A final hurrah for the historic Ironman competition in Penticton
Sunday’s Ironman competition in Penticton, BC, marks the end of an era for the international competition, which was first held in the city in the 1980s – making it one of the first competitions under that name in North America.
Ironman Canada-Penticton will host the triathlon for the last time, consisting of 3.8 kilometers of swimming, 180 hilly kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running, bringing an end to a tradition that has been a cornerstone of the city for decades.
“It’s very sad that we have to leave Ironman and what that means for the community,” said Jeff Symonds, the 2022 Penticton Ironman champion who won with a time of eight hours, 38 minutes and three seconds. “Even for the people coming up who may not have seen many Ironmans in their lives, it’s unfortunate.”
Symonds will be among more than 2,000 participants this weekend in what is expected to be the last Ironman race in Penticton and BC for the foreseeable future.
Last month, Ironman Canada announced that the race would move to Ottawa in 2025 and thanked Penticton, which has hosted the triathlon for more than three decades.
Penticton, in British Columbia’s Okanagan, was the first Canadian city to host an Ironman triathlon and was home to the endurance race from the 1980s until 2012.
“It’s part of our identity, it’s part of who we are,” Symonds said.
In 2013, Ironman moved to Whistler in the Coast Mountains before returning to Penticton in 2019 as part of a new five-year agreement with the event organizers.
LISTEN | Jeff Symonds talks about the Ironman in Penticton
Daybreak South4:56The last hurrah for Penticton’s Ironman
Jeff Symonds says this is his favourite time of year because it’s Ironman weekend in his hometown of Penticton. But it’s also bittersweet because it’s the last edition of the race, as it won’t return to the Okanagan next year.
However, in recent years Ironman in the South Okanagan has faced challenges.
Ironman Canada race director Susie Ernsting noted that the race was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and again in 2023 due to the wildfires.
“It’s pretty sad to leave this town,” she told CBC News. “Penticton has always been so welcoming. I did my first Ironman here in 2010, so it means a lot to me to be able to host the final race.”
Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield said it was hard to say goodbye to the race, but acknowledged that the city was struggling to host the global event.
“Ironman continues and we wish them all the best,” he said. “We are not strong enough to continue anyway and we accept that.”
“The economic situation is very, very difficult,” he said, adding that centres with larger populations like Ontario have a better chance of making this profitable.
A brief history of the Ironman
According to the official website, the Ironman triathlon originated in 1978 when Judy and John Collins organized the first race in Hawaii that combined swimming, cycling and running. The event gained worldwide fame in 1982 when American triathlete Julie Moss’s dramatic run to the finish line became an iconic moment in sports history.
Among those who saw Moss cross the finish line was Lynn Van Dove, a key figure in the organization of the Ironman race in Penticton.
Dove, originally from Dallas, quickly became involved in the Penticton community after moving to the city, joining a tourism association and the well-known Penticton Peach Festival.
The festival, which dates back to the late 1940s, drew crowds with its rodeos, parades and industrial shows, but Dove noticed that the town was quiet the rest of the year. To boost tourism, she suggested hosting a triathlon.
And in 1983, Dove and her friends organized the first Ironman distance triathlon in Penticton. In 1986, Penticton hosted the first official Ironman event on the North American continent outside of Hawaii.
“It created a base for sports tourism, and that’s what Ironman has become around the world,” she said. “The appeal of Ironman was its exotic venues.”
Dove ran the race annually until 1991 and saw it grow, realizing how ideal Penticton was as a venue.
Defending Ironman champion Symonds agrees.
“(Penticton) is just a great place to swim, bike and run. We have some fantastic lakes here.”
Although this is the last edition of the race in Penticton, Symonds remains optimistic.
“As an Ironman athlete, you try to see or reinterpret everything in a positive way through training,” said Symonds.
More than 2,000 athletes from Canada and around the world, including Australia, Great Britain and Germany, are taking part in Sunday’s Ironman race.
