Ironman #Tremblant, August 16, 2015

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T360
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Ironman #Tremblant, August 16, 2015

Post by T360 »

The scene was forecast for a spectacular Summer day at the 2015 Tremblant
Ironman competition and other than “Pea-Soup” dense fog on the Swim
Course first thing in the morning, Mother Nature did eventually deliver a
classic, sunny, hot, summer day.

On our way over to observe the Swim, we’re glad we stopped to snap
this tranquil 7:00A.M. scene in the Old Village because the fog was so thick
over on Lac Tremblant that at the time we arrived, you could not see any
farther than a few feet off the beach.
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Participants we spoke to later said they were dis-oriented on the water
because of it and they were barely able to make out the next orange course
markers. At least it was cool in the water for them, but that was soon going
to change with the rising sun.

By around 9:00 A.M., the swimmers were pretty much done and the fog
had receded towards the north end of the lake.
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By that point, you could already tell it was going to be a very warm one by
the amount of energy in the sun’s rays so early in the day.
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As soon as the Bike portion started, the spread in the athletes very quickly
expanded, we suspect that was partially due to some over-exuberant swimmers
who perhaps had expended more energy in the water than their overall pace could
sustain.

It was pretty obvious that the veterans knew how to pace themselves and
the close match of their cadence seemed to be set on long-distance,
high-speed cruise control that reflected their quiet determination.
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Riding over the last crest on the way into the Resort Sector.
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It wasn’t long before there was a fairly steady flow of two-way Bike Traffic.
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As observers, we concluded that equipment-wise, the bike portion is
the one that shows the most technological difference between the
participants. There’s no doubt most of the bikes are up-scale road,
but we were surprised by the range of bike styles and age. Evidently
there are both “Cost No Object” and “On A Tight Budget” entrants.

It may come as no surprise either, that there were very fit riders
on older, or less sophisticated bikes that were well ahead of less
fit riders on brand new, super expensive bikes, proving yet again
that physical conditioning is still an overall dominant factor.
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As a Co-Ed event the women had many of their male counterparts
beat, particularly in the non-pro category where there was a constant mix
of both women and men passing by.
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If there were more men easily visible in any common entrant demographic
groups, that might have been in the Older “Masters” category, but we don’t
have any stat’s on entrant demographics so that’s just a casual observation.

The Resort acted as the “Hub” for departures and arrivals and the ability
to support the large numbers of participants coming and going is due
to the overall capacity of the Resort’s base to handle large crowds easily.
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They were still able to accommodate public access(albeit in a limited manner
with a one-way loop), and there was a fairly steady flow of public traffic made
up to a significant extent of non-participant family/friends in attendance to
cheer on the athletes.
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Even with a full length Ironman going on right beside you, you could still
drive your Ferrari into, and out of the Resort to cheer on your team!

Ironman Live Athlete Tracking:

A short look at the Live Tracking which is a great idea, however...
our purpose in using it was to be on location to photograph specific
individuals, so we found that there was one missing element that made
it difficult to use to approximate specific athlete stage progress, namely,
real time-of-day, at any point of passage.
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Firstly, we are only spectators, and we may not be familiar enough with
the system to know where to find any real time starting or stage completion
real time markers, so if they exist, we encourage any readers here to notify
us by Facebook or Twitter how to find them. If they do exist, they are not
obvious, nor readily labeled or identified on any displays we saw. Without
real time of day markers to compare to stage elapsed checkpoints, it’s
more difficult to know when specific athlete’s progress you may be following
will have them at any given ETA. We were trying to get specific athlete pictures
and the lack of a time-of-day/checkpoint reference made anticipating ETA’s
a stand and wait guessing game.

We could be wrong, but most timing systems we’re familiar with that compute
split times, also have real clock-time data available, so one more column on
any of these displays showing actual time-of-day next to the split time would
have made it far easier to zero in on when the Athlete you are following will
be passing by.
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An actual Time-of-Day, real time marker at Stage Starts would have been a
big asset in estimating the arrival/passage of the Athlete’s we were trying to track
and photograph.

If there’s time data available we’re not aware of, we’d appreciate knowing
how to easily find it from the tracking display.

Of course... from an archival/statistical/performance analytical standpoint,
the tracking feature allows split times that are useful for relative performance
metrics/reviews, but that is a completely different utility than actually trying to
spot any specific Athlete passing on the route.



Topic Under construction, additional following incrementally, as time permits.

Editors Note:

The personal fitness challenge represented by the #Tremblant Ironman
is incomprehensible for a non-participant. It was hot, tiring and demanding
day just getting around with camera gear. That included about 12 Km of
walking between the Old Village of Mont-Tremblant and the Ironman
facilities at the Resort.

From that standpoint, if you’re looking for the ultimate personal physical
challenge, we can’t imagine anything in Sports that could come close to
the demands of the Ironman. If there’s anything that makes it easier to
take on, we think in this case, it’s got to be the quality of the Athlete support
offered by the Tremblant organization, together with the outstanding
natural beauty of the Tremblant region as a background setting for
your efforts.


.
The Tremblant360.com Team
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T360
Posts: 3141
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:53 pm
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Re: Ironman #Tremblant, August 16, 2015

Post by T360 »

The Run Stage:

The Run Stage seemed to be the real test of this event because not only
were athlete’s energy reserves already depleted by Swimming and Biking,
but the run stage occurred at the highest temperature, highest sun in the sky
time of day, and... there is not much inherent “Cooling”(i.e. swimming has cool
water to help conduct excess heat away and biking has outright speed through
the air to help conduct excess heat away), so running, unless you’ve got a good
headwind, has no such advantage. A close look at the lake surface in the shots
below shows calm water, no wind, no waves.
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There’s a long way ahead as the first runners hit the road at the start of
the Run stage. you can see above that the Leaders got their own forerunners
on bikes keeping the path clear and announcing the runners progress.

The Run Stage hydration/food support stations are critically important
and they are closely spaced along the route, starting right off the first
turn.
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The top level women were not far behind the Pro Men and the cheering
for the women(where we were standing at the time), was decidedly more
enthusiastic!
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www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
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The heat of the suns apex over the event was intense to say the least.
Organizers provided multiple “Shower” stations along the route but we
were surprised at the number of participants that declined on the spritzing.
If they had offered it to spectators there definitely would have been takers.
Temps peaked at mid-30’s C, 90’s F and as the course wound it’s way
through the the ravines on the way towards the Old Village, there was
not much in the way of breeze.
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www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
8.16.15.Ironman.Tremblant.Run.e.jpg (516.08 KiB) Viewed 9439 times
By the time runners were headed for the second lap, there weren’t many
looking at the views. “In the zone” might be one way to put it, dog tired
and survival focused might be another, but whatever, the fatigue was clearly
registered in the looks of all that passed by.
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www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
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In addition to the direct Solar energy, humidity played a roll in the
overall effect of heat. There were times at which all runners had to
walk out a few metres and “Pace Yourself” would have been the
operative phrase in terms of just getting through it without risking
injury or accident.
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www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
8.16.15.Ironman.Tremblant.Run.g.jpg (462.92 KiB) Viewed 9439 times
“Motivational” music is streamed through a powerful sound system
projecting along the run route in the Old Village of Mont Tremblant.
Spectators are constantly encouraging from the sidelines and there
was a extensive effort by individuals directly related to entrants, to
locate their athlete’s along the route and loudly vocalize “Positive”
support.
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www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
8.16.15.Ironman.Tremblant.Run.h.jpg (519.97 KiB) Viewed 9438 times
Forerunners announce the Leader on his way in. Absolutely amazing
to think that anyone could complete these distances so quickly.

8.16.15.Ironman.Tremblant.Run.Event.Winner.Jordan.Rapp.a.jpg
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The Finish Zone at the Resort South Side Base has been well established
as the best place to support both entrants and spectators. Anytime there’s
an event of this size though, there are going to be large crowds, so allow
extra time to get around this sector, particularly as the first group of finishers
arrive.

8.16.15.Tremblant.Ironman.Finish.Zone.a.jpg --- Image Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
Image Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
Image Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
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Course Schematic/Dta:
Data Display Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
Data Display Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
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Course Notations:
Data Display Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
Data Display Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
8.16.15.Tremblant.Ironman.Course.Data.b.jpg (139.69 KiB) Viewed 9389 times


.
The Tremblant360.com Team
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