Victoria has had a storied tradition in triathlon as home base for former Ironman Hawaii world champions Peter Reid and Lori Bowden and Olympic champion Simon Whitfield.
Although the Island is best known as a training hub for top performers, there has been a big Greater Victoria race going since 1995. A local group is vowing to keep it an annual event, even as the Ironman corporate brand is pulling out of the fixture in which the swimming takes place in Elk Lake, the running on the Elk/Beaver lakes trails and the cycling on the Saanich Peninsula.
Pinnacle Fitness of Saanich, which offers run and triathlon coaching and event management worldwide, is looking to pick up the race that has been known since 2014 as Ironman Victoria 70.3. The 70.3 designation is the total in miles of the half-Ironman distance. The race had been known as the New Balance Half Iron in previous years.
The 2020 Ironman Victoria 70.3 was scheduled for May 31, then postponed to Aug. 9, before being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will have a new name for the 2021 race, slotted for May 30, and has the backing of Triathlon B.C.
“With Ironman leaving it, we have stepped in to apply to stage the race,” said Pinnacle Fitness director Paul Regensburg, founder and former director of the national triathlon training centre in Victoria.
“Our Pinnacle Fitness company office is literally 50 metres from the start and finish line [the innovatively-designed building overlooking Elk Lake from the Pat Bay Highway near Sayward Road]. So this is so logical for us. We are working with all the local stakeholders. It is subject to final permits from the local authorities. We are hoping COVID is under control by the spring.” Regensburg is no stranger to this race. He operated it from 2008 to 2013 under the Subaru Triathlon Series banner before the Ironman brand, owned by World Triathlon Corporation of Florida, took over the race.
“The Victoria race has had an awesome history,” said Regensburg, who coached the Canadian triathlon team at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and 2003 Dominican Republic Pan Am Games and was team leader for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
“It attracts 1,500 to 2,000 racers, with many great past winners, and is the largest sporting event held in Saanich. The competitors stay at hotels and spend money all over the region from downtown out. It’s a beloved race and is world class and would leave a void if it wasn’t picked up and continued.”
All the major annual race fixtures — including the Times Colonist 10K, GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon and Oak Bay Half Marathon — fell victim this year to the pandemic and have been cancelled.
“It’s been a rough year,” said Regensburg, whose company also organizes the Banff Marathon, which was cancelled. “We’re hoping for a better story next year.”
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
