Race Week Update

05.28.2007

Hello athletes,

First off, thanks to all of you that are racing with us this year.  We are looking forward to a great day on the course and helping to make your Half Iron experience an enjoyable one.

We have gotten a few emails from athletes regarding a couple of pieces of information that seems to not be mentioned in our athlete guide and some you might have read but missed:

- Start time is 7:30 am Sunday.

- Persona Communications Remember that our title sponsor Persona will be out on the course filming and capturing video for their video coverage of the event and the  highlight reel that will be available to athletes to download post race. Remember to smile, you never know where the camera may be!!

-  Parking Please follow the direction of the volunteers on race day. The members of the Oliver Rotary do a great job fitting as many vehicles as possible in the parking area near transition.  Athletes & spectators can also park in the elementary school and Aquila Parking lots on Tuc-el-nuit Drive.  

- Yes, there will be Porta Potties at all of our Aid Stations. 

- Change Tents will be set up in transition.  Make sure to read the signs so you use the right one as there is a men's and women's!  NO LARGE BINS IN TRANSITION, this will be discussed further at the athlete meeting on Saturday afternoon so please do not email us asking if what you usually use is okay - KEEP THEM SMALL..

- Transition: Bike Racks will again be numbered and assigned this year.  Athletes are numbered by age groups so that athletes in the same age groups have fair equal placement in transition.  Remember that you have to go to package pick up first, get your athlete wristband and then go to check your bike in.  Sounds basic but we have people every year come and try to get straight into transition without going to registration first. If you do not have your band on that matches your bike frame number you will not be allowed into transition.  BIKES MUST BE CHECKED IN ON SATURDAY.

- Please Note: Package pick up is located at South Okanagan Secondary on Friday and Saturday this year.  There is a map that you can download as part of the athlete guide to direct you on how to get to the school once you are in Oliver. You MUST show valid I.D. to get your package.  This is the same rule every year and because we are TRIBC sanctioned we have to ensure that the athlete picking up their package matches the name. If an athlete was to race and be injured under a false name, we would lose our insurance and we are not willing to take that risk. Please bring your ID to package pick up and please do not argue or act surprised when the registration volunteers ask for it.  Any abuse of volunteers will NOT be tolerated. Also remember that you will be asked to pay your $10 day of race insurance fee if it wasn't already paid at registration, before you pick up your package.

- Post Race Lunch and Awards:  will be held at Oliver Parks & Rec. Hall.  Family and friends are again invited to have lunch with their athletes by donation.  Awards are scheduled for 3:30 with IMC spots awarded right after awards. Massage volunteers will be located at the Hall where the lunch is, not at Rotary Beach.

- Finish Line:  TPS Sports photos and Steve King will be at the finish line to greet you.  Medical assistance & triage is provided by the great staff from South Okanagan Hospital in Oliver and we will also have BC Ambulance on site as well again this year.  Finish line water, Gatorade and fruit will be served by volunteers from the Oliver Rotary just after you finish. 

- Bike Aid Stations: Bottled water & Gatorade will be served at bike aid stations along with HammerGels, Bananas and Hammer Bars.  Please toss empty bottles just before taking new bottles.

- Run Aid Stations: will serve water, Gatorade, HammerGels, Oranges, Bananas, and cookies.  Look for cold, wet sponges at the first aid station (run start and 10.5Km mark) and the third aid station at the end of 87th ( 2.5km/7.5Km/12.5Km & 17.5Km marks).

-  Weather: is forecasted to be in the 26-30 degree range on race day.  We're working to have ice delivered to aid stations race day for beverages and for athletes to grab on the run.  To be discussed further at pre-race meeting.  Sunscreen will be available.

- Wetsuit Strippers:  will be there to greet you upon exiting the swim after your TWO loop course is all done.  Watch out for the jumping carp!!

I'm sure there will be more questions so please come to the athlete meeting in the auditorium at South Okanagan Secondary, just around the corner from package pick up.  We have a beautiful auditorium with comfy, plush seats to sit in and we will have Ironman videos playing before the meeting begins. We will be auctioning off the Footsteps Print to raise money for "BC Ironcops for Cancer" which will be on display at the Ironcops booth for Friday and Saturday. 

We will be leaving for Oliver shortly so if you call our home office we won't get your message so please don't be offended if we don't get back to you ASAP. Our main concern is to put on a safe and successful race this week and that is where our focus will be. If there are any athlete's that won't be racing with us this year, we wish you all the best and if you could let us know that would be great but again please don't expect us to get back to you until after the race is completed. 

We also want to thank all of those athletes that continuously thank the volunteers through out the day for being there. This keeps them coming back every year and we really appreciate that our race couldn't run without them. We have groups that come back every year to work with us and we know that is because they feed off the energy of the athletes, and for that we thank you.

All the best and we look forward to seeing everyone in few days.

Joe and Sarah