By Hélène Fortier
Editor: Harold P
Race report of the very first Cap Québec Triathlon on July 20 and July 21, 2024.
C 25 Sprint (750m swim-20km bike- 5km run)
A 51 Olympic, (1500m swim-40km bike–10km run)
P 113 Demi (Middle distance: 1900m swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run)
Challenge Family has several events around the world and in 2024, they added 3 events in North America: Challenge CAP Québec (Sprint-Olympic-Middle Distance), Challenge New Jersey State (Olympic) and CAP Esprit Montréal (Sprint, Olympic, Middle Distance). Esprit already existed but it’s now a Challenge Family event. Every year, they also have for the winners a world championship and this year it’s in Slovakia. Challenge Family has also the famous Challenge Roth in Germany, a bucket list race!!! Roth sells out in about 40 seconds every year but when you participate in a Challenge event, you can enter a draw for Roth entries.
Pre-race: accommodations: lots of hotels in Old Québec but I would recommend one in Place Royale so you don’t have to go up the hill after your race. They had also several parking lots if you stay further away.
Friday: race kit pick-up and bike drop-off for the Sprint and the Olympic and race kit pick–up for the Demi (Middle distance).
Saturday morning: Sprint and Olympic races. Saturday Evening: race kit pick-up, athlete briefing and bike drop-off for the Demi.
Sunday: Demi race. Late Afternoon: Award Ceremony and draw for Challenge Roth entries. Everything was well-organized at race kit pick-up and at transition. They give you plastic bags because on race day, you can’t leave your own bag at transition. You drop-off your bike the day before your race and bring all your gear on race day and it stays by your bike.
Sunday was our race, the P113 (Middle distance, Demi: Half Ironman distance but since it’s not by Ironman company, you can’t call it a Half Ironman). Everything went well at transition and there was a very short walk to the swim start. Your morning bag drop-off was right beside the line for the swim which was very convenient and volunteers brought the bags beside your bike so you had everything by your bike after your race.
Swim: They had 1000 participants at the P113. You had to place yourself according to your expected swim finish time. They had swimmers go in the water 2 by 2 but amazingly, it took around 25 minutes to get every athlete in the water. The swim course was great! We basically swam back and forth in the aisles of a marina with big sailboats parked there. The aisles were very wide so it didn’t feel crowded. We had people cheering from their sailboats on one side and security kayaks on the other side. It didn’t feel chaotic at the turns of the 14 buoys. They were well-marked, easy to see and not far apart so sighting was not an issue. The water had been tested and it felt totally fine to us. It was a bit warm but still wetsuit legal. It was a safe environment for a swim.
T1 was close to the swim exit.
Bike: 4 loops from Old Québec to almost the Montmorency falls mostly on autoroute Dufferin-Montmorency along the St-Lawrence river. The views were nice, the quality of the pavement was good and I only saw 1 person with a flat in the whole race. The course had several 180 degree turns so I would suggest practicing turns before although, it felt safe to me at every turn. There was enough space for the faster cyclists to pass. At the end of every of the 4 loops, the crowds were cheering loud in Old Québec.
Run: a combination of short part in historic Place Royale on cobblestones, a part along the St-Lawrence river and the rest along the St-Charles river. A nice variety of scenery. A great thing about Challenge Family events is that family and friends can enter the course in the last 100m and cross the finish line with their athlete!
After the race: great post-race food with salads, vegan couscous salad, pasta and poutine with pulled pork! At the Award Ceremony, they had a brass band and a presentation from an aboriginal dancer. They had podium for the Pros but also for every age group top 3 finishers with also invitations to the Challenge Championship in Slovakia. After, they had a draw for 20 entries for Challenge Roth 2025.
I would recommend this race for sure. A success at the very first time!
Run K2J 