Exotic, unpredictableWinterlude Triathlon a race like no other
Now in its 28th year, the Winterlude Triathlon is one of the oldest Winterlude activities, combining skating on the Rideau Canal, cross-country skiing in the nearby Arboretum and running along Queen Elizabeth Drive -when the weather co-operates.
Standard distances of the Feb. 5 event are an eight kilometer mass start skate, a five kilometer ski and a five kilometer run. “However, thanks to Mother Nature, in the last 10 years, it’s been a different race for seven of them,” says Rick Hellard, head coach of Zone3sports and race director of the Winterlude Triathlon, in which he has been involved for 16 years and organizing for 11. “We’ve had ski/run/ski, skate/run/ski, run/ski, just a run, and various skate, ski and run course configurations.
“Some years we get too much snow, some years too little, some years there’s rain and the Canal is literally un-skateable, but this is Canada and it is winter sport and so the athletes expect it and they work with it.”
The National Capital Commission is “amazing to work with,” Hellard says, and very dedicated to making the Winterlude Triathlon course and conditions as good as they possibly can.
Competitor Dev Paul says that “the Canal and speed skating is what makes this event special. I love the mass start. It feels like a bike race in a peleton -lots of crashes and wipe-outs, but unlike pavement, you just slide along the ice, get up and go.”
Enbridge Gas to host a free Winterlude pancake breakfast – Feb. 6
TORONTO, ONTARIO – (Marketwire – Feb. 1, 2010)
Enbridge Gas Distribution will host a free Winterlude pancake breakfast on Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The community is invited to come by for free pancakes and hot chocolate in the Festival Plaza at Ottawa City Hall, across from Confederation Park.
Enbridge is a long-time sponsor of Winterlude and has hosted the pancake breakfast for the past six years. The breakfast is one of the opening events to help kick off Canada’s winter celebration.
“Enbridge and its employees look forward to getting Winterlude off to a great start,” says Will Akkermans, General Manager, Enbridge Gas Distribution. “Participating in this annual tradition is one of the ways Enbridge proudly supports the communities that we serve.”
For more information go to www.enbridgegas.com.
[Originally posted at http://newsblaze.com/story/2010020107240200001.cc/topstory.html.]
27 Years of Winterlude Triathlon in Ottawa
By Devashish Paul
www.xtri.com
2/2/2010
The Winterlude Triathlon is one of Canada’s oldest multisport events. This Saturday Feb 6, 2010, it goes into its 27th year in Canada’s Capital, Ottawa, Ontario. Typically, and I say typically, because mother nature works in weird ways, the event is held in the following format:
• 8K mass start speed skate event on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa
• T1 on the ice and change into XC skis, with a race distance of 5-6K depending on the year
• T2, back on the ice and then run 5K with 4K of it on ice, and 1k on a path beside the Rideau Canal
Typically the top competitors are done in around 1 hour, so if you want to put it into the context of summer triathlon, it is more like a sprint triathlon, but requiring a unique mix of winter sporting skills. It is traditionally the kick off event for both the Winterlude Festival in Ottawa, which is essentially a 2 week long excuse to party in the depth of winter with a variety of events centered around snow and ice around the historic Rideau Canal.
For those who have been here to race the Canadian Irondistance and half irondistance events in September, the Winterlude tri uses some of the same “geography” smack in the middle of town along the Canal that Colby built in the 1800’s so that the capital could be connected through waterways down to the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes system….now it is used largely by boaters during three seasons and skaters in the winter.
While you might think “what does an event like this have anything to do with triathlon in the ‘traditional sense,’” think twice. As you know, Canada is not just famous for producing hockey players, but we have a long history of producing Triathlon Olympic medalists and Kona champions. It is funny how a nation that is largely covered by snow and ice for 4-5 months can produce champions in the heat of Kona, Sydney or Beijing. Chalk it up to some of the mental tenacity that comes with growing up under some pretty harsh weather circumstances, where we learn from an early age that you can’t let bad days get in the way of training. Heat, cold, wind, snow, ice…in the mind you use the same psychology to work with nature to achieve personal victories.
So back to the Winterlude tri, while we get our swims in at the pool, battle nature during our runs and are confined to the trainer for any form of riding, many of us get ready for the next triathlon season with a mix of the above, complimented by XC skiing, snowshoeing and speed skating. The sports offer great compliment to our triathlon preparation and best of all, another “racing season” to beat ourselves up over.
I raced the Winterlude triathlon for several years and it is truly one of the most fun days of my year. Sure as heck beats the inevitable shuffle with the 800 lbs gorilla around 16 miles into an Ironman run.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Race Director Rick Hellard recently who aside from running this race is an accomplished athlete of his own right with an 8:41 Ironman PB and a former member of the Canadian Elite triathlon team. Rick also has a thriving coaching business (www.zone3sports.com) that has helped athletes from across the region achieve PB’s from first time Ironman finishes to overall IM victories.
To read Dev’s interview with Rick Hellard, click here.
