S2E13 -- Race Directors continuing to grow Ultra (Steve Brown & Van Sanchez)

Today’s episode opens with a clip from YouTube, where race director Steve Brown welcomes racers to the 2016 Ultra520K Canada.  Steve is the OG race director for UMC and has also directed Ironman Canada. I find out if Steve intends to make another run at city council in Penticton and some other exciting breaking Tri news.

Steve King Stories features an athlete who previously appeared on the podcast in episode 8 of this season, Jeremy Howard.

Finally, I catch up with Van Sanchez in Mexico who will be running the UltraMX515 Non-Stop on April 29 and 30th.  Follow the race at their Instagram page.

This is your last chance to vote in  the 515 Podcast Facebook Ultra Race March Madness bracket pool.   The final match up closes on Saturday April 16 at midnight PST.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Introduction to Ultra 520 Canada 2016
• Ultraman Canada
• Challenge Penticton
• Ironman Canada
• Ultraman World Championship
• Earth Journey
• Ultraman Australia
• UMUK
• UB515
• Penticton Pounders
• Skaha Lake Ultra Swim
• 355 Canada
• Oliver Half Triathlon
• Downtown Penticton Business Improvement Association
• Beach 2 Battleship
• UltraMX 355
• UltraMX 515
• UltraMX 515 Non Stop
• Ultra 355 Australia
• Marathon Des Sables
• UltraCzech 515
• Epic 5

Shout outs and mentions in this episode:

• Steve Brown
• Dave Bullock
• Ean Jackson
• Don Ryder
• Gerry Van de Wint
• Lynn Van Dove
• Cory Foulk
• Neil MacDonald
• Shelley Best
• Gary Scatchard
• Bill Fulton
• Steve King
• Brent Bagnell
• Peter Lopinski 
• Helena Lopinski
• Kevin Cutjar
• Brent McMahon   
• Inaki de la Parra  
• Christian Mcavoy  
• Alexandre Ribeiro   
• Mike Coughlin
• David Kalinowski 
• Rob Gray
• Ryan Toner
• Caroline Bloom
• Adam Ellenstein 
• Jen Howard   
• Jeff Howard 
• Rose Howard 
• Jeremy Howard
• Sammy Kotasek 
• Miguel Angel Garcia

 ___________________________________________________________

Show Contributors:

Host : Larry Ryan
Contributing Raconteur : Steve King
Announcer : Mary Jo Dionne
Production : 5Five Enterprises
Music  :  Run by 331

___________________________________________________________

For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/515TheUltraPodcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or where you get your pods.   

I would like to hear from you and who you think should be interviewed.

Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Transcript

Introduction to Ultra 520 Canada 2016

SPEAKER_03 0:03

We want to welcome and thank you for joining us here in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, to share the spirit and the experience of Ultra 520K Canada. You have traveled here from all corners of the world, and what's brought you here is your own personal journey that you will now share with all of us that have chosen a similar path. Over the next three days, you will call upon resources very deep within you. We ask for ensure respect and fellow last week. We ask for electricity.

Larry 1:33

We ask for you recognized number to be a member.com and of course the speaking story. If you are listening to this episode on the day of the drop, I would like you to pull up our Facebook page and vote in the final of the March Madness Ultra Bracket Pool. The two finalists are MX515 and Epic 5. Please let us know which one you think deserves to be the ultra race champion.

Conversation with Steve Brown

Larry 3:23

Today's Ohana guest is one of the hardest working race directors in the business. He is a past race director for Iron Man Canada and has also helped with the challenge Penticton. He still runs the Peach Classic Triathlon and was the original creator of Ultraman Canada. When he left the Ultraman brand, he started the Ultra 520K Canada Triathlon, which will run this summer for the first time since 2019. He has been a business owner in Penticton since 1998, and he has deep roots in many parts of the community. Today's guest is the other Steve in Pentikton's triathlon community, Steve Brown. Welcome to the podcast, Steve.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

Thanks very much, Larry. Appreciate it. Nice introduction.

Larry 4:08

Thanks. So your race is being run on its traditional weekend of July the 30th to August 1st this year, which is the long weekend here in British Columbia where we recognize BC Day. And I'm sure that many of the listeners are aware that you were previously the Ultraman Canada race director and the designer of that Okanagan Similcomune course. Your own triathlon career span from 1986 to 2006, I believe. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Yeah, that's right. It's been a while since I've uh put on the running shoes to do anything serious.

Larry 4:47

That's that's still an impressive number of years to get to do that. So did you compete or crew at Ultraman in Hawaii back in those competitive days? How did you come about becoming the second franchise of Ultraman back in 1993?

SPEAKER_03 5:03

Um okay, so I've never uh I've never competed in Ultraman as uh as an athlete, although I have crewed uh at it uh uh you know a number of times. Uh helped out here in Canada in the early days, uh crewing as well as trying to race direct and put the event on. Um I've also crewed in Hawaii. Um and my background though is uh you know being very involved in Iron Man and uh crew or pardon me as race director for a period of time and sitting on the board for many years. Um it all just kind of fell into place in uh kind of around 1992. I had been with Iron Man and then at the end of '92, at the end of that year's race, um uh I left Iron Man and I was actually approached by uh a couple of gentlemen, actually three gentlemen, Ian Jackson, um Don Ryder, and uh Jerry Bandewint. And I got a very strange phone call one day uh in about April 1993. And uh uh those guys called me up and said, hey Steve, we'd like you to take a look at putting on uh an ultra event. And uh I had only heard of this previously um back in the early days. Um there was an event here in Penticton called Earth Journey, uh, which was put on by uh Lynn Van Dove. And those guys were involved in it. Anyway, the they came to me and said, we'd like to bring Ultraman to Canada and put an event on in Pentikton. And I said, and I didn't want to do to be perfectly honest, I wanted nothing to do with it. I'd kind of retired from the uh from the triathlon scene. I just wanted a break from it. Uh 1992 Iron Man was a huge drain on me and on my family, and uh it was uh the year that it looked like Iron Man Canada was about to go down the tubes, uh, but we managed to salvage it and uh, you know, keep it together. But it was a huge uh you know, huge drain on me personally. Anyway, we um the guys kept talking to me about it. Oh, we should do it, you know, we've already got a course kind of half picked out, and we, you know, and you're the guy, you know the area, you know how to do this and that. And anyway, they kept at me for uh for about half an hour on the phone. And finally I relented. I said, okay, fine. When when do you want to talk to me about this? And they said, we'll be at your house in about 15 minutes. And I said, What? And they were already in Penticton, they'd all come up from the coast, they'd been out cruising around, and they decided today was going to be the day that they were gonna get me, you know, hook line and sinker into this thing. And uh, and and then it just kind of started from there. They came up, picked me up, drove me around this course, and I'm just thinking, okay, this is just craziness. Um, and I really, you know, I wasn't totally sold on it, but they were, you know, these three guys were good friends, and I thought, okay. And they finally wore me down to the point where I said, okay, we'll give it a shot, we'll see what happens. And we did. We pulled that thing together in night in 1993, and uh we ran that first event, and uh I was sold. Uh, I was in hook, line, and sinker at that point. I thought, wow, what an amazing event. Uh, the people that were involved in it, how much fun we had, all that kind of stuff. And then it just kind of uh went from there. So 1993 was the first year, and and then we went from there.

Larry 9:46

And and nowadays there's something like 25 of these 515 races around the world. Um, but back in the early days when you were doing this, you had some really small fields of athletes, and there were some very lean years, a couple years where you I don't think you even broke even and you you had to suspend the race for for low entries. How how did you know that this was something to to keep offering and to and to keep working at back then? Did you did you ever see it becoming this popular back in the early 90s, or were you was it just about the Ohana at that point?

SPEAKER_03 10:20

Yeah, it was uh certainly the idea uh breaking even with was a goal. Uh it didn't actually happen for uh for quite a while.

SPEAKER_05 10:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

Um, but it was such a cool event that uh it was more a work of passion. Uh it it certainly made no business sense, that's for sure. We ran uh you know a couple of events with about six people in it. Uh one year there was eight, one year there was six, and so on. And as you know, there was a gap in there in which we decided to shut it down for a while, and which was kind of disappointing in one way, but we thought, you know what, maybe we need time for this thing to catch on and gel with the athletic community, and maybe they'll uh you know accept it and come back. So that's what we did. And so we gave it a rest for a few years, and then it came back and came back. And when I say that, you know, we sort of had whatever it was, eight or ten people at that point. So there was a little bit more interest. Uh, we didn't have to do quite as much arm twisting uh to get you know some people to sign up. Uh, and then we ran that for a couple of years, and uh and then we went through sort of the same thing again. We went, okay, this is, you know, we need to get this to where there's more people. So we stopped doing it again for another couple of years, and then we brought it back. Uh, what year would that have been about 2013, maybe something like that. Um, anyway, and at that point we no, it would have been earlier than that, 2010. 2010, yeah, yeah. That's when we first yeah. And that's when it started to take off. All of a sudden, now we were getting 12, 15, 16, 17, you know, that kind of thing. So it was starting to get to be a growing interest in the event. And uh after that we it just never stopped. Um, you know, we we had some highs, we had some lows, uh, but we've always managed to be able to kind of keep it going. And uh um, but the acceptance of the event has always sort of been the biggest struggle, uh, just because so many people are so Ironman focused that to get people to step beyond that and take on the ultra, which is you know a significant step up, um has uh has always been a bit of a struggle. And uh but you know what we've kept with it, and really anybody involved in it, uh, at the end of the day, it it's it's a labor of love. Um that's that's the bottom line. There's just something about it, as you say, you know, you go through the Ohana, Loakakua uh processes and and you get caught up in all of those things and what they represent. And uh I think it's really, really uh, you know, that's that's the bottom line in it. It's about the people uh and all of that. The athletic performances are always great, but at the end of the day, it's about the people. And uh you just get really caught up in that, and it uh it really is uh an incredible event from from that standpoint, so different than Iron Man.

Larry 14:18

Absolutely, yeah. And and maybe what it just needed, it it maybe it needed the success of Iron Man growing to its crazy level, so that the people that saw Iron Man as the endurance event, now you have a bigger pool to get to that next level.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

Yeah, but it even so Larry, it's always it's always still been uh been a struggle. There's no question that uh the sport generally as it's uh you know reached a broader audience makes it easier to bring more people in. Um this whole thing with it suddenly growing um into other locations uh throughout the world um has been interesting because so many uh of those events or those people that put those events on um first raced here in Canada, showed up in Canada, um, which which was interesting because you know, not a lot of them, it wasn't people that were you know going to Hawaii, it was people that were coming here and they're going like, wow, this is really cool, this is a fun event, and we can go and do it. And then as you know, it kind of spread out from there and went to the went to the UK, and then the Spanish uh have gone nuts. And there's uh there's about four of the events, I think in Spain alone at this point. In fact, I think there's even a couple more than that now. Um, you know, and then of course then Australia came on board.

unknown 16:03

Um, you know, there's been events around the world in Brazil.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Uh Corey Fulk and and the guys uh down in Brazil uh all you know put on the UV 515 down there. Um you know, so it it started to get introduced into different parts of the world. Um, but again, everybody still goes through that process of trying to find enough people to really make the event um a financial success. Interestingly enough, some nations are more accepting of the uh um you know of ultra-distance racing, and they seem to be nations uh in particular where they like ultra-distance cycling. So, you know, you can see why the Spanish like it, you can see why the Brazilians like it, you can see uh the Australians, of course, or they just love triathlon. Well, you know what? The Australians are are uh a group of people. Uh, if you'd got a whole bunch of grannies together and had a knitting contest, they'd all show up to watch it, right? Like it's um, you know, it's just part of their DNA. They love anything that's competitive, right? Um so, you know, so these things take off, and and uh so it's been it's been really uh an interesting journey.

Larry 17:40

And and I think one of the the reasons that you've been successful in Pentikton, uh as I mentioned in the in the introduction, is that you have some very strong ties to your community and you support your community in a number of ways, and and they've supported you in return with the races that you run. Is there uh some people that maybe we can give some recognition to that that you've worked with your crew over the years? Like hit some of the highlights of the people that have really been an important part of your organization so that they get some recognition here as well.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

Oh, sure. Well, you know, I've got I've got a very uh solid crew that helped me, not just with the Ultra, but with uh the other events that we do. So as you know, um because I had the running store, Peak City Runners, uh, you know, I got a lot of people uh through that. And of course, uh, you know, Neil McDonald, who was my long-suffering store manager for 17 years, uh, whether he wanted to or not, uh was a big part of the uh organizing crew and and so on. But you know, I've got Shelly Best, who's been my swim course coordinator for years. Uh Gary Scatcher jumped on board and and became my equipment and finish line and setup guy. He, along with Bill Fulton, um, those guys have just been troopers uh over the years. Um and of course, the one person that really pushes the event and pushes these things all over the world, as you know, is Steve King. Um, and Steve and I have known each other for I've been in Pentikton 42 years, and so that's about how long he and I have known each other. Um and uh I met him when I first came to Antikton and uh started running. And he was uh, of course, with the uh Penticton Pounders Running Club, and that's where we met, and we've been great friends ever since. Um so, you know, so there's there's kind of that whole group of people that have been uh a big part of uh putting the event on, and then over the years, you know, I've had uh different people that have done the bike mechanic work for me. Um my good friend Brent Bagnell, uh who uh who I first met when I opened up Peach City Runners. Uh Brent comes up every year uh and uh helps out with uh with the event. So I get people like that uh coming up. Peter Lipinski now, Peter and Helena. Um you know, uh Peter has done the event, and uh Helena, his wife, they've come up and now they help out. They've actually moved to uh Oliver now, so uh they're nice and close. Um yeah, it's just an amazing group of people, and uh uh it's been it's been a fun ride. Um but you know what we're all getting old. And that that now is becoming probably a big issue, uh not just with my event, but with many events. Um doesn't matter what you're doing, trying to get some of the younger people uh involved in in the sport in terms of organizing and doing the work to uh you know uh to put these things together. I think that that's becoming a real struggle. And so it's uh it's it's been interesting. Um and how things are changing and evolving through that.

Larry 21:41

Well, I I know that um like back in season one, uh episode 10, I had a conversation with the Ultraman Canada 2.0 race director, Brad Sawa, and uh he explained how it came to be that UMC came back to Pentikton and ended up becoming the second Ultraman. Ultra try in in the city. Um he explained that you know when he had heard that you were gonna retire the race and shut it down, that him and his partner that year, Mike Brown, they wanted to revive the Ultraman brand. I I know that at one point you were considering on shutting it down, and then you didn't. So what what made you change your mind on retiring the 520 race?

SPEAKER_03 22:25

Um I started uh uh yeah, we were gonna go down that road and just shut it right down. And um what was interesting is that when I first put that out there, um I started getting a lot of feedback that people didn't want me to do that. And I'm going, oh, okay. So I thought, all right, well, so long as I'm getting uh people wanting to do the event, what happened was the year that was supposed to be the last event, uh the word was out there, or we said we're gonna do it one more, and all of a sudden I had a full race for the next year. And more than a full race. And I'm kind of going, oh my God, okay, now what do we do? Right. So that kind of dragged me kicking and screaming into going forward uh with it. And uh we had to think a while about it, but it was just one of those things. All of a sudden, I ended up with all these people saying, Hey, I always wanted to do the event, I didn't get a chance. And you know how athletes are. It was the same with uh, you know, the ultra swim. You know, when we brought the ultra swim back, all of a sudden there were a hundred people signed up in the matter of a week or two. Um, because people go, Oh, I was gonna do it, and I just never got around to it. I got sidetracked with this and that. And so, and it was the same with the ultra.

SPEAKER_05 24:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

Um, you know, all these people saying, Yeah, I was thinking of doing it, but you know, never never quite pulled the trigger. And then all of a sudden it was like, okay, I guess I better jump in there, and all of a sudden I had more than enough. And um so it was just one of those things, yeah, it was uh decided that that was uh that that was gonna be it. And um people out there were saying no. And my attitude was, well, okay, if people are really that committed to it and want to do it, I'm prepared to do it. The problem was is that you know, we had those years where, again, you know, we've had the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, and and so you sort of get to the point you think, uh, you know, do I really want to be doing this much work for you know a very small number of people? And to be honest, like I say, this is not a moneymaker, this is about um and it's a year's worth of work. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, like it's year-round work to be doing that. And uh, so it's it's been uh a really interesting process that that's happened. And so maybe now it's the time that uh um seeing as how we're talking about all this stuff and about uh uh you know what's happening as we go forward and so on, um, I can tell you that we've just recently made the decision that this year, 2022, will be the last Ultra 520. Oh and um so we're going to uh be backing away from that for some of the reasons I've already stated. I got people that are uh getting old. We're all getting long in the tooth. We all we all joke about it when we're setting things up at one time. We could each grab two pieces of fencing under our arms and walk and put it down. Now it takes two of us to lift one piece of fencing and carry it together to where we want to put it down. And it's all just, you know, uh, we're all going like, whoa, this is crazy and it's a lot of work. So yeah, this year we're uh we're gonna uh finish the the 520, but uh we're transitioning into uh starting in 2023 uh to the Ultra 355.

SPEAKER_05 26:42

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

And so we've uh we've got the course all the course all mapped out, we've got uh uh a lot of the stuff already in place. We're just uh and the 520 this year, we've had to make some changes to it.

Larry 27:00

Uh I was gonna ask you about that.

SPEAKER_03 27:03

Yeah.

Larry 27:03

Is that due to the flooding from last year?

SPEAKER_03 27:06

Correct, yeah, yeah. There's there's uh you know, some of the issues around what's happening over in Princeton area and stuff like that. And um we decided this year that we were going to make some changes and try and put the event on in such a way that it would begin and end uh each day in Penticton or in Penticton area, you know, essentially it's gonna begin an end in uh Okadogan Falls. And so we put together uh a plan for doing that. It then just sort of transpired and rolled into. Well, if once we started getting into this, it was like, okay, so how easy would it be to transition this into a 355? And so we started looking at that, and one just sort of grew out of the other. So this year, uh our swim, for example, is gonna be uh, you know, a 5k loop two times, uh, beginning and ending in OK Falls. Um, the day one bike will go from uh OK Falls uh around the Richter and doing the out and back and all that kind of stuff. So the traditional the traditional, yeah, and the traditional uh day one bike course essentially.

SPEAKER_05 28:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:44

And then the big issue became what do we do with day two? So after messing around with a lot of different things, because you know, trying to put together a 275-kilometer bike course um around here is is difficult. You know, it's not like uh there's a whole bunch of choices uh without running into all kinds of other obstacles, right? And so we ended up doing, and what we're doing this year is that it will be basically the traditional day two course um up to uh Headley. And then uh so that gives you about a hundred and whatever it is, 179 kilometers of the traditional course. Then what we decided to do was I wanted to turn them around to bring them back to OK Falls or the Penticton area, so that we didn't have to worry about staying overnight in Princeton and doing all those kinds of things. So, what we've done, the bike course will head out of Headley and it'll go along to where you make the turn onto the old Headley Road. And so you'll athletes will turn on to the old Headley Road and they're gonna go down there, essentially uh to about Bromley Rock. Uh, and at Bromley Rock, they'll turn around and come back and ride back to Okanagan Falls.

Larry 30:23

And then they'll have some wind at their back. They'll have the wind at their traditional headwind.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Yeah, and they're gonna be coming back. That that piece should be fairly good because traditionally, as you say, they'll have the wind at their back and they're going downhill. People get really fooled by that piece between uh Karameas and Princeton. Um, it's a false flap. All you have to do is look at the water and realize that you're riding against the river.

SPEAKER_05 30:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:54

Uh it doesn't take you long to figure out that you're going uphill. And uh it's it's a considerable climb. So when you turn around and come back, uh it should be kind of a much more pleasant ride. Then, of course, the the question becomes what do you do about a run? So we've actually designed uh a loot course in Okanagan Falls and it's uh 28 kilometers, and you'll do that three times. Now, that always sounds like fun and games, but anybody who did my old Peach City marathon knows that if you're running around in Okanagan Falls, you're running a lot of hills. And so for anybody who thinks that you know the old course which goes Princeton to Summerland and it and it was hilly, well, we've managed to replicate that, but only within uh 28 kilometer loop. There are some good climbs in that, there's lots of hills, so there's nothing lost in terms of uh the challenge degree of difficulty uh in the event. So anyway, so and the cool thing about that for us was after we designed it, we said, okay, well, this for a 355, which has a 50k run, is fairly easy. We just have to knock 3Ks off the loop and just have them do it twice. So you'll be running two 25k loops. So uh in a lot of ways, this year's 520 is going to be kind of a preview of what 355 is going to look like.

Larry 32:51

Well, excellent. So we got we got the breaking news here on the podcast. That's great. So is that going to be part of the the series with Tony Horton and Van Sanchez?

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Yes, yes. And we're just in the processes now of uh adding all that onto the 355 website. Um, I can tell you some of the details on a 355 if your listeners would be interested.

Larry 33:17

I'm sure they will, yes. Please tell us.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

Okay. So the 355 um stands for 355k, obviously. Um, it'll start out with a five-kilometer swim. And uh the day one bike will be a 125-kilometer bike ride. Um, we're able to do that using again the sort of traditional Ironman course out of OK Falls. And each day is uh an eight-hour cutoff. So the distances involved uh are very doable by people that have been training to do Iron Man. Very doable. Uh, probably the 50K run, you know, people have always been afraid of that double marathon. But hey, if you're training to run 42K, 50K is not that big a deal. Um, so that's all very doable. The other thing about the 355 is that you don't need a crew. We are going to be using uh athletes will be using drop bags. So they will be providing us each day with uh with drop bags that we will take out and put out at uh drop bag stations. So it'll be up to them to come through, pick up whatever they have. Essentially, it's like having a special needs station, although you're gonna have one about every 25k. Uh, so you'll come around and you'll be able to get your your drop bag, get whatever your particular uh nutrition and little hydration needs are. And uh yeah, and same thing on the run course. So we'll have these uh drop bag stations that the athletes can uh can get at. And like say it's eight hours, so it's a lot easy, a lot easier in terms of the time involvement, right? And uh so we're hoping that that will be uh you know successful because it's clearly going to be less money to the athletes uh if you're not having to pay for extra crew, the extra accommodations and yeah, and all those sorts of things. Uh it's cutting down the cost of doing these events quite considerably. And like I say, we've tried to design it so it would be very much targeted at uh people that are doing Iron Man but want one, they could either use it as a hell of a training weekend, um, or if they were looking to take a step. And quite frankly, I think if people came and did this, I think this will work well for Brad Sawa and his event, uh, because he'll be continuing with the Ultraman event, in that people can take a look at that, do an ultra event, get a real taste and feel for it, and say, hey, maybe I can go and do uh do the bigger one.

SPEAKER_05 36:32

Right.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

And so I just see sort of a lot of synergy in all of this and a lot of things, you know, gelling well and coming around. And hopefully it'll make the ultra seat in uh in Penticton uh even better.

Larry 36:50

Yeah. No, that sounds excellent. Yeah, it's a good a good adaptation to allow the athlete that maybe can't afford the the price of the of the full event or is afraid of the distance. So now they've got that stepping stone to to work their way up.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

Yeah, and and and uh less time involvement, uh Larry. We we probably aren't going to do all of the fancy things that we do around the bigger event. Uh it'll be basically, you know, kind of come in, sign up or register and um, you know, do the event and so on. Our plan is that at the end of the event we will do the awards and all that kind of thing, but right at the end of the third day in the park and uh just generally have a nice little celebration and all that. So again, cutting down on the need for extra hotel rooms or extra days in hotels and all that kind of thing. So yeah, taking it back to the roots, yeah, yeah. So I think it'll it'll all be good.

Larry 37:55

It sounds like it'd be very successful. Yeah. I wish you luck with that, Steve. That sounds great.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

Larry 38:02

And so then I'm I'm guessing you're you're probably gonna like not get pulled back in again. Originally you were like, oh, uh, I'm done, I've did the Iron Man, and then you got it pulled back in again, and because of the athletes to run an ultra, and then you decide to stop the ultra, and then again, because of the athletes, you get pulled back in and you continue your ultra. So now this is your way of transitioning and and and and getting over to that easier event for you to do, maybe. And then does that mean you're gonna have a little more time to focus on that that other thing you were looking at last year in uh career in politics? Uh I I was following your campaign online and watching your videos. Um you seem you seem to have your pulse on on all the issues in Penticton. And like I said before, you know the community, they know you. Um, so can I can I get another scoop from you? Are you going to be running in the election in November?

SPEAKER_03 39:00

No.

Larry 39:01

No.

SPEAKER_03 39:02

No. Um, you know, that was an interesting process, Larry. Uh I I'd often thought about it, and again, I had a lot of people saying, hey, you should take a run at this. You should take a look at it. Okay. Done it once, enough for me. Thank you very much. Um, I I started to realize that um uh I would not make a very good politician. Um, you know, I might be knowledgeable on uh on a number of things, and I am involved a lot in the community and so on. Um but as I was going through that process, I was finding my patience and tolerance level probably wasn't where it should be for a politician. Um and now when I watch politicians, I have much more uh empathy for them in terms of when they're being asked questions and stuff, and I can just see them. What they really want to do is tear their hair out and go off on people, but they're they're much more reserved than that. And um so it was really an interesting process. But having said that, um, all of this, I'm supposed to be retiring, Larry. I'm supposed to, you know, go and enjoy my grandchildren and do things like that. Uh, but I've just recently accepted a position uh as the acting executive director for the uh downtown Penticton Business Improvement Association. Oh, excellent. Good for you. So uh I've I've taken that on again, supposed to be a retirement project, but uh somehow or other it's it's turned into uh into more than that. And to be honest, I'm really enjoying it. Um you know it's it's coming at politics from a different angle, uh, because um dealing with the business community, uh which is uh which is great, and a lot of the things that we have to deal with, as you can appreciate, are very political, uh especially these days. You know, when these BIAs, whether it's here Vancouver, wherever, you see it on the news all the time, the BIAs uh fighting and struggling, um, you know, to get a grip on uh, you know, what's going on, uh, you know, particularly in our social world these days. I mean, you know, between the homelessness and the drug addiction and the mentally ill and and all of those kinds of issues.

Larry 41:57

And Pentikton's a small town, but it does have those same larger town issues.

SPEAKER_03 42:04

Yeah, it's it's huge here. Um, it it is a big problem, um, and uh and continues to be. So it's been an interesting process because I'm involved in uh a lot of the political side of these things without being a politician, which maybe leaves me a bit more leeway to say some of the things I'd like to say.

Larry 42:31

Right, yeah. In that case, then let me let me get your opinion on uh what is like the the big story in Penticton right now, then what is your feeling about the awarding of the peach concession stand contract?

SPEAKER_03 42:48

The uh it's funny, the this council has made uh a couple of recent blunders. Their awareness of um getting a pulse of the community is uh I don't know, sometimes you wonder what they're thinking. Um the the previous operator had taken the peach, quite frankly, and turned it into a city asset. I mean, that peach for years has been there forever and ever and ever. I've been in town 42 years, so I mean, you know, we've been looking at the damn peach for you know all that time and for however many years before. And it was at a point where, you know, at one time it got rolled into the uh into the lake during the MC Hammer riots, and uh, you know, and there was there there was kind of a bit of a cheer in some quarters going, yay, we got rid of the damn peach, you know. And then the the public, the public went, oh no, no, no, no, we're gonna have a big fundraiser and we're gonna build a bigger, better. Peach than we've ever had before, which is essentially what happened. But then they've always struggled, you know, trying to run it uh to make it successful. And the previous owner, who's had it for the last whatever it is, four or five years, maybe a bit longer, did an amazing job with it. Uh, you know, at Christmas it was dressed up like Santa Claus when the Penticton Vs were running deep into the playoffs. It got a blue coat and you know, looked like a Penticton V and uh, you know, hockey club. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Junior A hockey club, you know, and uh other times it got ears to be an Easter bunny and it just, you know, like it became a part of the community, and she did an amazing job with that. So to come along and then just say, well, we followed the process, well, hang on, this person has turned this thing into a city asset, and it was known far and wide, right?

Larry 45:12

And uh uh and and so do you think they're gonna reverse their decision?

SPEAKER_03 45:18

No, I I don't think so, only because it raises all kinds of legal issues, if they do, right? Yeah, so that's sort of the local big news, but you know, carrying on, the big thing that we've got is the same as all the other communities, Larry, doesn't matter where you live, is the issue around homelessness. Yeah, yeah.

Larry 45:46

Well, uh let me let me finish off with a couple of questions then about some of your favorite races. Since uh you've you've done this for a long time. So um, as an athlete, what was your favorite event that you did?

SPEAKER_03 46:00

That I did personally, I'll tell you was my very last Iron Man. And it was um if I can do some more name dropping here. Um Kevin Kevin Cupjar. Uh I I went to Kevin and asked him to coach me uh through that uh because I was 55 years old at the time. And Kevin had coached me previously, and I went to him and said, Hey Kev, would you mind you know helping put a program together? It's been a few years since I've done anything, and I kind of come back and I'd like to do this. Anyway, I worked with Kev and he put together a program for me that turned out and I followed it religiously. I mean, I did what he told me. He said, Don't go over this heart rate, don't do this, only ride this far, only run that. And I followed it religiously. I mean, look at the guy's own success rate of what he does. I'm going to go.

Larry 47:03

I think most of the listeners know who Kevin Kutchar is.

SPEAKER_03 47:05

Yeah, he he's clearly uh has an ability. So I started to uh I started down that path that did exactly what he said. And I ended up uh in that race having the best time of my life in racing. Um, you know, I jumped in the water and I just thought, uh, you know, whatever it turns out to be, it'll be. And uh, you know, I I following the swim program and all the rest of it, I came out of the water in an hour and three minutes, which isn't which isn't a bad time. My cycling, my cycling is weak and always has been weak. I've never been a good a good cyclist, but going around uh I realized how ready I was to take on that Iron Man course. And where it really became evident was uh uh on the out and back um in Carameas. And I was suddenly starting to pass people that had long since passed me uh before, and all of a sudden I was catching them, and I was just cruising along, uh, just following my instructions. And then and then at Yellow Lake, I had to laugh as we're going into that first climb at Yellow Lake, and and uh I'm going by this group of uh riders, and one of them says, Hey, you got a local number on uh is that the top of the the hill there? And I said, No, that's only one of three climbs to the top of this thing. And it and and it was really funny because I was just kind of pedaling along, and all of a sudden I just watched these things go, they and they just kind of disappeared from me. And uh I just realized how ready and fit I was to be riding up there because I didn't change my you know, my cadence or whatever, just kept going, got to the top. So that was really cool. Like I I I was just really ready for it, and I'm and as I'm going along, I'm thinking, I'm actually enjoying this. And normally when you're getting toward the end of an Iron Man ride, you know, thinking about how much fun you're having is usually not what's first on your mind. Yeah, um, so anyway, so uh, you know, I went through, you know, got through that and uh came into transition. And in transition, and and I know this drives Kevin nuts because I'm a slow transition guy. I actually spent between the swim to bike and the bike to run. I actually used up about 25 minutes in transition. I like to get off and I have blue drying your hair, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I like to get all done up and I change my outfit and I, you know, a couple of cans of boost and you know, and uh, you know, make sure everything's all you know that I look good in case the cameras are on me. Um so anyway, I come out of there and when I hit the run course, I had actually in my head been thinking, okay, I'm gonna go and do a four-hour marathon. And um uh and and uh as it turned out, my marathon time turned out to be 4.03 or 4.04. Uh so I kind of missed that goal. But at uh I was really happy because at uh age 55, and as it happened, the day of the race was my 55th birthday. So this so this was kind of a birthday present to myself. And what was my finishing time? So my finishing time that day was uh 11 hours and 42 minutes. So as a 55-year-old, that wasn't bad. I think I ended up uh fifth in the age group.

Larry 51:25

Excellent.

SPEAKER_03 51:25

And uh and I just had so much fun the whole day, and Kevin had me in such good shape when I finished that run. I honestly felt like I could have continued running. I felt like I could have, you know, just kept that going. It was so great. And uh so that was my favorite race by by far of all the races I've ever done.

Larry 51:53

Did you did you get a roll down to Kona on that one?

SPEAKER_03 51:56

No, and I wouldn't have taken it if I did.

Larry 52:00

Well, that that's that's for your own athletic endeavors. Let's talk about your your race directing days. Do you do you have a favorite event that you've organized or perhaps a particular year where you had that favorite Aloha or Ohana or Kurkua story that that occurred at one of your races?

SPEAKER_03 52:18

Sure. There's um first of all, let let me say this because what I really want to do, Larry, is probably recognize uh some of the athletes more than you know the events themselves. Um, because we've had some amazing performances.

Larry 52:40

Steve and I had a wonderful conversation and it ran a little long. Those that know Steve, know I. He speaks from the heart about those amazing performances. So I'm gonna stop here for now, but I'm going to allow him to finish off some of these greatest memories from his Ultraman Canada and 520 races in the upcoming episodes, where I will be having athlete profiles on this year's 520K competitors.

Steve King Stories : Jeremy Howard

SPEAKER_01 53:19

Steve King with you once again. I'm going to now talk about a gentleman who has uh given back by raising money for cancer through being a race director of the Connecticut uh challenge ride. He's also a great coach, but he's also obviously a fantastic athlete as well. He's someone who's done over 2070.3s in his career. I remember him doing a 417 in Augusta where he beat out a fellow Canadian. I say fellow to me, not to him. Uh, and that was uh Brent McMahon, a two-time Olympian, by the way. But uh he was second in the swim team with a 20 oh one clogging. I I say that to let you know just how incredible a swimmer he is. He's uh raced at the I-Man Distances in the Beach to Battleship. I think he did a 925 there. He's raced uh St. George, uh, Wisconsin, Atlantic City. He's also done some major rides in his time, including a 200-mile on the big island. He was there for the world uh championships at the I-Man Distance, but uh rode 200 miles with a world champion at the Ultra Man Distance in the form of Inyaki de la Para, uh, the uh great Mexican pole. And I say that because his wife, uh, that's Inaaki's wife, uh, is Polish, and so he spent some of his time there. And uh in fact, this gentleman spent three months with Inaaki and his family uh over there, and they together raced in a 70.3 and came first and second, and I believe uh he took the win there with about a 415. In 2011, this was after crewing for somebody, because in 2010 he actually crewed for Christian McAvoy, and uh that was his training partner as well. So he knew what he was getting into. And the neat thing is Christian uh turned around and uh crewed for this gentleman in 2011, and so his first go over the old man on the big island took him to a fifth place overall at the end of the three days. However, he started off with a victory on day one in the swim with a 231, ended up with a 704 uh race on the run portion and recorded a time of uh 24-24-34. It was run by Ribeiro that year, Alexander Ribeiro, the great Brazilian. 2015, he was back on the big island, got a third place overall that year, and again was first on the swim with a 226, ended up with a 649 on the run, and an overall time and a personal best at that point by 55 minutes, did a 23-28-48 behind the Canadian Mike Coblin and behind the winner of the first Australian title, the Aussie himself, David Kalinowski. 2017 saw him back on the big island, where he came second overall this time, and again winning the swim with a 227 and the personal best then after that throughout all three days, including uh an end run there of 624-17, which was 25 minutes faster than he'd run before, did a 22-25-16 overall uh for that second place. That was the personal best by one hour, three minutes, 32 seconds. And he was second that year, as well as winning his age group, the 30 to 39 division, he was second to the South African Rob Gray by a mere five minutes and 28 seconds. Now he is now a master, of course, and don't forget Rob Gray, amongst many others, have been in their prime when it comes to that 40 to 49 division. I told you that he had crewed before, but he's he's crewed for others as well, including his friend uh Ryan Tona, Caroline Bloom, people who's coached uh his head on his crew, Adam Ellenstein, the uh great Ultraman and uh long-distance ultra swimmer, Guinness Book of Records holder. He's been supported by his family. His uh sister Jen has been on his crew, his parents, Jeff and Rose. And uh he also likes to finish off by doing a beer mile. And uh we've seen him do that at Ultraman Florida, where he supported ours. So representing the U.S., the man I'm referring to, Jeremy Howard.

Conversation with Van Sanchez

Larry 57:44

My next guest is returning to the podcast. We last caught up with him in season one, episode six, when we talked about how doing the Ultraman race in the UK changed his life forever. Now he is the race director of an entire Ultra Tri series in Mexico. I am pleased to have back with me today Van Sanchez. Welcome. Hey Larry, how are you? I'm doing well, thank you. And it looks like you have someone else sitting in with you today. Who's that?

SPEAKER_07 58:13

My friend from Mexico, Sammy, from Cozumel, the Ultra 515 Mexico Crew.

Larry 58:23

Nice to meet you as well, Sammy.

SPEAKER_06 58:24

Nice to meet you, and thank you very much for letting me be here.

Larry 58:28

Yeah, and so you you now run a full ultra tri-race series. Uh, can you just remind us what are the races in the series?

SPEAKER_07 58:37

Yeah, the the first one is the 355, the second one is the uh classic 515 uh distance, three days, two hours per day, and the new one is the 515 non-stop race.

Larry 58:55

Right. And and we just found out from Steve Brown, who I interviewed just before you, that he is going to go ahead with his new 355 here in Canada. Uh, so that's very exciting news. He's going to be a part of your 355 series.

SPEAKER_07 59:10

Yes, for sure, for sure, Larry. That is an amazing uh new is the same in Australia now in May, I think so.

Larry 59:19

So, how many people have attended your 355 races?

SPEAKER_07 59:22

Uh the last one was about 50.

Larry 59:26

50, okay. So it's that's a good number. And and your next race that is coming up is the 515 non-stop. That's going to be on April 29th and 30th of this year in Fresnillo, Zacate, Zacatez, Mexico. Did I get it right this time?

SPEAKER_07 59:43

Uh Summit can help uh to the price.

SPEAKER_06 59:51

It's like uh I don't know the deletable. It's like Fresnillo.

Larry 59:56

Fresnillo. Fresnillo, okay. I know I I'll I'll work on my Spanish. Uh so when you were on in season one with your friend Miguel, we were given some really great descriptions of your course for the 515. Uh so listeners, please go back and listen to season one, episode six, to hear about that and and all the amazing people that are part of that race and and the community in which you hold it. Um, how how many athletes are there out there that want to do a 515 non-stop? How many do you have coming to your race?

SPEAKER_07 1:00:36

It's a it's uh total different kind of race, uh Larry. For this year we have only 10 athletes, but it's a good number. I think it's a good number because the this race is the third event. The first one was yeah, uh three years ago, yeah, and then the COVID, and then uh the last year, 21 and now 22. But 10 athletes try to find 10 athletes around the world, it's uh different uh difficult work for us, but all all the athletes are friends, like you, like Sami, like all the friends uh who are the friends of Ultra 515 MX. But this is the main thing. We build this race with friends, not with athletes, really.

Larry 1:01:27

Yeah, are there some particular people that we might know from the race, like our friends in the Ohana, that you can highlight for this upcoming non-stop?

SPEAKER_07 1:01:38

Yes, we have uh friends, um Mike Miguel. Yeah, and Sammy can talk about the then other people who come Larki.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:50

Yeah, some people from even Fresnillo are coming and doing the race, like for example, uh Ramiro, who is a really good friend of us, it's like our father, but he's also helping us out with the location of the race, and he's just helping us with uh um putting it together, and also he's competing, so we're really glad to help him and and be competing with him, and like yeah, you know, it and it's it's pretty cool.

Larry 1:02:24

Is there a chance that um our listeners can follow along, maybe live or nearly live to your race? What where can they look for results and and things that are happening at your race online?

SPEAKER_07 1:02:37

The easy way is the Instagram, Larry, for get the results and live results.

Larry 1:02:44

That's perfect. Uh Sammy, can you tell me a little bit about what makes the non-stop unique within its course? Because I know it doesn't run the same course as the regular 515.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:57

So for the pool, it's 200 turns of 50 meters, and athletes mostly finish between four and five hours. So we think that by 7 a.m. in the morning, all of the athletes or most of them are going to be in the bike. In the bike, it's the circuit of four kilometers, so it's 105 turns of four kilometers.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:22

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:25

It's it's hard for the athletes, and well, it's it's the difficulty of this. And for the run, it's one loop of 1k. So it's 84 times one kilometer, and they're gonna be going around 84 times, so yeah, it's it's difficult, it's a challenge, but well, let's hope everyone can finish in the time.

Larry 1:03:53

Yeah, and you you must have multiple people counting all those laps then.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:59

Yes. Normally for the rate we use uh timing chip, and that is the most easy part though. Yes.

Larry 1:04:07

Okay, that's good. Good. You wouldn't want somebody to have to do one more lap when they thought they were done. So uh will we be seeing you up in Canada again now, maybe supporting the new 355 race? Um, either competing or just showing up to show your support?

SPEAKER_07 1:04:27

Yeah, maybe, maybe Larry. We don't know actually.

Larry 1:04:31

Yeah. And and how about you, Sammy? Are you are you a racer as well?

SPEAKER_06 1:04:35

Well, for now, I'm too young to race. Um I'm 16, so I'm a bit too young, but I do want to race, and I hope one day I can be racing here in Mexico and in Australia and in Canada. I hope one day I can be there. It's the next generation.

Larry 1:04:55

Yeah, yeah. You only have a couple years though, uh, to do it in if you want to be the youngest ever.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:01

Yeah, have one more year. Have one more year, and I can have to train the next year.

Larry 1:05:09

Because of course, because of course we know Van has the record of being the youngest. And and I don't know if he's gonna let you take that away. How exactly did you guys meet, anyway?

SPEAKER_06 1:05:23

Um, I started with Van three years ago. I was in the first 355 in Cosumel. And he came to uh uh a cafe. It's um it's one of one, well, it's my my coffee shop of my parents, and he came along with his red bike, and I was like, it's not Iron Man season, I don't know what he's doing here. And Cosumel is very small, so we know each other. It's and I didn't know him, so I was like, what is he doing here? So he started to come along. Like a lot, very frequently to Sucre to the coffee shop. And one day I was cleaning the table next to him. And I asked him, like, hey, how are you? I see that you come here very often. Um, are you an athlete? Are you going to compete or something? And he started to talk to me about Ultraman, and he asked me if I wanted to be a volunteer in the 355. And I said, Sure, why not? I have done the Iron Man. I don't think it's gonna be very different. Oh my! Oh my! It was amazing! It was marathonic, but it was super cool. I enjoyed the three days that I woke up from 4 a.m. in the morning to he kicked me to my place, and he was like, Yeah, okay, yeah, that's fine. You can go home. Yeah. So that was my first time knowing about Ultraman. And slowly we became sort of part of a family, and I started to see that in the Ultraman that's very common because it's a reduced group of athletes that want to race, and it's a very hard race, so there's not a lot of athletes that want to do it. So we start to become a little family, and it don't think that it's amazing, it's just simply amazing.

Larry 1:07:28

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's the best part of it, for sure. I'd like to take a second just to talk about the Ultra March Madness bracket pool that I've been running through the 515 Facebook page, because your race, the Ultra MX 515, has made it all the way to the final. Uh, your race was not in an easy bracket. You had to defeat classic races like the Marathon de Sabla and the granddaddy of the Ultraman races, Hawaii World Championship. Um, and then just last week, the UltraCheck 515, which provided your closest competition for you so far, but you still managed to beat them by a vote of 57 to 38. Um, now that you are in the final against Epic 5, and and voting will close tomorrow at midnight if you are listening to this episode on the day that it dropped, uh, which I hope you all are because you get it immediately by subscribing. But uh obviously you have great supporters of your race. Um, but but why do you think your race has been the most popular in voting so far?

SPEAKER_07 1:08:38

Well, the the the main thing and the obviously thing is the all the friends. We have a WhatsApp group with all the the UltraMex finishers and crew members, and it's huge because we are all the time talking about uh stupid things, not exactly about the race, but because it's difficult, but uh we have uh a lot of communication with all the the finishers and the crew members and all the the stuff, and it's funny, and I think it's the reason the contact, the circadian with the athletes and all the the um all this stuff about the Ohana. Can you understand me?

Larry 1:09:21

Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. So so you have a like an ongoing um Ohana WhatsApp. That's that's that's really amazing. Now that you're up against the Epic Five in the final, is is Epic Five maybe on your bucket list?

SPEAKER_07 1:09:40

Yeah, for sure. Uh not now, maybe, but in in the in the future, for sure. All all the races inside the uh the contest are amazing races. We have uh friends of all around the world, this green thing. And I I need to say uh thank you, Larry, for the invitation to the contest. It was an amazing idea. It's an invitation uh to all around the world to try or see another uh race, not exactly in your country, no.

Larry 1:10:15

Oh yeah, yeah, it's great. Yeah, he's holding up a Canada flag right now, listeners.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:23

This year we have uh maybe three or four Canadians um in Mexico. That's amazing. Uh yeah uh I don't want uh say uh please now, but this year we are preparing all to receive Steve King.

Larry 1:10:42

Oh, excellent. So you're that's that's something that I can't broadcast. That's just for me and you?

SPEAKER_07 1:10:50

Yeah, yeah.

Larry 1:10:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:52

No, no, but oh it doesn't matter now. All the people can um can know.

Larry 1:10:58

Oh, so we we we can say that Steve King will be broadcasting the the race for you this year.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Do it.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:13

Uh we're just waiting for to to book the flights, and that's all.

Larry 1:11:18

Okay, excellent. And that's for just your regular 515 race. Yeah, yeah. In October. In October. Awesome. Well, that'll be great. He he is amazing to have at a race. I I can't believe how many breaking news things I have in this episode. Thanks for sharing that.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:38

Well, Larry, if we won, if we win the the race. The contest, sorry. If the if uh Ultranx win the contest, we can offer for all the people who hear us in the 515 podcast, we can offer a place free.

Larry 1:12:00

A place free for what?

SPEAKER_07 1:12:03

For the race.

Larry 1:12:05

A free entry into your race?

SPEAKER_07 1:12:07

A free entry, sorry. Yeah.

Larry 1:12:11

You you're gonna offer that to everybody or one person?

SPEAKER_07 1:12:14

Only one person.

Larry 1:12:18

All right, so you're you're saying if if if you if you end up winning people who have been part of the voting process, you'll make one free entry for those people.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:30

Yeah. All the countries can participate. That's that's very generous of you.

Larry 1:12:38

All right. So it doesn't matter who they voted for, they didn't have to vote for you.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:41

Yeah.

Larry 1:12:42

But they will have to say that they heard it on the 515 podcast. Okay. Well, you're you're very generous, very generous, man. All right. Well, thanks a lot. It was great catching up with you again. And I I wanted to check in because I knew you got that non-stop coming up, and just make sure the listeners were aware of it and that they'll be checking it out too. And uh, your run through the bracket has been amazing. And uh I I look forward to seeing if you can come out on top of Epic Five as well.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:13

Excellent. Okay, Larry, thank you so much, mate, and well, we will see you soon.

Larry 1:13:20

Yeah. Well, there you have it. Listeners of 515 the Ultraman Podcast not only are the first to know about the ending of the 520 Canada, the start of a new 355, and that Steve King will be in Mexico this October. Just for being a listener to this episode, you know the secret to apply for a complimentary entry into Ultra MX515. Because Dan is such a generous guy and he wants to make friends with actually listening to this part of all the way to the end.