S1E11 -- Ultraman Canada 2021 Race Preview

Steve King and Brad Sawa join me to discuss each of the athletes competing at the special “Canadian only” Ultraman Canada 2021.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ultraman Canada
• Ironman Canada 
• Ultraman World Championship 
• Miracle Mile (Kona)
• Race Across America (RAAM)
• Adelaide 24 hour run
• Great White North Half Ironman
• Badwater 135
• Brazil 135
• Epic 5 Challenge
• Wattie Ink
• Ultraman Florida
• Bare Bones
• Axel Merckx Granfondo
• Oliver Half Ironman
• Peach Classic
• Xterra World’s

Shout outs and mentions in this episode:

• Brad Sawa
• Steve King
• JD Tremblay
• Heather Myers
• Eric Dufour
• Mark Naphin
• Jon Greyell
• Barry Berg
• Chad Bentley
• Scott Beasley
• Curtis Flock
• Dave Wilson
• Wendy Myer
• Dan Jensen
• Brian Schroeder   
• Phil Makin
• Gary Wang
• Ellis Andrews
• Dede Greisbauer
• Tom Bamford
• Martin Caron
• Lucy Ryan
• Scott McDermott
• Kevin Wilson
• Tracey McQuair
• Shane Mascarin
• Kurt Madden
• Mary Jo Dionne
• Miro Kregar
• Jon Bell
• Jordan Bryden
• KC Emerson
• Eric Derbez    
• Jason Nixon
• Amy VanTassel
• Janelle Morrison
• Greg Timewell
• Yvonne Timewell

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

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 Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Transcript

Larry 0:02

Before I start today's episode, I just want to remind you that word of mouth is the biggest driver in a growing podcast. I have had the privilege of having this podcast reach people in 262 cities and 28 countries during season one. But I know that there are still many more listeners that I can reach with your help. If you enjoy this podcast, please tell two of your friends to subscribe, and if necessary, explain to them how subscription works. When you subscribe to the podcast, you automatically have new episodes populate in your library, which makes sure you don't miss an episode. I would also like to take a second to say how much I have appreciated receiving your emails and your Facebook messages about the fact that you are enjoying the show. It makes the long hours in front of the computer easier, knowing that people will be enjoying what I produce. Feel free to drop me a line with any accolades or suggestions. Feedback is always wonderful. Okay, and here we go with the final episode of seasonal. In today's episode, I took in with co-hast director Brad Salah and the voice of Ultraman, the man with the stand, the announcer to the camels in the middle of nowhere, Mr. Steve King, to discuss the field competing in Ultraman Canada 2021. So today on 515, what we're going to do is we're just going to sit back and have a little chat about uh the upcoming race happening July 23rd, 24th, and 25th in Penticton. And we will be discussing the various athletes who are coming and just hopefully giving you a little more information about them before you start following them at the race this year. So today I'm joined with my co-race director, Brad Sawa again, who you met in the last episode. I hope everybody enjoyed that episode. And from the very first episode, we are also having Steve King join us. Actually, from the first three episodes. So if you haven't joined us in the beginning of the podcast, you can go back to episodes one through three and learn a whole lot about Steve King, the voice of Ultraman. So welcome, welcome, gentlemen. Welcome to the podcast again.

Steve King 2:50

Thanks, Larry. Appreciate it. Hi, Larry. Thanks for having me.

Larry 2:54

Yeah. So um well basically we'll just try and go through each of the athletes since we were uh using the smaller field this year. We weren't able to get all our international athletes in. So we'll be able to talk a little bit about each one of the athletes that are coming and our special relay team that will be joining us this year. The return of the relay. And maybe uh hopefully Steve will give us a little bit of background into what was happening in the other years when we had some relays.

JD Tremblay

Larry 3:20

So first up, let's talk about JD Tromblay. JD is an athlete out of London, Ontario. He's 35 years old, and he's coming to Ultraman as a rookie. Steve, do you know a little bit about JD that you can share for the listener?

Steve King 3:37

Well, I don't think I've ever called him in at the uh end of a race. So for me, it will be someone new in the field, someone new at the distance as well. And what's neat is to see we've only got, I think, uh three people in the field that have gone the distance before, except in the relay division. And so it's delightful to see that we're hopefully going to have some more people joining the Ultraman family. I got the impression, though, from JD that uh he's probably not expecting uh much in terms of overall position. He wants to get out there, he wants to experience it, and he wants to finish it. And obviously, that is the goal for everybody because it's uh uh it's a fantastic feat to be able to say over the three days you have managed to accomplish this. And uh, I think from what he is saying that this would be the ultimate for him in terms of what he's achieved so far. So, you know, going from half-irons to irons and then uh for some people straight up to an ultraman distance, that's a very big deal. And uh some people are not familiar with the area as well. And as you know, around the country we've been having a heat wave, and uh I would suspect it's gonna be a toughie from that perspective alone, let alone the seriousness of the course. So my guess is he's done his research. You guys have put a lot of information out there. There's a lot of previous people who have been over the course as well that they can glean info from. So I hope for his sake that it's gonna be the best of days. Three days.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

JD has been uh putting a lot of months into getting here. So we're really excited uh to finally uh get him to Penticton and uh and see him at the start line. And uh yeah, definitely it's uh it's gonna be fun seeing uh seeing seeing him go through the three days.

Larry 5:18

Yeah, and I and JD's actually been emailing a little bit too, and and like a lot of people, he's he's feeling behind in his training, uh, especially in the swimming. Uh he he hasn't had the opportunity to get into the pool due to the COVID closures and things like that. And uh he's also uh told us that he's recently got a foot injury uh as well. So um I'm sure he'll be well cared for on the course. Uh he has Heather Myers coming out to crew for him, who is doing this as a as a volunteer because she has signed up to do the race in 2023, and she wanted to come out and and preview this, and she'll be bringing her husband along as well, and he'll be crewing for her in that year. So there'll be a good opportunity for them to come out and see what's going on on the course. So that should be an interesting team to follow. We'll see how it goes for JD.

Steve King 6:14

Yeah, I think it's yeah, I think it's important to recognize, you know, some people may be thinking, well, look, there's only uh eight people taking part in terms of getting into the start of the swim, including one relay. But we have uh before in 95 and 99, we've had we had five finishers uh one year and seven finishers another year. So it's more about uh still embracing the challenge and becoming part of the family and getting to know your crew because many of them aren't necessarily uh people who knew each other before the start of this event. So hopefully there's going to be a lot of friendships formed as well.

Larry 6:49

Yeah, absolutely, Steve. I mean that that is one of the best parts of the whole event. Let's

Eric Dufour

Larry 6:55

move on to our next racer. This is Eric Dufour. He's from Coquitlam, which is my home city. And um, when he signed up, I went and had a chat with him at a local park and just wanted to get a feel for what he was looking to do with the with the Ultraman. And I got the impression from him that he's more the kind of person that will just set a goal and then just grind it out. It doesn't necessarily matter that he's um been around and has this long history with the sport. Um, he's definitely done a lot more of the 70.3 stuff, but he would just pick that new goal and then just grind and get there. That was the impression I got when I met him. Um he's he's he's definitely another one who's gonna be a little bit hampered because he also informed us that he currently has a stress fracture in his foot. So a couple of people are gonna be starting on the limp uh on the starting line this year.

Steve King 7:53

Yeah, that's tough. I mean, when you say grind it out, I mean it's hard to think of someone grinding it out when they've done a 444-45 uh half iron and uh 1122 for an Iron Man distance. However, if you're going into a double marathon and you've already got a major problem, uh foot problem, that that could create issues. But if he can walk run um and walk quite fast, he could still you get you can still go for a sort of a 10-hour time there, but you never know what can happen between now and that start date.

Larry 8:26

Yeah. Um have we had competitors in the past, Steve, that you know that have had to go through the run with uh you know a major injury?

Steve King 8:34

Oh, we have. Um, and I also think back to when uh Mark Nathan attempted to be one of two people trying to do the double back to back, you know, because he he managed to finish that first one, but uh, he suffered really badly on the run and uh just missed out by a few miles, unfortunately, of doing back-to-backs. But there have been a number of people who consciously were aware that uh either their running wasn't too solid or they had put out so much effort over the previous two days that it was going to be a major endurance fest for that uh third and final day. And so pacing is a big one. Usually when you see someone coming through the half-marathon market, two hours 30 minutes, even though you'd say, well, that could be a 10-hour pace, but it gets a little worrisome when you're at 245 to three hours because they're given that 12-hour mark. And we know um the the the couple of sections, a couple of half-marathon sections that are much tougher because of the climbs involved in them.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Yeah, and and it's not not an easy course. Um it's it's not all paved. Uh probably three-quarters of it is uh a gravel surface. Um, you know, I I don't know about um Eric, but um, you know, for myself, I didn't have a lot of experience running um, you know, on that type of service surface. So that would that was a bit challenging for me for me my first time. Um, and I didn't start with stress fracture fractures. So definitely uh, and I also didn't pace wisely. Um so definitely um pacing will be uh key key uh to to to make it you know uh within the 12 hours.

Steve King 10:13

Yeah, and that's one of the good reasons, of course, to have crew, and then especially to have some pacers that are working with you. It hopefully keeps your mind off uh off the pain and the anguish and the miles still to go to get to that finish line.

Larry 10:28

Yeah, and and I think that also will um play a factor for our next athlete as well, John Grail

Jon Greyell

Larry 10:35

from West Vancouver. Um looks like he's gonna be a very strong biker and is an excellent swimmer. Um, but it looks like perhaps the running course might be the part that after two days of of competition might be something that will be a challenge for him as well. And and I'm hoping he's trained really well for this. But just looking at the stats from previous races, it looks like that might be the part that's uh a key component for his race.

Steve King 11:03

Yeah, just as we were talking about Eric there, they've done around the same sort of time, around 445 for a half iron. Um, and uh John has done around the hour mark uh for an Iron Man did Canada, in fact, uh when it was a Whistler. And uh so the swimming, uh I see him possibly being in third or fourth place around that time because I would uh potentially think Barry Berg and Chad Bentley are going to be the guys potentially at the front of the field, but they're gonna have competition. I could see the battle between those three out of the swim. And potentially John um could be the man leading at the end of day one if he has the sort of bike speed that he's shown at IMA because he did like a 458 there, and that is a tough course. However, you know, when you add up uh those times and you see that uh the back end, he was around, I think, the six-hour mark for the marathon. So that was a tough grind for him. But if he can pace himself sensibly, he's got to leave something for that final day as well. Uh, you know, it's one thing to to uh have one or two great days, but you still got to get inside the 12 hours regardless on that third and final day.

Larry 12:13

Yeah, and at that Whistler race, he was only one of five people to break that five-hour mark. So that's pretty great.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Yeah, it's it's uh it's looking at at uh these numbers here, this is gonna be a it's a small field, but uh it's gonna be a competitive group. It's uh it's gonna be exciting to to follow.

Larry 12:34

Yeah, and and maybe we should just pick up a little bit on that small field thing again. Um, I don't know that I necessarily talked about that enough in the intro. We we did go ahead with the with the race this year, knowing that we would be doing only Canadians when the borders were not gonna be opened in time for the international athletes. And at the time that we made the decision, we did have um nine people registered from Canada that were fully registered and on our list for this year. And we had six people who had contacted us saying that they would like to be in the race if they can get into the race because they're also Canadian and wouldn't have to travel. And so we had these six people on the what we called the wait list until we knew if the internationals were coming. And they had all contacted us after February. So we felt pretty confident that they were knowing what they were getting in for, that they were trained well enough that they would be able to come to the start line. Um, unfortunately, once the idea of showing up at Ultraman became a reality, um, none of our waitlisted people were wanting to take that on at this time this year. So we thought we had six more on the wait list. We thought we had nine in our regular um list of people, and we were gonna have 15 people at the race, and we thought this was gonna be a good number still to run with just Canadians. It it obviously hasn't turned out that way for us this year. We're gonna have the the seven solo competitors and the one relay race, but it really does for us allow us to get the race running again for those competitors that have been training for two or three years now, to like someone like we're gonna be talking about later on, like Barry, who's really just had this world championship goal all this time. And we didn't feel like it would be fair to the people who were signed up and were training and ready to go if if we were to pull the plug because we didn't have enough people. So a lot of what we do is not necessarily about the race as well. So you know, a lot of it is about those people meeting the the 12-hour time limit and defeating the elements and getting all the way through the number of kilometers that we have in this race. So hopefully, even though we have a smaller field, Steven, maybe you can talk to this a little bit more when you've had fields that are smaller, it it will still have the same feeling for the people that do show up.

Steve King 14:58

I absolutely agree. It's not about the numbers, it's about the quality of the event and the quality of the people involved in the event. And as organizers, you guys have to do almost just as much work to make it all happen. Um and you come away still with that great sense of satisfaction because uh often people are going to be out there once a swim is completed. That day one, most of them are gonna be by themselves, just them and their crew. Then not many occasions where they're going to see other athletes. Of course, at the start of each day, it's like that. And then on day two, you've got the out and back section, the asoya section, of course, and a couple of out and backs uh later on. But other than that, uh some people may be way at the back or by themselves. So again, it takes a lot more in the headspace and the crew to get that person to the line. But when you think about it, for the average person, this is a battle with the self. And it doesn't have to be a battle, it's really complimenting the self and uh challenging yourself to a personal ambition. However, there are going to be the guys at the front where even the transition on day one can make a difference. I mean, we we've seen uh well, we had a race uh uh quite a few years ago. Uh Scott Beasley um uh beat out a gentleman uh by about 18 seconds after that gentleman, uh Curtis Flock was well ahead going into day number three. And poor Curtis, his feet were really mashed up, and he managed to get to the line, but realized unfortunately for him that Scott Beasley had pulled back all that time and just taken 18 seconds out of him in the world championships. It was an athlete who uh stopped to kiss his wife just before the finish line. He lost the world title by five seconds. I mean, so for those guys, you know, even the transition counts on day number one. But for others, it really is about can I continue to put one foot in front of the other or one pedal stroke or one arm stroke in front of uh uh after the other and get there? And there's so much satisfaction. Uh I, you know, Brad and I have both done an Ultraman distance race, and you I can remember it like it was yesterday. Honestly, I've still got my bike sitting behind me here from 1994. So, you know, there's lots of memories, and that's what this is about. It's helping create those memories for people.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yeah, and I think with the smaller field, um it creates the opportunity for um you even closer bonds amongst uh the athletes and crews and and everybody that is there. So um, you know, there's there's there's pros and cons to uh you know having a huge field for um and uh having a small field, and we're definitely gonna take advantage of uh uh you know uh that that to get to know everybody there that much better.

Larry 17:45

Yeah. Yeah. And and a lot of the racers are bringing their families with them. Uh, I know that John is one of those people. He's gonna have his wife, Lisa, and his 13-year-old son Adam uh in the crew vehicle along. And a couple of the other people are doing the same. And so for for them, it's just gonna be a truly family bonding experience as well. And I think Brad, probably you can speak to this as to what it means for for you and your family and and how they were a little bit younger at the time, the kids when when you raised originally, but they've they've grown up around this. So you can maybe just talk a little bit about how that envelops the whole family.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Sure. At uh at my first Altraman uh that I was participated at was in 2012. And my youngest son uh was still uh being carried by my wife uh in her belly. Uh she was eight months pregnant, and it's actually funny because we were talking about our challenging run course, and um it's very Kelly. And I always tried to make the appearance that I was running, even though um I was only moving at a walking pace, I still tried to, you know, you know, look look that way. And there was times when my wife, because she was out in course a lot, even though she was eight months pregnant, there was times when she was able to uh you know get out beside me and you know, I I would say run, but it was walking. She'd walk with me for a couple hundred meters. And although it was really nice having that, having my wife there, um, you know, when you're trying to run and you got 20 kilometers to go um and you're trying to stay mentally uh focused, uh having your eight-month pregnant wife run beside you in flip-flops and you're you're going as hard as you can, it's you know, it's not great for for your spirits. So I think I did at a certain point just say, you know what, just cheer me on as I go by, but please don't run beside me. But but seriously, from a family point of view, um both me and my family really enjoy um the smaller size of a race like this, and the fact that we get a lot of interaction out there. It's really easy for my wife to follow me and find me on course. Um it's yeah, it's it's just very friendly for that. And um, yeah, my kids have definitely grown up around it, um, as have um, you know, some of the other competitors. Um uh and even beyond that, uh, at this event, um I know that you have uh some people close to you coming to the event this year. Um I've got um my cousin and his wife and uh uh their daughter coming out to help volunteer at this event. Um my in-laws are both in town for the event from Manitoba uh to help out. Uh so um yeah, it really is a family event. Everybody um everybody wants to be involved in this.

Larry 20:33

Yeah, and that's and that's why we just keep expanding the Ohana as we go.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

That's right.

Larry 20:40

Okay, well, let's uh take a quick break here so that we can talk about one of our Ohana members. Steve, take it away.

Steve King Stories : Ellis Andrews

Mary Jo 20:50

And now here's another Steve Green story.

Steve King 20:56

The next athlete I'm going to introduce you to became the most senior athlete to complete an Ultraman in 2005 at the age of 60. He was uh 12th overall then at 33, 44, 24. Now, since then we've had an athlete at 65, uh, Mr. Gerald Streefkirk, who completed in 2015. Now, at 65 years of age, this gentleman went to the Big Island in 2009, completed there in 3351-21, became the most senior person to have completed on the Big Island. Now, since then, Dave Wilson has achieved uh a similar uh performance in 2011 at 65, and of course, the year prior to that, the Big Island's very own, Wendy Minor, also became the most senior female ever to complete at 65 years of age. Now, for those of you interested, uh, the most senior athlete to have completed an Ultraman to this point is now Dan Jensen in 2017 at Ultraman, Florida. He finished and he was 67 years of age. Phenomenal. Stuff. So we're still awaiting that first 70 plus athlete to complete. Dan did come back to try that a couple of years ago and was not successful, but I think we'll see him back at a start line. And hopefully we'll see this gentleman. We did see him also in 2009, not only on the Big Island, but he raced at Ultraman Canada. He lives nearby, but he did a the relay team event along with Brian Schroeder. And this gentleman did the swim and the run. In 2008, the year prior, he'd been named the Interior Runner of the Year and BC's Age Group Runner of the Year. He's had many marathon wins in his age group and half marathons. 2012 uh he was racing on uh the Big Island and uh through the islands in Hawaii. He did the Miracle Mile, in fact, with a top 20 finish there in 553. He was third overall at the Kona Triathlon Club's 20K at 8915. His run with the Cabaya Blanco and the Tarahomaras as well. Some of you know that story, just amazing stuff. And he was kind enough to bring me back uh some of the sandals that they actually are racing. Now, he is a national level squash player. He was a ski instructor, he's a retired jet pilot. He still supports all sorts of races locally and formed a running club, in fact, in the town in which he now lives, which is Oliver in British Columbia. His wife Susan, a very accomplished athlete, along with her twin sister Sandra, crewed for him, in fact, at Ultraman Hawaii. He has crewed there himself on many occasions with people like filmmaking for people like Gary Wang. And he's also been the swim captain at Ultraman Canada. So the man I'm introducing you to, none other than Mr. Ellis Andrews.

Larry 23:57

Okay, well, let's move on to our next athlete.

Marla Zucht

Larry 24:00

Um, the next athlete I spoke to in episode six as one of the um people to look out for and to see at the race. And that is Marla Zook. Uh, she's from Whistler. She's 48. She's actually been doing quite well in the Iron Man world. She's been to Kona four times. She tells a great story about how she got there the first time in episode six. Um people should tune in and listen to that one. Um, Steve, what what do you know about uh her stats and where you think she's gonna be competing here? Unfortunately for her, she's the only female this year. Um, but I feel like she's gonna be competing with the men anyway, so it's not gonna make a big difference.

Steve King 24:38

I I would agree with you. I think she could be right up there amongst uh the the top guys, absolutely. She has done a 1038 at the Iron Distance, uh, which is not too shabby at all, to put it mildly. Um, as you mentioned, she's done about a dozen IMAM races four times to the World Championships. She's done a couple of Ultras as well, um, including up there in Whistler. They have a 50k up there, and I've commentated on that when she's raced. Now, yeah, it's one thing to say, well, she's the only female, except obviously in the relay as well, but um uh you've still got to finish if you want to be the women's champion. And we have to remember it took three years of uh Ultraman before we saw a finisher uh in the women's division, and that was uh three-time world champion, Tracy Preston. So one way or another, we are looking at Canadian winners, Ultraman Canada, in both the men's and the women's divisions. However, yeah, you've still got to get to that finish line, one way, shape, or form. And I think she has got the form to actually be right up there. It's very consistent in the swim. Regularly does an IMA 118 to 120, usually around the 535, 540 mark uh for the bike split, and often around three and a half to 340 on the marathon. So she could be someone who could really take this apart as well and surprise a lot of people. We have to remember it wasn't too long ago we saw a female uh take the wind here in Pentikton and became a world champion as well. Uh, and so uh things can happen. We've we've seen uh uh Lady Dee Dee Grisbauer in Florida uh when we were hoping we could see a new world best in breaking 2407, which was the world best at that point. And then uh she ended up not only breaking 24 but uh got busting right through 23 hours as well. So she was a pro triathlete. Uh and we we haven't got any pros here, but we've got all Canadians and we've got three provinces represented and one female. So there'll be a lot of us rooting for in every which way.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

Yeah. And I I I think that the longer the distances go in endurance sports, the more the playing field is leveled between gender. And I think that um we saw that in Ram with uh the the first overall uh female winner just uh last week. Uh Canadian from Vernon as well.

Steve King 27:03

Just happened in Adelaide on the weekend. There was an Adelaide 24-hour run, and a lady blew the field away, literally did an amazing job. Uh, did did something like 145 miles or something. It was uh quite remarkable. So fantastic. 230 okay. Impressive.

Larry 27:23

Yeah, and I know she's one of the people that has been training in the heat uh down here, because we've had that heat wave down here. Um so uh she'll be one of the people that's prepared to to hopefully take on those high temperatures that we're gonna be having in Penticton over over the race weekend as well.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Yeah, after uh putting in some big days in the uh 40 degree plus heat, this 35 degree weather just feels comfortable now.

Larry 27:47

Yeah. Which is odd.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Yeah.

Larry 27:53

Well, I I know Steve, um, you actually, you know, you were talking about the these other races that were just happening, but you've actually had a chance to get back out and do some uh uh announcing at races. Where where have you been recently?

Steve King 28:07

Well, that was uh in Edmonton or Stony Plain, actually, for what they call the great white north half Iron Man. And uh uh Tom Bamford, the race director, did a fabulous job under very difficult conditions because it was on, it was off, that sort of stuff, until they said, yeah, it's a go. But then in the final few days before the event, uh he was told that uh the coliform count was just too high for the swim. So all of a sudden he's got to plan uh a Jewathlon. And he already had a try-a-try, a sprint, an Olympic distance, an aqua bike, uh, and uh and a Jewathlon as well as the half. So what we ended up doing, we set everyone off at five-second intervals. But in the end, people thoroughly enjoyed it because it it was uh uh under racing conditions, and they were back in the saddle, back on the road, and uh meeting again with many of their peers and co-competitors that uh they hadn't seen for a long time. So it felt good just to get back uh in into race form for a lot of people, because as you said, people have been training, not necessarily with anything out there. Some people have been doing virtual races, and they they turned out to be quite successful, you know. But you wouldn't necessarily host a virtual Ultraman. I can't quite see that happening uh sometime soon. Um but it was excellent to be there. And uh again, kudos to the race directors. Um there are many of them, and you guys are two of two of them as well, and you know what it takes. So uh I I really applaud them and their team for getting out there and doing it under difficult conditions, and the athletes for showing up, and the sponsors for showing up, which was impressive as well.

Larry 29:48

And and did we have any big names out there or or HANA members out there that we would recognize?

Steve King 29:55

No, you didn't, but you did have uh Martin or Martin Caron out of Penticton. He did he was registered for the aqua bike, he felt he needed to work on his uh swimming and biking. Uh and he he was the fastest biker of the day, but they just did the bike. Um, but he did a tremendous job on that.

Larry 30:14

Excellent. Yeah, I know um because one of the things we were also looking at in bringing in the relay team for for this year's event is people were very concerned about where their fitness levels were. And that's ultimately why the people turned down the the application or turned down the invitation to come and race this year is because they felt that either they weren't able to swim or they weren't able to, you know, do whatever training that they thought they would need to do to come to a big event like this and and do what they felt would be something they could go home and feel proud of. And so one of the things that we talked about, me and Brad, was well, maybe we can put out a relay team event where then people who have different levels of training can still get together and come experience a little bit of our ohana. And surprisingly, when we put it out on Facebook that tons of people were like, I'd love to do the swim, I'd love to do the swim, I'd love to do the swim. And we thought that was the one thing that people were not going to be prepared for with pools being closed and things like that. Um, so in the end, right now we only have the one team, um, but there's a lot of experience on this team. And maybe, maybe you can tell us a little bit about um this

Relay Team : 2 Vets and a Rookie

Larry 31:30

team and then a little bit of the history of the relay event at Ultraman.

Steve King 31:35

Yeah, actually at Ultraman Worlds, uh they rarely got more than three teams. Uh, it only occurred a few times, but there was an exciting time when a Canadian team actually uh uh bested the Americans and uh it was friendly, but it was really neat to be able to claim when we got home from that that the Canadians had just won the World Ultraman triathlon titles. So uh they lived off that for a long time, and it was wonderful to be um uh there to witness that. But when it comes to the team we have here, um I'm I'm impressed. I'm stunned you able to get a team together or people willing to put it together at such short notice. Uh I'm assuming you put them in the order in which they're going to compete. Is that correct? Like is Lucy going to be doing the swim?

Larry 32:22

I I believe Lucy wants to do the first day bike as well. She's definitely doing the swim.

Steve King 32:28

Yeah, I wonder whether they were splitting up according to discipline or the day. So good for her. Well, there's someone who certainly knows this area very, very well. Um, we've been with her when uh she actually ran a long way as well from uh Kelowna on the KVR. Uh, we've seen her do Badwater, the 135 mile, 216 kilometers. We've seen her do Brazil as well. And uh she's one tough nut. And I am so pleased that she's in action because I know she also helps in the background with a number of events over the years. So we're delighted to see that she's gonna be uh joining us. And uh uh that's gonna make it interesting as well, because the other crew has to crew for the individual on the day as well. So uh they've got to save something for their own stage as they go. And obviously, Lucy hopefully will be in great condition by day three, but she might suffer a bit on that second day when uh there's a lot of running around trying to make sure uh the cyclist uh gets their bottles, etc., etc. And uh Scott Scott McDermott, I was pleased to see that he's coming because uh it's a fair distance. I saw on the on the other uh the other night that he was looking for a place still in Pentictum for he and his family, Hillary and Caden. And I certainly hope he found a place because I know it's getting expensive here, so that's something else we have to watch out for. He may end up uh camping at your place, Brad. Uh this is what we've done for many years. You know, where when people can't find a place, uh we've all got basements and that, and you hope you can uh help them out uh because that's a gentleman who has actually got a documentary featuring him and uh what happened uh to him uh as a member at the Warrior Code. He's a coach as well, head of gym for many years, and he is a race director in his own right previously and has done some race announcing. So he certainly knows the in and outs of this sport, and uh I'm sure his family will be happy to see him take part in this as uh a relay team member. And what's nice is uh the threesome is made up not only of two athletes who have achieved Ultraman family status before, but a gentleman who's uh helped his wife uh win on two occasions, once in the UK and once here in Canada, and that's Kevin Wilson. And being a local, he certainly knows what it's all about and he he knows that run course, and hopefully he's gonna bring them to the line, and hopefully everyone completes uh in that inside that 12 hours and safely because it could be a hot one out there on all three days.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

I was uh I was surprised as well at uh when we announced the relay. I thought for sure it would be the swim that would be the hardest to fill. And um in the end, it did turn out that the run uh was, I mean, we we could have probably had six relay teams uh if we had more runners, uh, what was the challenge for us. Uh so many people were willing to swim and bike. Um, I never would have predicted that. And uh um this definitely is gonna be a fun team to watch. And uh I'm definitely um uh impressed with all three competitors. I know that uh Lucy has been out in uh the area training the last few days, and uh I think uh getting used to the heat out here. And um Scott, the last time I saw Scott was actually in Penticton um when they opened up on-site registration for uh the return of Iron Man Canada. And I believe Scott and a friend had driven out from Sullivan Lake that day. I I would imagine that's around nine or nine hours, maybe. Um, and they registered on site. And if I'm not mistaken, they drove back immediately after. Um, so uh that's a committed athlete right there that uh, you know, um yeah, he wants to race. Uh he's hungry for it. So um unfortunately that race didn't happen. Uh I would imagine Scott's rolled over for next year. I know that he's planning right now to go to uh World Championships in November. I think uh that's the plan for him. And um with Kevin, I've never met Kevin before, even though I'm now living in Penticton as well. But I'm super impressed that there's a Penticton local uh that could throw their name in the hat for a double marathon on a couple of weeks' notice. Um, I think that's super cool.

Steve King 36:45

Well, let's hope the kids come out this time as well, because it's taken a while, obviously, for them to uh get back into their running and other sports, uh, which they're both so very good because uh they became parents a few years ago and they had to take care of the kids. So it's a toughie. And uh the other person now, uh Shane Maskin, I was really pleased to see him come on board. I believe it was only in the last few weeks when uh you

Shane Mascarin

Steve King 37:10

opened things up and said if anyone else is still interested. And I know uh, you know, you know, the man from uh Wainwright, Alberta was uh a keener once he heard because he's been doing virtual runs uh to raise funds for different um uh things like mental illness and stuff like that. Uh he is a great supporter of people who have suffered in that way. And uh he even did 100 milers uh in virtually, he's done like 15 of them. We've seen him at iMan. He is a sub-11 hour competitor on a regular basis, too. Um and hopefully his wife Sarah, and maybe some of the kids are going to come and join us, but I'm sure Sarah will. And uh, I think he also has a local person who's going to paddle for him. Shane has done the uh Ultraman distance before, has he not? Uh yes, he has, yeah, indeed. Uh he's done like 28 hours, so he knows what the course is about and uh wants to come back and challenge that time. Because, you know, you can get personal best if you break it down the three disciplines or the three days, or the combined one and two, or combined one, two, three, which is obviously uh what the ultimate aim is to see if you can either uh if you because you some people come come back to the sport many years later. Kurt Madden, the original winner, uh he came back 30 years later and still finished seventh uh at the World Championships after winning it in 1983 and again in 1985. I mean, it it's amazing what some people are able to do.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

That was impressive. I was uh I was fortunate to be there, and uh yeah, he he was amazing to watch. Yeah. And so uh Chad Bentley, um, who is uh competitor this year, and uh Chad is um

Chad Bentley

SPEAKER_01 38:50

lives part-time in Pentikton, and I've known uh him and his family for years. In fact, we competed against each other in 2016 um in Pentikton, and um on that day we spent the whole day two um pretty much inside of each other on on the bike. Um it was an extremely windy day, and um, I think we were just both um in in the same pace and uh same rhythm. And um, every time I I turned around, uh, you know, I could see him a couple hundred meters off in the distance, or went around the corner. And when I got to the out and back in Princeton, uh made my turnaround, and you know, 30 seconds later, there he is. Um, and sure enough, when I got to the finish line at the arena, um he he was not not far behind me. Um uh so on day two, um it was exciting uh uh getting to the finish line. And uh me and Chad um had a fun competition on the go. And um I did have a few minutes up for him on the run. And um Steve created some great uh excitement for for me at the finish line in seeing uh would I steal uh uh one position uh from Chad at the finish line? And uh um it was a bit of a a nail biter for me and uh uh added some excitement to the finish. And uh I'm just gonna leave it there. Anyone that wants to find out how that story finished can uh Google search it or talk to us at the race.

Steve King 40:18

Boy, you've still got time to enter and renew that competition, Brad. I just put that out. Well, I would also say that, you know, with Chad, what one of the wonderful things is he challenged himself twice in 2016 by doing this and then going to the World Championships. And as you know, also did the Epic Five, which is a stunning event with five I men, five islands, Hawaiian Islands, and five different days. So logistics is tough, but for the athlete, especially if if you get to talk to Chad about his story, uh Rad Chad, as the family call him, of course, they're going to be out there en masse as they uh support his ventures. Again, it'll be interesting to see how he does uh on that day one because he's a great swimmer. He's done around 240 before as well. And uh I think he's out to possibly set a personal best because he too knows the course very well. It's going to be his fifth time at an ultraman distance race.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

Yeah, um Chad, Chad and his family, uh, they also do a lot um, you know, uh outside the sport uh for fundraising and charities. And um I know that's uh something that's very important to MJ and Chad. And uh um, you know, they're always giving back. Um so uh uh family that is uh very very big into Ultra and very big into uh charity and uh just just amazing people.

Larry 41:41

And and and a big part of this podcast as well, because Mary Joe does do the announcing at the opening and closing of of this podcast.

SPEAKER_01 41:48

Is that MJ's voice?

Larry 41:50

That's MJ, yes.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

Wow, she sounds great. And and also I thought you had an assistant in your studio with you doing that live.

Larry 42:00

Yeah, oh yeah, yes, of course, yeah. Yeah, and of course, Chad was also in episode one where he told some of those stories about the the Epic Five and the and the challenges and and the Ultraman races and some of the fundraising he's done. So if you want to learn a little bit more about Chad Bentley, you can always go back to episode one and and listen to that again. And uh we we might have a little something special for him at awards night as well, other than just uh a finisher's trophy.

SPEAKER_01 42:27

Uh extra special evening for him,

Barry Berg

SPEAKER_01 42:30

yeah. Um, yeah, so um our final competitor, I believe, uh is Barry Berg uh from Vancouver. Um and Barry is on uh uh the Wadi Inc. uh elite hit squad, I believe. And um something that's really impressed me about Barry is that um he seems to swim year-round outdoors. Um and living in Vancouver, um, that's not easy to do. It's um or sorry, I should I should mention open water swim. Uh he's going out in the Pacific Ocean and in lakes, and um, you know, he must have a really thick wetsuit and uh, you know, a cap and booties. But uh so Barry um has been, I would imagine, training right now for 20 months uh because he was you know training for last year's event, which didn't happen. And um I do know that it's his ambition to get to uh the Ultraman World Championships in Kona. Um and I think that Barry has a very good chance at uh uh doing very well at the race this year. I think um it's fair to say that he's one of the favorites uh uh for the overall. If if things uh go according to plan for him, uh and uh he'll definitely be a contender uh if he makes it to Kona. And uh I'm I'm sure he'll uh be at be at the front of the pack, uh, you know, get giving those guys uh a run for their money.

Steve King 43:52

Yeah, he's in that 50 to 59 division, and we have to remember there has been a guy, Miro Krieger of Slovenia, who won. The world title when he was in his 50s. So it is possible. And he's done a time, Barry has done that time of uh uh 23-44. And that was his one previous outing over this distance, and he came second to John Bell, and they had they really made a race of it, those two guys. So it's thrilling stuff. And as you said, he's an awesome swimmer. He's done a 225 here, which is only six minutes off of Jordan Bryden's uh record for the course, and we know what what an incredible swimmer Jordan is as well. Um, and I think at the back end as well, when he ran previously, he did that 7.49 clocking, and I have no doubt he's been working on that as well. So they'll be strong in all three disciplines. He uh has obviously uh just like Marla has uh gone to Kona on four occasions for IMAM World Championships. We saw him here for ITU Worlds. He got seventh in his age group for Challenge Pentikton, he was second in his age group, uh, but he knows what this is about. And he's got a great team with him. Casey Emerson's on his team, uh, and her husband Eric, I believe, is also going to be here, and they've worked with him before. So it's not only great that the athlete's been on the course before, uh, but got a crew that knows uh what it's all about as well. Because we have had some crews before that have gotten lost out there or gotten their athlete lost, you know, and that's uh toughy when that happens, um, because you want everyone to stay in sync uh throughout the three days and come away with a big smile on their face. Even if things go a little awry, you still want them to uh cross that line and be grateful. And because, as the athletes say, some of them, even prior to the start of the event, think, oh, I've done this, I've done that, and maybe I don't really need a crew. But by the end of it, they realize the value of having a crew.

Larry 45:46

I I think Brad was telling that exact same story in the last episode about how he thought the crew was uh not necessary before he had done his first race.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

I think I called it an unnecessary evil.

Steve King 45:59

And that's why you beautifully suffered.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

Hey, I just rode my bike to Vancouver from Penticton without a crew, and uh yeah, that that was brutal. That was painful. A crew could have just changed the day so much.

Larry 46:13

Yeah, Brad, that's that's kind of a crazy thing that you did in that uh not only did you do it, but you did it on the hottest days of the heat wave. So um just maybe give us a couple of minutes, like how what were your distances here and um what was the heat like? And I think people have probably seen some of the photos on uh Facebook of your of your neck as a result. But for people that maybe aren't following you on Facebook yet, just give us a quick rundown of what that event was like for you.

SPEAKER_01 46:42

I figured I was gonna ride out to uh to Vancouver. I made this decision on on a month last Monday, and uh I knew that my friend was driving out here Thursday or Friday for um uh an event they had in Kelowna. So I figured I would ride out Tuesday, Wednesday, and uh get a ride back with them. Uh so I left uh Penticton Tuesday morning. Um I it was 250 kilometers between here and Hope. Um it was extremely hot. I think it was 40 degrees by 10 a.m. in the morning. Um by the time I got to Princeton, which was around just over 100 kilometers uh from my my home, um it was well above 40, and uh there was headwinds uh which were slowing me down even more. And I knew that the really challenging part of the ride was in between um Princeton and Hope. There's not, it's a long distance between those two towns, and it's there it's just mountains. There's not, there's two gas stations in between them. Uh and you know, they were about 75 kilometers away from each other. Well, 75 kilometers from Princeton, and then the next one was 75 kilometers. So there was distances in between it, and um at no point did I ever run out of fluids or calories. I was really smart. I had a hydration vest, which I've never worn on a bike before, and it had two and a half liters in it, and I carried uh, you know, a liter and a half in bottle cages on my bike, and I had a couple of bottles in the back of my jersey. I think I every time I left a gas station, I had six liters of fluids on me. Uh, and the biggest gap I ever had uh was 75 kilometers. But with um constant uphill, no shade, and a bit of a headwind, which wasn't providing any relief from the heat. Um mentally it was really tough. Um, you know, I talked to Steve after and I told him uh for the first time in my life, I felt that my eyeballs were burning. Um I thought I was getting sunburn on my eyeballs, and that was worrisome. Um there were there was a point, uh at one point I had a breakdown. Um I ended up on the side of the highway and I thought it was over. I thought I was gonna have to call in my wife uh to come come, you know, scrape me off the road. And uh uh, you know, it was really looking back on it. It it wasn't anything other than myself, you know, and and letting letting things sort of get to me. And uh ultimately I knew that I was on track. I knew that um, you know, I was still um I was, you know, everything that I was supposed to be doing, I was doing. There was there was no indicator that I had given myself that wasn't where it should be, you know. Um, so when I stepped back and I was objective and looked at and I removed my emotions, uh, I realized it's not bad. Of course, this is unpleasant. Uh, I fully expected that. And so I uh chugged a bottle of brisk, which tastes like uh cough medicine, um, iced tea. And then uh I ate a banana and I just forced myself to finish that last climb up to the top of I can't remember the name of the summit that you climb to when you leave Princeton, but it's long. It took it took me a couple hours of climbing to get to the top of it. And uh I just said, get to the top. Um, you could start making the descent down the other side. And if you don't feel better by the time you start descending down the other side, then you can call it a day. There's nothing more you can do. But um, you know, by the time I got to the summit, uh everything changed around. I mean, I was feeling good and um I wasn't gonna let anything uh affect me anymore. So when every semi-trailer went by and was tooting their horn and people were hanging out of minivans, you know, hooting and hollering at me, I just I just simply smiled and waved. And I was thinking, they they think I'm crazy, but what they don't know is um the training that I've done for the last few years and my fitness level, and that I'm not crazy. I'm I'm experienced and I know what I'm doing, and uh I'm smart and and um uh yeah, I might um doesn't mean you're not crazy. Yeah, well, I'm I might be uh you know a sucker for punishment, um, and and I do love to suffer. Um, but you know, you can be out in extreme heats. You just have to be smart about how you do it. And I I really I knew that and I really wanted to prove to myself that I could execute it and uh and I pulled it off.

Larry 50:53

Yeah, and and I think that's one of the things that I've I've heard from a lot of athletes over the year doing the podcast is exactly the same story that you just told, where they've been in these races and they they really just need to take that time to pause and let them go back to their training and not give in to that that idea of, well, it's not my day today. Because so many of the athletes have said that by just taking a few minutes to pause and reconsider, um, they were able to continue on and and rely on the training that they've done, um, whether it was to beat uh what what's going on with their body or to beat the elements. And and that's something that for the athletes coming out, we know obviously half of our field has experienced this year, but for those that that maybe aren't as experienced at definitely doing this distance and and facing the elements they're gonna face. Um I think that's a great story that you've told to help them to remember that there is that opportunity to pause and and for the crew to to step in and and and be there and and make sure that they help out. Like that's that's so important. Um Steve, can can you think of some other the stories because you're the guy with all the stories where you know people have overcome those sorts of things in the in the way Brad did in um making sure that they just relied on their training and relied on their crews and and got through some tough times?

Steve King 52:22

Yeah, there are many, many incidents of that. And I think what's important is to realize, you know, you you've put in the sweat equity, uh, you've put in the time, you put in the money, uh, you're you're usually paying for your crew to be there, et cetera, et cetera. And so I think the best thing a person can do when they're struggling is if you know the crew well, is hand it over to them. If they know you well, ask them, what do you think I should do at this time? You know, because your own brain sometimes it's not working too well. Um, there's a part of you screaming to walk off. But what what's important is to be able to sort of ask yourself, because sometimes it is a wise decision to leave and get out. It is, because you could do permanent damage. So you have to reflect. And I would say you ask yourself, how are you going to feel about this when you're sitting at home a couple of days from now? You know, it will it be if only or what ifs, or will it be I made the right decision because something was going very haywire? Because we've had some people end up in really nasty circumstances, and I'm not talking about crashes uh so much as sort of major other issues that have gone on here. Unfortunately, crashes do happen, and we've got a gentleman in the field, Scott McDermott, who can attest to that. Um, but you know, that's why it's great to be a comeback kid. So you've got to ask yourself about, you know, the challenge and the depths because we don't know how far we can dig until we've dug as far as we can. And therefore, this is the sort of thing that provides what you know Brad describes there as uh I love to suffer. And it's uh how much discomfort can you take and continue to put one foot in front of the other or have another pedal stroke, etc. And there are plenty of stories out there. I um, but I I I think you know, one of the things you can do, um there was a local some years ago who dedicated it to a charity. That can make a lot of difference. When you are dedicating a race uh to either an individual, for instance, or to a charity. It yes, you could say it's a lot more pressure, but actually it allows you to go beyond because you separate yourself sometimes from what your mind's saying, you're saying, no, we've we are dedicated to this, we're committed to this. And therefore, you've got a friendly companion with you. It's like this independent expert observer part of us that's like our inner coach. If we give it permission, it will tell us what we need to do. So sometimes, let's say you do have a coach, you can certainly, if your coach is on your crew, you can ask, what do I need to do? But you're the world's leading expert on yourself. So if you can step aside for a moment and call upon that part of you that knows, it will tell you the right thing to do. And sometimes it's slogging it out. In Florida, there was a guy who made the cutoff by seconds, literally seconds. We had a crowd screaming and screaming. It was just wonderful. They still feature him on their Ultraman Florida website. It was such a wonderful occasion. Uh, and there's been others who have had their crew holding them up, you know, as they walk the final few meters just to stagger across. But literally within half an hour, they're beaming, absolutely beaming, because, you know, and that's the difference, right? Uh um uh second here or second there. We literally had a guy called Jason Nixon at the World Championships on the Big Island, and he was a lifeguard uh in Hawaii as well. He literally made that finish line with one second to spare, and that was because the crew pushed him forward and he fell flat on his face across the line, literally. So I'm not suggesting any crews do that, but if you're that desperate when the clock is ticking down, you do what you gotta do. And so you can imagine how he felt. But literally, I mean, his legs were so bruised from what he had gone through. It took months for him to recover, but he never regretted uh putting himself through it the agonies he did to get to that line. And I hope it's not agony for anyone out there in the coming uh uh couple of weeks. But um I I think it's such a worthwhile thing, and uh you're honoring yourself. You're the ones who paid your money, you're the ones who have put in the work, and now it's about letting it come out and flow through you rather than forcing it. It will be there if you give it permission and uh a little bit of delayed gratification. We know that when it comes to ultras.

Larry 56:53

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And and that's one of the things with the podcast that I've really wanted to get out there are just some of those those tips of how to get through these races for the people that are less experienced. And I think that was the thing that came up more often than not with uh most of the interviews was people just saying that, you know, you can get through those tough times and and get yourself to the finish line if you if you allow yourself to do it properly. And and hopefully people will, you know, take that in if they're listening to the podcast and take in these stories and and and have that same realization.

Steve King 57:27

Right. A lot of people have their own personal mottos. You may remember, you know, pain is temporary, pride is forever, that sort of thing. And I know with Scott, he's got the warrior code, for instance, and maybe we'll read that out before the start of the event.

Larry 57:42

Yeah. Well, um guys, I want to thank you for joining me on the last episode of season one, because uh after this we're going into the race, and hopefully I'll get some uh great uh little tidbits during the race to bring out in the post-race recap show. Um, but thanks guys for being here on the on the last episode and for um obviously supporting this endeavor to get more information out to the Ultraman community. Steve, you've been fantastic. Everybody's loving the Steve King stories that are in each of the episodes. And for those of you that are wondering, yes, there's still like 10 more in the bank already to go, and there is one in this episode as well. It'll be coming up in just a few minutes. And Brad, thank you as well for helping me with the um the just the chance to come in and and put the podcast together in a way that will hopefully help all Ultraman competitors, but also our race. So I I thank you for your support in that as well. Thanks for watching.

SPEAKER_01 58:51

Thanks, Larry. You're you're doing a great job of this. Uh I just got I have to say, you're uh very impressive what you're doing here, and thank you for doing it. And um I I will say that I miss the two of you guys. Uh we do all talk quite often, but I haven't seen you guys in so long. So I really look forward to uh to next week and uh and to seeing your faces.

Steve King 59:11

Likewise. Take good care. Try to keep fit.

SPEAKER_01 59:14

Same to you. See you later.

Steve King 59:16

All right, thanks guys.

Larry 59:18

And so ends season one of the podcast. Thanks for coming along for the ride. In a couple of weeks, I will be back for episode one of season two. I've already lined up some amazing Ohana member guests for season two, and I will be introducing you to the athletes who will be competing at Ultraman Canada 2022. Which, by the way, is already sold out. Waitlist spots are now being accepted, though. And 2023 is half sold out at this point as well. Since this is the final episode of the season, I have a special bonus Steve King story for those of you who have listened all the way to the end today. Enjoy.

Steve King Stories : Yvonne TImewell

Mary Jo 1:00:02

And now here's another Steve King story.

Steve King 1:00:10

The next athlete I'm going to talk about is a lady who lives up in Kamloops, but also has a home in Iron Man and Ultraman City here in Penticton. She's a lady who's raced throughout the Okanagan. We've seen her not only in Penticton, of course, but we've seen her in Asoyas, in Oliver. She's taken on challenges like our bare bones due outline. She's won her age division there. She's uh done the Grand Fondo, the Axel Merck's Grand Fondo. Uh, she's been first overall and second overall there in her divisions, as well as uh taking great positions in the Great White North, the desert half, uh the Oliver Half Iron Man, which is actually uh won her age division in but was second female overall. And uh when it comes to also the Peach Classic here in Penticton, not only in 2012 was she the uh masters champion, but she was the first female overall as well. In 2001, she did Iron Man Canada here in Penticton in 10 hours 37 minutes. She's raced at the X-TERA Worlds, but I think the biggest thing that uh potentially happened, apart from one other thing I'm going to mention uh after this, was the fact that in Whistler in 2018, she was the first athlete in her age division across the finish line. That was in the 50 to 54 division. But about 30 minutes after winning that and being so ecstatic and making it to the worlds, of course, uh she got disqualified because her son was so excited, he leapt over the fence and ran down uh through the finish line with her, which is something that you have been able to do before, but they had uh made a new rule and so suddenly uh she got DQ'd. However, uh the World Championships decided she was a very worthy champion and should be there at the world. So they invited her to Kona for the 2018 championships, and she came away with a 1026-04 clocking, second overall in that the world championships in the 50 to 54 division, second out of 121 athletes, the best in the world. The only person better than her that day was Michelle Enslin from uh South Africa. This lady is also a great cross-country skier, by the way, but uh it was in 2014 uh when she was in Penticton and took on the challenge of the Ultraman, the Ultraman Canada race, a toughie. But she was not only the first female, but was third place overall, uh, recording a time, an overall time of 25 hours, 24 minutes, 32 seconds. But en route, she beat at what was and set at that time what was uh records for day one and day two in terms of the bike course portions of the event. But it it came down to a dramatic finish because uh the US's Amy Van Tassel was also with us, and she set what was a run record for the women at that time of 758-51. And as I've mentioned uh previously on other slots, I have mentioned that she went on to win an ultra man distance in Israel, being top overall there amongst the men and the women. But the run brought it to a lot closer finish than we anticipated. I mentioned this lady's time of 25, 24, 32. Amy Van Tassel's time uh was 25, 32, 29. So just seven minutes 57 seconds separated them at the finish line. It made for a very exciting finish. This lady uh also uh works uh in the hospitals, uh the Royal Inland Hospital in Camloops, and she was there when a dear friend and pro-triathlete by the name of Janelle Morrison was brought in after a horrendous car crash. So she was there to support a friend and fellow triathlete, and in fact, the star of a documentary, a movie about that accident and what it did for Janelle Morrison. It's called A Second Chance. I would urge you to watch that, as we love to watch our athletes take on challenges uh at the Ultraman distance. And as I mentioned, she lives in Kamloops with her husband, a former top triathlete himself. That's Greg Tymwell and her son AJ. And we're just thrilled that she does so well, and we're looking forward to seeing her back at another start line. The athlete I'm referring to, Yvonne Tymwell. A very appropriate name.

Larry 1:04:38

Thank you, Steve. This is the final episode of the season. I just want to throw out a few thank yous to the people who make this out possible. Production today is my product.