Hello NewBalance Half Iron Athletes and Congratulations on your Weekend!

June 26 update

NewBalance Half Iron IMC Spots 2007
June 17, 2007
Number Name Gender Age Time
1 Karmen Jongewaard F 25-29 4:51:42
2 Rosemarie Gerspacher F 30-34 4:19:29
3 Tammy Kovaluk-Boos F 30-34 4:45:19
4 Malia Greening F 30-34 4:50:10
5 Monique Larche F 35-39 4:56:48
6 Elizabeth Hatch F 35-39 5:02:12
7 Tina Haskins F 40-44 5:03:32
8 Cheryl Lynch F 45-49 5:18:56
9 Ann Judd F 50-54 6:11:48
10 Trevor Wurtele M 25-29 3:56:52
11 Mike Stone M 30-34 5:04:42
12 Allan Boos M 35-39 4:10:09
13 Isao Hirayama M 35-39 4:31:40
14 Tom Schutte M 35-39 4:43:24
15 Adam Lawrence M 35-39 4:52:48
16 Daniel Bouchard M 35-39 5:04:26
17 John Nelson M 40-44 4:16:51
18 Peter Keiley M 40-44 4:21:59
19 Jean-Yves Sauriol M 40-44 4:27:37
20 Michael Hoffort M 40-44 5:36:27
21 Brian Peaker M 45-49 4:13:07
22 Brend Guderjahn M 45-49 4:22:57
23 Chris Wille M 45-49 4:53:56
24 Kevin Taylor M 45-49 5:10:57
25 Rob Ashburner M 55-59 4:42:27

June 18 Update

Lots of News in this notice:

1. Following up on Sunday’s Event
2. Hoodies, T’s and L/S Tech Tops still available
3. Photos
4. Lost……please help find!
5. Ironman Canada Qualifying
6. Multi-Sport Promotions and the NewBalance Half Iron
7. Special Offer for Sooke Half Iron.
8. Registering for the 2008 NewBalance Half Iron

1. Following Up on Sunday’s Event

10:14 on Monday night……after a LONG hard weekend!! And my final update is in the works but will probably not be complete until sometime tomorrow to go out! Ah the life of a race director!

With so many people racing yesterday there will be a HUGE number of stories and glowing but hurting bodies floating around B.C., Washington, Alberta and other places today. What an awesome event!! The weather held on. The racing was tight. Volunteers solid. No incidents……after 12 years we know that no event will ever be perfect and nothing runs its self but this was the closest that we have ever come to a perfect event.

Reports from the bike course from both athletes, volunteers and spectators were all positive. The 2 lap bike course was a lot better. Judging from some of legs that were giving out at the finish line….it was none too long for most people!! Others are e-mailing me crying “Observatory for sure in 2008”!

The stagger for the chase was almost bang on for the elite men and women with them coming in roughly 35 seconds apart! The masters men and relay were also very close. We noticed a huge difference with getting people off the course quicker as well as the steady and exciting stream of people at the finish line. Super exciting for spectators.

The concession and athlete/volunteer food tent by breadstuff bakery was a HUGE hit! People loved to not have to leave the transition area to get some snacks! One person e-mailed me today to say, “Food sponsors were excellent! Powerbar, Kozy Shack and BreadStuff awesome! I think I'd come back to Victoria to train more frequently just for that bakery! YUMMY! Even beats my own baking! Those are definitely wholesome homemade muffins and cookies!”

One of the most amazing things about this event is when you look back through the list of winners for the past 12 years and see some of the stars of the sport. This event seems to showcase emerging talent that win in Victoria before going onto bigger wins elsewhere. We hope this proves true for Johnathan and Heather the 2007 event winners.

Another amazing thing about this event is the level of athletic talent that not only races but those that help out! Johnathan for example helped out with this event for 3 solid days last time and this time he raced. On our crew we have so many trips to world championships that we have all lost track. I am not sure how many hours Stefan Jakobsen put in volunteering before he won the race…..but it was a lot! Hell we even had Peter Reid marshalling a corner during our first race in 1996 and 20 time NB Half Iron winner Mike Flegal as our official starter this year. A truly talented crew making sure that things are done right for you guys…..and we think it showed!

2. Hoodies, American Apparel T’s and L/S Tech Tops still available.

We were pretty pumped with Roddy Tasaka’s design for our garments, medals and mugs for this year. One of the if not THE best design ever! We still have quite a few left if you are interested in an extra Hoodie for yourself as a back up or one of your support crew. As well we also have a few extra NewBalance L/S (Men’s and Women’s) Tech Tops and American Apparel S/S and L/S (Men’s and Women’s) Cotton T’s. The hoodies are the same as the competitors ones. The Tech tops and cotton tees do not have logos or screening on the back.

Price List:

• NewBalance Tech Tops $30
• American Apparel S/S Tees $22
• American Apparel L/S Tees $25
• Hoodies $30

If you can pick it up at any of the Frontrunners shops then there will be N/C for shipping. If you want it mailed I am guessing it will be around $4 for a T and $6 for a hoodie (a guess).

IF you are interested please e-mail me: normont (at) islandnet.com

3. Photos

While we did not have an official photographer this year I snapped quite a few pictures which are uploaded to Frontrunner’s Nanaimo Gallery Web site at:

http://www.nanaimo.frontrunners.ca/gallery2/v/Triathlon/

As well Mark Creery Snapped over 1300 cycling shots this year. They can be found at www.pbase.com/markcreery/halfiron07.

4. Lost…..please Help Find!

A few items that have lost their owners and would like some help reuniting them with their soul mate……

1. Tony Davies who has been part of our announcing crew for the past 12 years lost his Xterra Wetsuit somewhere around the finish area.
2. Gunter Siegmund lost a silver Bell helmet with our relay team number (734) sticker still on it.

If these items accidentally went home with you please let us know and we can get them back to their rightful owners.

5. Ironman Canada Qualifying

Some great competition for the IMC spots this year!! We will post a complete list on our web site as soon as we can so that you can see how close you were…..

6. Multi-Sport Promotions and the NewBalance Half Iron

While we went about our business of putting on the event over the last week our event crew was busy not only doing everything associated with the event but also saying good bye. After 12 years of putting on this event this one was our last NewBalance Half Iron. Our theme for the weekend was “one last time with feeling”. Everyone that worked on the event put a full effort into it and I think it showed with how smooth it went. Some of our crew have been with us since 1996; NewBalance (I think Jim Kwasnicki has been to all 12 events?), Karl from Oak Bay bikes has been at the lake for race day set up each year for 12 years at 4:30am, Frontrunners, my parents, Tony, Steve, Stefan Jakobsen and Sean Clark have pretty much been there every single race helping out. Alison Keple my right hand during the event has been there for the past 10 years. We have all literally grown up and older while putting on this event for the past 12 years. I personally have lost 1 years worth of June’s. My crew has given up HUGE amounts of personal and family time to help out. But now it is definitely time to move on. Friends are having families and time is harder and harder to justify to their kids and their partners. It gets harder each and every year. I personally have basically work 2 jobs for 6 months of the year for the past 12 years putting in huge hours from January to June……

We had decided on 10 to be the magic number but then we wanted to dedicate a few to our good friend Dave Smart and generate some funds for the Smart Foundation so 12 was the decided number. For our crew there will not be a bakers dozen. We have completed our commitment to the event, to the sport, to each other, to the athletes and to our friend Dave. It has been incredible!

Lifesport will be taking over the promotion, organization and direction of this event and we wish their crew the best in the future.

Before I go, please let me share with you some of the things I have learned about sport, people and myself during the past 12 years;

Sport

• One of my best friends, Tony Theriault, who has done our event quite a few times….almost all with a leg brace always talks about how sport is hard, how there is always drama and how it is never easy and how if it was anything but these things….well there would be no point in doing it. I can’t do his quote perfect justice. We have always tried to make our event challenging and never-tried to make it easier…..and everyone hopefully feels somewhat fulfilled when they cross the finish line!
• Sponsors that care about events and care about sports are rare. Some just want to have their names associated with an event. Some don’t really care but some, the rare and best ones, are the ones that get pumped and excited about the event. They get personally involved and participate or send a relay team. They put notices up on their work board or outside their hotel about the event. When you find such a rare and special sponsor you need to encourage them to stay involved. The way to do this is to support the sponsors. It would be a better sport and so awesome if more athletes supported the sponsors that are really pumped on events. Some prime examples of such sponsors are Frank and Shane from PowerBar, Jim Kwasnicki and Stew from NewBalance, Karl from Oak Bay Bikes, EVERYONE at Frontrunners, John from the Carlton Plaza Hotel, BREADSTUFF Bakery, Dan from the Howard Johnson, Ken Jones from 7-11 and Benard from Kozy Shack.

People

• You quickly find out who your toughest and hardest working friends are when you put on an event. Your real friends are the ones that help out. The toughest friends do not disappear when the real work starts.
• If triathletes spent 1/100th of the time that they spend pouring over results to send a race director or a municipality a quick note about something positive about and event they have participated in there would be a lot more cool events.
• Athletes are not the most important part of triathlon. Volunteers are. Without volunteers there would simply be no races. A lot of athletes simply have no clue about this. Some do.
• One of the most satisfying things for a person is to complete an event after being dedicated to training towards it. It is far more satisfying for that person than for someone who is inherently talented or fit that just “wings it” on little or no training. I have seen people do this event that never-ever thought that they could complete it.
• You will never-ever put on a perfect event and 100% of the people in the event will never be 100% satisfied……but I think we came pretty darn close!
• The sport of triathlon would be hugely improved if all athletes volunteered at (least) one event per year.

Normon Thibault. Some of what this event has helped me learn:

• My friends and family mean more to me than anything and I have been very lucky to have this event each year to see a huge number of them all in one place at one time.
• The biggest jobs are easier to complete in bite size pieces.
• Without asking for help you will get none.
• Steve King remembers everything.
• You can pack a lot of gear into a GMC Safari.
• My parents are incredible. This event has allowed me to spend a lot of time with them that I would otherwise never have.
• My friends that help out with this event are amoung the most passionate people for sports. All combined they contribute a HUGE amount to sports in B.C. and especially on Vancouver Island. What sets them all apart from most all other race crews is that they all race or have raced so they know what it feels like from both sides.

I would like to thank everyone that has come out over the years to race this event. More importantly I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to the success of the event by helping out, pitching in, giving constructive feedback, sponsoring it and giving a bit of themselves to make it a success.

I love seeing the hoodies everywhere I go. It always puts a smile on my face!

Our organization will continue to put on events on Vancouver Island. We started a cyclocross series last year after putting on a few events over the past few years. We also have other ideas and dreams of events that we would like to see and would like to race so we are not retiring completely. Just giving ourselves a little space to enjoy our junes, play a little more and put on different events in the future.

A HUGE and special thanks go out to the following people that have done extra-special volunteer or sponsor effort over the years; Dave Nowack, Kathy Keple, Race Headquarters, Roddy Tasaka, Adobe Fast Print, John Lowen, The Moores, Mike and Linda Walsh, Alison Keple, Erik Myllymaki, Jason Sandquist, Corinne Compton, Laura Gordon, Heather Cameron, Ken Lutz, Graeme Martindale, Corey Piket, Catherine Hamilton, Sean Clark, Tara Lee Marshall, Al Niezen, Jeff Byron, Cam Elford, Stefan Jakobsen, Robin Dutton, Yvonne and Jeff, Dave Smart, Rumon Carter, Jim & Marsha Kwasnicki, Todd Gleinzer, Duncan Selwood, Kit Johaneson, Rollin Thibault, Ann Thibault. Hu, Gaye, Robin Smart, Kyle & Kari McGimpsey, Shane Cameron, Frank Lucarelli, Steve King, Tony Davies, JP & Christine Baron, Mike Murphy, Michelle Simpson, Kyle Chatlain, Z Man, J-Mag 3, Hope Tarver, Wendy Simms, St. Johns Mike, Jak New and Don Moffatt our web guy!

7. SPECIAL OFFER FOR SOOKE HALF IRON

Due to popular demand, LifeSport is extending their exciting race deals exclusive only to 2007 New Balance Half Iron race participants!

• Sign up for the Sooke International Half Iron and receive $50.00 off
• Sign up for the Sooke International Sprint Triathlon and receive $20.00 off

Offers available until Sunday, June 24!

Visit www.LifeSport.ca and once on the Sooke race registration page, look for the Discount Code box at the bottom. Enter 4648 to receive the Sooke race discounts!

• Receive a Race Series Bike Jersey! Athletes that participate in all 3 races of the Subaru West Coast Triathlon Series will receive an exclusive Series Cycling Jersey. If you missed the Victoria Half Iron at Shawnigan Lake, we will count the New Balance Half Iron in its place. We hope to see you in Sooke and Vancouver!

For more information go to www.LifeSport.ca

8. 2008 NEW BALANCE HALF IRON REGISTRATION

A message from Lifesport the new organisers of this event: Congratulations to 2007 New Balance Half Iron race participants!

Registration for the 2008 New Balance Half Iron will open on September 1, 2007 to the general public.

Click here to register for the 2008 New Balance Half Iron. Exclusive registration open for all 2007 New Balance Half Iron race competitors until August 30, 2007! http://www.eventsonline.ca/events/nbhalf

This will be our last update. It has been a pleasure and a challenge putting on this event for the past 12 years. A HUGE thanks to everyone that has ever come out to race and support this event along with the hundreds of people that have come out to help.

Signing off……

Normon Thibault and the crew from the NewBalance Half Iron.

Normon Thibault and Alison Keple. One last time with feeling!

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(announcements archive)