This was my second time doing this race. The first was many years ago, September 8th, 2013. The course started and ended at Deerhurst Resort. The course has changed completely but they kept all the hills! You can find my 2013 race report here. Looking at the picture, I am using the same compression sleeves I use now…might be time to replace those. I still have those shorts too!
I think it was Chris who came up with the idea of doing Muskoka this year. It’s slightly cheaper and a bit later than IM 70.3 Mont Tremblant so I figured it was time to go back. Accommodations were cheaper too!
Muskoka is also one of the first qualifiers for the 2027 World 70.3 Championships. Tremblant is one of the last qualifiers for 2026. The worlds are in Chattanooga in 2027, so no flying required. Harold and I talked about it before we left Ottawa and decided I would NOT take a spot even if I got one. Ironman has changed the way qualifying works. The automatic spots go to the winners of each age group and the top age graded results. There were 30 spots for women so I needed to be top 30 age graded to get an automatic spot. I was not sure if that would make it easier or harder. But it did not matter because I did NOT want a spot.
We drove to Huntsville on Friday. We went straight to race kit pick up which was fast and easy. This year’s race swag included a backpack, a towel, a race shirt, and “give a crap” toilet paper which was a first for me. But, hey, it’s something everyone will use!
The towel and shirt said finisher on them. I did not want to unpack them…bad karma! Harold did ask if there was a medal in there too!
The expo included some quite nice Muskoka branded race gear, but I resisted temptation except for a pair of bike socks (everyone needs socks). Harold and I both spun the wheel at the “give a crap” toilet paper booth. He won more toilet paper I won a hat that says “Crap” which I will wear with pride!
We checked into our hotel with no elevator meaning we had to carry our bikes up to the 3rd floor and found a mighty fine Thai restaurant for dinner. Seng’s Authentic Thai Cuisine. It was really good and they were even playing real Thai music. Downtown Huntsville is pretty. It was decorated with painted canoes!
Muskoka is an Ironman Race, but it is somewhat independent and they do some things “old school” Our bib numbers were pre-assigned which makes it easier to find people on the tracker in advance. The bike racks were set up by age group, which is great because you can tell who you are racing against and there was mandatory body marking including age. That’s not very useful because on a hot day it always comes off before you start the run.
The women over 60 had two racks all mixed together even though we had three five year age groups. I made an effort to check my bike in early so I could get a good spot. Something near the end of the rack, not for speed but to make sure I could remember where it was! The bikes for the older age groups are interesting. In general, we are a very experienced group so the bikes are fancy but there are a lot less disc brakes. Disc brakes became legal for IM races in 2017 so most of us have been doing this for a while.
I hung around for the athlete briefing because you should and because I wanted to know what the actual water temperature was. It felt too warm for a wetsuit. Turns out it was 76F the cut off for wetsuit optional is 76.2F ( if you want to place in your age group or go to world’s you can’t wear a wetsuit everyone else can). I considered not using one, but they had wetsuit strippers and swimming is faster with one. It takes me so long to take my wetsuit off that without strippers it’s not worth putting it on!
We had a great group dinner and then headed home to our hotel. Harold was volunteering in the T-zone so he had an earlier start than I did!
Race morning I dropped Harold off in the T-zone and went to find parking. There was a big field for race day parking although it was blocked in by the bike course so like Hotel California you could “check in but you could never leave” (or at least not until the last riders were off the course).
I had lots of time in the T-zone so I chatted with the RunK2Jers and other friends, and then headed to the swim start. The swim goes out into Fairy Lake, turns and then finishes much closer to T1. There was a morning clothes drop but it was already 18C so you did not need any extra layers. As with all Ironman swims these days it was a self seeded rolling start. I started in the 30-40 minute area which is a pretty big range!
It look almost 11 minutes for me to get into the water and as I expected it was too warm (for me anyway) in a wetsuit. I swam carefully to avoid overheating. The swim was pretty easy to sight and I did not get banged around too much. The water was also pretty calm which was nice.
The swim exit is straight up a steep little hill which is a bit nasty! I found a helpful wetsuit stripper at the top on the hill and headed for T2. All the 60 plus bikes were still on the racks when I got there. Two other women arrived shortly after I did. We all left T1 at about the same time, but I lost track of them when we started the bike.
Harold was working in T1. He told me that after we all left to go and swim a number of seagulls arrived in T1 thinking it was a buffet. People left snacks between bikes for them. Seagull heaven. The volunteers were chasing them off waving towels. I am told they prefer gummies and don’t go for gels. One of them did manage to fly away with someone’s peanut butter sandwich. All of my snacks were intact.
Harolds best story was of a an athlete who was in such a hurry to get out of T1 he forgot to take his wetsuit off. He had it off to the waist with the arms flying around when he passed Harold who suggested he should really take that off for the bike ride.
I knew the bike course was hilly, but I did not really “know” the course. Thanks to Karen and Chris I had ridden it in one direction on Rouvy. It’s not the same as riding it in person. It was hilly. Most of the hills are not super long but there are a lot of them and several are too long and steep to just roll over them. The bike course was open to cars which is a new one for me. There was not a lot of traffic but some of the cars were driving fast. The cars also add a little excitement when you are trying to pass. The road was pretty bad in places and there was a whole lot of drafting going on! It is a very pretty course.
I had a slower than average bike but it’s a hard course. Once again, my bike came through, no flats, no mechanicals but after the race we noticed that my headset has become very loose! Too many bumps…I will have to take her to Bushtukah for a little bike TLC.
When I pulled into T2 there were two bikes racked on the women’s 60+ racks. One of them was Kristine Plant who I know. She passed me at about 70 km on the bike.
The run course is also very hilly. It starts with a big nasty one. Susan McCallum who I had not met previously and is my age group started a conversation. She said she wanted to go to Chattanooga, but she thought I would beat her on the run and get the spot. I said “no worries” I don’t want a spot. The hills on this course never stopped and it was getter hotter and hotter. There was a killer hill at about 12km. I walked up it. It was hot and I did not feel like running up it. I did pass Kristine on the run. She thought there was one woman in front of us and we both agreed we did not want to go to Chattanooga.
I crossed the finish line alive and well. Got some ice for my rather unhappy knee and Harold found me. He informed me I was 2nd in the age group by 2 minutes and 41 seconds. I guess I should not have walked up that hill. He asked if I change age groups next year. I do…so we changed our minds about Chattanooga. Susan if you are reading this, I want to apologise, I really did not think I wanted a spot!
When you qualify for the Worlds at Ironman you have to commit and pay right after the race. Because I never planned to go I did not have a credit card with me and our hotel was on the run course. We used google maps and drove 10 or 15 km to get to our hotel which was 3 km away. We got close only to discover the road was closed. We drove back to the race thinking maybe I could get my bike out of transition and ride to the hotel. When we were almost there we discovered there was one lane open along the course.
We arrived at the hotel around 2:15pm. Awards and slot allocation were scheduled for 3:00pm. I ran up the three floors to our room only to discover the key card had stopped working!
We did make it back in time only to learn that everything was delayed because they would not start until the course was closed (apparently it’s a rule). The new system used age graded times which had been published on the app. There were 30 spots and I had the 15th age graded time but if they call your name and you are not there you don’t get your spot. Waiting around I ran into Kristine who had also changed her mind!
Long story short. Harold just booked a hotel in Chattanooga for next August! Kristine and Cory will also be going.
Overall it was a fun weekend. Huntsville is a nice little town and the weekend was much better because there were so many friends racing.
This is a very well run event and it’s worth the trip but it is a tough, hilly course.
A big thank you to Harold as always for his support and to Karen for stripping wetsuits for all those racers.
Congratulations to all. Chris who finished 2 minutes in front of me – I should have run up that hill! Henry, Kanako, Joanne(4th w65-69) and Mary who completed her first 70.3!
Also to Connie(5th w60-64), Josee and Chantal(4th w55-59) from the east end and our sometime track buddy Zach.
Run K2J 