Ready to Race The First CanadaMan Xtri

Chris Stirling / 04.07.2017

So it’s a little over 2 weeks since racing and winning The Celtman Extreme Scottish Triathlon, a dream come true after taking part in 2012 as my first triathlon, finishing 2nd in 2014 and 2015 and a DNF in 2016. The amazing experience in 2012 got me hooked on Xtreme triathlon, its much more than just racing, PB’s and collecting T-shirts. It’s hard to explain but the best way to find out is to enter one and find out for yourself, second best may be to follow this journey through SleepMonsters.com then enter one.

So when the chance came up to race CanadaMan, only 3 weeks after Celtman I knew I had to take it, I’m excited to see how my body and mind will handle another extreme race so soon. Training between has been good, a week’s easy recovery, a good week training with some specific sessions and now an easy week to freshen up. It will be interesting to see how it goes!

It is the first prospective new race on the Xtri World tour, which along with the original Norseman, Swissman and Celtman races, will now have Alaskaman and in Slovakia. Unique races in special places.

With regards to the course, the swim looks a fairly straight forward point to point in Lake Megantic, the water should be around 18 degrees which is nice and warm where I come from, the bike packs over 2500M of climbing into 180km with a final climb to T2 having gradients up to 15%. Then it’s a marathon with over 1200M of climbing on mixed terrain. The final 8.5km are on steep technical trail leading to the summit of Mont Megantic and the finish line.

The course has no aid stations or support, so it’s just you and your support team, you cannot complete these races on your own, another fantastic aspect.  It looks likely to be a hot day, 25 degrees so a world away from the wind and rain of Celtman, but extreme in its own way. This could of course change so I will be prepared for anything.

One of the most amazing aspects of extreme triathlon is the family feel, everyone looks out for each other and I have been lucky to make friends around the world through the races I have taken part in. One of these friends is driving 6hrs from Boston to support me during the bike and run, the race organisers have helped with finding a support runner for the final 8.5km at the last minute and I have already made friends I am looking forward to meeting on race day. These races are special and so far CanadaMan is feeling very familiar in this aspect.

I would be lying if I said I had not checked out the field and I am happy to say some super fast athletes are coming, ready to race. From top Canadian Pro and Age group athletes (sub 9hr ironman) to athletes from further afield such as Estonia and Mexico it is going to be a great race for competition.

As always I will be giving my all, if that’s good enough for a decent finish then awesome but in these races it really is about getting to that finish line, that’s the same for everyone and from the front of the field to the back, everyone is equal and must overcome the course and whatever nature throws at you.

I hope to be sharing content from the trip as regularly as possible on my Facebook and other social media accounts so you can see how race week goes and follow the experience with me. The training is done, it’s time to pack up the bike and head to Canada. I absolutely cannot wait!

Photo by https://colinhendersonphoto.com/

Chris races for Triathlon Hide-Away/Lutterworth Cycles and is supported by Zone3, LyonEquipment, MountainFuel and CurraNZ. 

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