Cory takes the lead while Iâ?Tm answering natureâ?Ts call. I get back on
the bike to chase him down. Not that Iâ?Tm competitive mind you, I was just
getting into the zone. Energized by the fact that I was chasing down an
Ultraman living legend and the prospect of a sub 11-hour finish, I push
onward into the wind uphill toward the turn around. As I finally approach
the turnaround, I see Cory with his crew. He is stopped. They seem to be
going over his nutrition. I say â?ohowdyâ?ù, he says â?oright on.â?ù

Off I ride, mostly downhill, mostly with the wind, charged up. Having
listened to my crew and taken everything they handed me throughout the day,
I was properly fueled up and full of energy. Riding with the wind, like
the wind and on the wind, in my mind I was flying. I knew I shouldnâ?Tt
push too hard just to finish ahead of Cory. I knew I should start
conserving energy for the third day, but I also wanted to finish under 11
hours. For a time there it felt as though my bike had no chain. What a
thrilling finish to a long day in the saddle. I was satisfied with an 11:09
time for the second day. My crew had nailed my nutrition perfectly and was
on the spot at the finish with more food to hasten my recovery. After my
massage and hanging out to greet the final finishers, we went to dinner. My
crew was famished. They had busted butt to take care of me and it was time
to get a hot meal for all of us.

Three athletes missed the cutoff; among them was John McCarey who suffered
terribly in the heat. Temperature in the upper nineties and the low
humidity can really suck the life out of you if arenâ?Tt careful. In
Ultraman, if an athlete misses the dayâ?Ts cutoff, his status changes from
competitor to participant. He is encouraged to continue the following day
even though he wonâ?Tt be an official finisher.

Thankfully, day three brought noticeably cooler temperatures and a tailwind.
The 52.4-mile run started a couple of miles out of Princeton, on the road to
Summerland. Only one athlete did not start the run. The guy that didnâ?Tt
start suffered both day one and two from dehydration, and missed the cutoff
the second day.

With little hoopla, we started our run. It started with a little hill and
then about four miles of net downhill. After that, it was uphill to mile 20
or so. The plan was to walk the hills so as not to waste energy and let
gravity work in my favor on the downhills. My crew would stop every mile
and tell me what I needed to drink or eat. Over the course of the previous
two days, I had learned to listen to them and do what they said. I drank
when they said drink and ate when they said eat. They kept me going, all I
had to do was put one foot in front of the other. The only flaw in my plan
was that I did not have any pacers. One of the unique things about Ultraman
is that they allow pacers on the run.

Fortunately, I caught up to Cory just after the half marathon point. We
hung together and talked and laughed for about an hour and a half. Running
with him was like getting a shot of adrenaline. He always seems to be
smiling and having fun, and thatâ?Ts why I was there, to have fun. After a
while, he slowed and I kept on my merry way. Right on! After mile twenty,
we had 10 or 12 miles of net downhill. Time to get into a groove and let
gravity do its thing. Somewhere around mile 28 or so I caught up to
Christina Hijjawi. I had met her at Ultraman Hawaii last November. She had
come to Canada to shake off her DNF from Hawaii. She was in a low spot and
I tried to perk her up. â?oLess than a marathon to go, Christinaâ?ù, I
said. I kept on my pace and wished her good luck.

My energy was great, but I was feeling my left hip flexor. I took ibuprofen
a couple of times and that helped somewhat. â?oJust keep on truckinâ?T and
keep your eye on the prizeâ?ù, I told myself. On the uphill stretch at
about mile 37, Coryâ?Ts crew passed me. I thought he was catching me, but
no such luck. He was in the vehicle. He had wisely thrown in the towel.
His trick hip was giving him fits and he didnâ?Tt want to risk permanent
injury on the 20K downhill stretch to the finish.

To my surprise and delight Christina caught up to me at about mile 38. She
was only 14 miles from her first Ultraman finish and still not able to grasp
what was within her reach. She thought she was running out of time, but
really we had three and a half hours to run 14 miles. She got her mind
around that first. Then I told her the last 20K were downhill. It took a
couple of miles of downhill for her to grasp that. At that point, she was
getting more and more optimistic about her prospects for finishing. It was
so cool to see her transformation from an athlete lacking in confidence to a
joyous Ultraman womanâ?Ts champion.

With about five miles to go, I knew I could go under 11 hours if I picked up
the pace. I asked my crew to give me mile splits from here on out. Nine
and a half, nine fifteen, nine flat. Gravity was my friend, all I had to do
was pick up my feet and fall forward. It was happening again. I had
crossed over to that dreamlike state where I felt no pain. I was running on
a cloud. My stride was wide open; I was flying down to the finish. Before
I knew it I was in the park cruising across the grass to the finish line.
Steve King, announcer par excellence, was calling out my name. The small
crowd was on their feet to greet me.

Soon Christina was finishing her Ultraman with a big smile on her face. She
finished in that zone where we all would like to reside. Happy, healthy,
pain free, doing what we dream about with our friends, our Ultraman family.

Many thanks to my wife Dawn and her best friend Terry Brewer for waiting on
me hand and foot, telling me what to eat and when, and not strangling me
when I was bull-headed. A crew is the athleteâ?Ts lifeline and can make the
race a success or a failure. Thanks also to Steve Brown and Neil McDonald
for making this race happen for the first time since 1999. Looks like it
will be held again next year. See you there.

We came as strangers,
We competed as friends,
We parted as brothers.
- Gerry van der Went