As usual since 2012, this month Mont-Tremblant hosts the full-distance Ironman. This time, however, the Ironman 70.3 – which had to be cancelled on June 25 because of poor air quality – is invited to the party. It’s a first for Mont-Tremblant, and quite a challenge, which the new race director Paulin Alix expects to meet with flying colours.

It should be noted, initially, that this double race formula already exists within the international network of Ironman triathlons. In addition to facilitating the logistics, holding two races on the same day allows a reduction in organization costs.

“For me, this is new, but not for Ironman. There are already events that have the two triathlon formats on the same day,” explains Pauline Alix.

The large number of athletes on the course at the same time is one of the fears raised on social media. While the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant is a very popular race, it’s highly unlikely that the 3,000 or so participants who experienced the June 25 cancellation will be back at the start on Sunday, August 20.

“Let’s not forget that the fulldistance Ironman is long,” Pauline emphasizes. “It’s really something to get the athletes started smoothly on the course. What’s more, the organization offered a huge number of options to the 70.3 participants. They had the choice to be reimbursed, to do the race next year, to do another race somewhere else in North America, or to race on August 20, here. I believe we’ll see mostly locals.”

Mont-Tremblant’s accommodation capacity has also been questioned. After all, the full-distance Ironman has about two thousand participants. As these lines are being written, Ironman did not expect to have a thousand additional athletes.

“We took this decision in the knowledge that we have the capacity to accommodate everyone,” Pauline notes. “There remain a few logistical details to sort out, like the swim course, in particular, where it has to be determined who starts first.”

Looking back at a bleak day

Expressions were gloomy on the morning of June 25 in Mont Tremblant Resort. The athletes had just learned, at exactly 6:25 a.m. – 35 minutes before the first start – that the Ironman 70.3 triathlon, for which they had been training for months, had been cancelled. That particular day, as the orange sun’s rays seemed barely to reach Earth, was the very next day after the Ironman 5150, which had gone very well. It had lifted the spirits of the team that had worked hard to provide athletes with one of the nicest races on the Ironman circuit.

“Like the athletes, I felt very emotional,” Pauline confides. “The decision to cancel the race because of the air quality made sense, and was clearly the right decision to take, but it was done with a heavy heart. It takes so much work to get there. I expected to feel very emotional after the last athlete crossed the finish line, at 4:30 p.m., not before the very first athlete entered the water.”

So it’s a tall order, but race director Pauline Alix can rely on the expertise and know-how of the Ironman organization which is not, after all, at its first rodeo. We wish her, her team and all participants the best possible race day in our charming part of the world.

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