News
Elizabeth Model
We’re used to seeing her compete with partner John Wragg, who has now finished over 210 Ironman races around the world, but Downtown Surrey BIA CEO Elizabeth Model recently made history herself, becoming the first woman in the world to have finished every Ironman triathlon. Model joins an elite group of four in achieving this feat, along with Wragg, Mexico’s Luis Alvarez and American Jeff Jonas. She’s completed an Ironman event on six continents and even done a marathon in Antarctica. Model started doing triathlon events at 46. “Being the first woman in history to complete every Ironman is something I will be forever proud of,” says Model. “Since 2006, I have had my mind set on reaching this goal. After suffering a serious skiing accident last December, I had to keep the goal in clear focus during the recovery process, but was able to overcome the setbacks in order to finish this year and join the elite Ironman finishers’ club.”
Lac-megantic to host Canada Man/ Woman
Determined to change the way that Lac-megantic will be remembered, a group called Endurance Adventure, who have a long history of organizing adventure-racing events, are putting on a new “Xtreme” type full- distance race. Featuring a 4:30 a.m. swim start, athletes will work through the 3.8-km swim before taking on a tough 180-km bike that includes 2,500 m of climbing. Athletes will have 15 hours to reach the base of Mont Megantic National Park to take on the last 8.5 km of the run on trails leading to the Mont Megantic Observatory.
Van Bruggen becomes Tri-can CEO
Triathlon Canada has hired a new chief executive officer. Victoria resident Kim Van Bruggen took the new position last November. Formerly the president and CEO of Acumen Communications Group, a public relations company based in Victoria, Van Bruggen brings an extensive background of working with all levels of government and non-profit organizations.
An avid triathlete herself, Van Bruggen competed in her first triathlon more than 30 years ago.
“It’s time to launch a new era and rebuild ourselves,” Van Bruggen told TMC. “My goal is to get us back where we need to be. Big things need to happen to build back up, and I strongly believe that you can’t expect excellence (in the national program) if you don’t display it organizationally. I want to make sure that from a foundational standpoint, we have all the pieces and tools in place moving forward. This means that our high performance director and coaches will all be on the same page so we can move forward on stable footing. To execute this, it’s the simple things like developing a strategic plan, a road map for the organization and looking at the next four to five years specifically.”– TMC