RACE REPORT
Susie Ernsting
IRONMAN CANADA IS returning to Penticton in 2020. North ancouver’s Susie Ernsting is the new race director for the event – we caught up with her to find out about her new job.
Why did you want the job as Ironman race director?
SUSIE ERNSTING For anybody in the events management world, being the race director for an Ironman is top shelf, in terms of events. It also gives me the chance to work with Ironman again. I worked with them before as race director for the Subaru Vancouver Triathlon, the 5150 Triathlon and the Irongirl events. When those races went away, I worked at Ironman Whistler and at the Victoria 70.3 as part of the operations crew.
How did you get the job? From my previous experiences, I knew the Ironman team quite well. I was also good friends with Christine Cogger, the race director for Ironman Whistler, and worked closely with her for years at that race. It was unsure if she would carry on as race director
in Penticton because she lives in Pemberton and has three children. That wouldn’t be an easy thing to do. I already had the Apple Triathlon in Kelowna and I had lots of experience working in Penticton – I was the race director for the 2017 World Multisport Championships. That’s allowed me to develop connections with the Ministry of Transportation and the local stakeholder groups. When Ironman was looking for a race director, I already had plenty of relevant experience and qualifications.
Since you live in North Vancouver and the race is in Penticton, how will you make that work logistically? Sometimes I think a nine-tofive job would be easier, but we love what we do. My husband, Mark, and I have fairly flexible schedules. Right now, I travel to
Penticton about once per month, and I spend a couple of really solid days holding all the meetings that I need to do with all the stakeholders. For the rest of my communication, I can use Skype and other technology.
What was your first duty as race director? The race was already sold out and the registrations were done and that was a big help, but an ongoing thing is meeting with all of the stakeholders, emergency services and various communities impacted by the event. Then we need to make final decisions on the courses and make that public.
What is the pro race going to look like in 2020? The reason we had to choose either a female or a male pro race in Whistler was because it coincided with Ironman Lake Placid. Now that Penticton is back to its traditional date at the end of August, we’ll have both. In regards to Kona qualifying spots, it’s good news that the slots earned will be for the following year. That goes for both the pro and age group races. It’ll be the first qualifying race of the year as opposed to being the last one of the year.
How would like to put your personal stamp on Ironman in Penticton? I have big shoes to fill, but I’m also excited about putting my own spin on the event. I want to honour the history of the Ironman in Penticton and also want to make it new and innovative. I realize it sold out for 2020, but what I really want to do is sell it out for the next five years. Safety and road regulations have also changed quite a bit in the past five years. What was once able to be done on city streets, is no more, so what we are trying to do is honour as much of the event’s history while still making sure that we have a great experience for the athlete, making sure it’s safe. I also want to bring things back to the community in a way that works for it. Specifically, I am really excited about designing a new, iconic finish line.—KEVIN
Bryden and Norton Win Ultraman World Championship
The three-day Ultraman World Championship is a three-day race made up of a 10 km swim on day one followed by a 145 km bike, a second day made up of a 276 km bike and a double marathon, 84.4 km of running on the third day. This year’s event turned out to be a big one for Canada as Calgary’s Jordan Bryden backed up his win at Ultraman Canada with the world title in Kona, Hawaii, while Toronto’s Tara Norton successfully defended her title.
Norton led the way out of the water on the first day of racing, then padded her lead over
2002 Ultraman world champ, Germany’s Conny Dauben, on the bike. By the time the two had finished the rainy and windy second day of riding, the 48-yearold Norton was over an hour and
20 minutes up on the German. Dauben made things considerably closer during the 84-km run on Day 3, though, which she completed in an impressive 8:17:04, the fifth-fastest run split of the day. Norton knew exactly what she had to do, though, with 12 km to go, and paced herself to the line with a cushion of just under eight minutes to earn her secondstraight win.
Norton’s overall time was
28:22:09, which put her in sixthplace overall in the race. Dauben would follow one spot later in the overall standings with her
28:30:02. Bryden, 33, led the race from the start, coming out of the water first and opening up more time on South Africa’s Rob Gray, the
2017 Ultraman world champ, on the bike. Bryden opened up more time on the second day, then made sure to stay ahead of Gray over the double marathon to nail the win in a total time of 23:24:26, about
16 minutes ahead of Spain’s Marc Puig Amiel, who ran his way to second overall thanks to the fastest double-marathon (6:52).—TMC