The history of the Ironman Canada Triathlon
1983
The first ultra distance event is staged with a field of 23. The swim course is a straight out-and-back line. The bike course circles Skaha Lake twice and continues down the Okanagan Valley to Osoyoos, and then returns to Penticton. Mike Wagstaff, a New Zealander living in Banff, Alberta, has the winning time of 10:41:51. The lone woman in the field, Dianne Lynch, finishes in 15:36:47.
1984
The Canadian International Ultra Triathlon has a field of 74 registered, with 51 completing. John Winterdyk sets a new record in 9 hours, 56 minutes, the first Canadian to go under 10 hours. The event is staged by the newly formed Penticton Triathlon Society and Lyn Van Ert starts her career as Race Director. This is the year of the "Big Chill" an overnight storm churns up the deep 130-km lake and the surface water temperature drops to 63F. The first woman to finish is Mary Jane Henning with a time of 11:50:30 and the final finisher is Detlef Kuhnet of Roth, Germany.
1985
Miller Lite signs on as Title Sponsor. This year, 131 athletes hit the water at the starting gun. Valerie Silk, Race Chairman of the Hawaiian IRONMAN, is the special guest of the event. Tom Price sets a new record of 10:08:16. British Columbian Sharon Best is the first woman finisher in at 11:45:49.
1986
Penticton is now the North American mainland IRONMAN and becomes the third IRONMAN qualifier event, joining IRONMAN NEW ZEALAND and IRONMAN JAPAN. The inaugural year of IRONMAN CANADA has a field of 348 and the CBC begins its coverage. New records are set by both men and women: Dave Kirk in 9:28:21, and Tracey Bell Kelly in 11:27:33. Rick and Dick Hoyt from Massachusetts, USA, bring tears to all our eyes as the prove that "handicapped" is a state of mind.
1987
Budweiser becomes Title Sponsor and the field grows to 494 this year, with 449 completing the event. The appearance of the NTTC/Coolmax Team begins with Sue McMurray and Jay Wall. Tom Price clocks his second win, and is awarded the Sportsmanship Trophy for coming to the assistance of Dave Kirk when he collapses. Julia Deck takes the woman's in 10:28:05. The Ken Geary Founders Cup award is established in memory of local triathlete Ken Geary, who died while training on August 1st.
1988
The field continues to grow. 693 respond to the starting gun and Ray Browning begins his domination of IRONMAN CANADA, setting a record as the first man to break the 9-hour mark with 8:55:39. NTTC team member Paula Johnson becomes the first woman to finish in under 10 hours, at 9:50:15. The "Artist and Athlete" event is born. Midnight has a final count of 633 finishers.
1989
A new woman's swim record is set by Canadian NTTC team member Bonnie Durdy with a time of 49:51, leading the field of 812. Chris Hinshaw has a 14-minute lead over Browning after the bike race but Ray sets a new marathon record of 2:46:24 for his second win and a new overall course record of 8:44:10. 856 athletes finish with 72-year old Edson Sower as the final competitor to cross the finish line at 16:55:50.
1990
A prize purse of US $50,000 is offered for the first time and the field of elites grows. 890 racers start and Dave Kirk sets a new swim record of 47:36. Paula Newby-Fraser has a record bike segment of 5:13:59, starting the run with a 10-minute lead over Erin Baker. Browning, Molina and Tinley battle it out with only 90 seconds between them at the finish line. Ray takes his third straight win an a new record time of 8:32:52. Baker sets a blistering pace on the marathon and records a new record of 2:49:53, taking first place women's in a record time of 9:05:28.
1991
A field of 1050 start the swim, with Scott Tinley maintaining his lead through the bike, challenged by Christian Bustos and Browning. A new bike record of 4:43:33 is set by newcomer Mike McCormack, who streaks past Tinley to win the event in a time of 8:16:29. Erin Baker lead the women to a finish of 9:13:18. The run course is determined to be short in measurement so previous records stand. Exactly 1000 competitors complete the course, with the final racer Kaori Kubo from Japan in at 16:50:27.
1992
A change of license has the newly formed IRONMAN CANADA RACE SOCIETY staging the 10th event in Penticton. The Society receives a 5-year agreement from the World Triathlon Corporation. Penticton and District throws itself behind the event and produces the best event ever. Scott Tinley wins, in a new record time of 8:27:45. Canadian JulieAnne White wins the women's division, and sets a new bike course record of 4:59:01. Ray Browning smashes the men's bike record in 4:41:41.
1993
A canon shot explodes in the early dawn and 1136 athletes from 30 countries begin the swim. It is a perfect start. Steve Merker of Bramalea, Ontario, shatters the swim record with a pace of 46:31. Heavy headwinds on the bike course prevent athletes from setting other records. 1013 athletes finish within the new 15-hour time limit. Ken Glah holds on to his lead to win in 8:37:25. Paula Johnson claims her second win in a time of 9:40:28.
1994
TIMEX becomes the Title Sponsor for IRONMAN CANADA. 36 countries are represented in a field of 1350 athletes. Teemu Vesala, of Finland, wins the men's race with a time of 8:44:46. Terry Martin, Canadian-born and living in California, wins the women's race in 9:40:04. One of the race highlights is the contest between Scott Tinley, USA, and Yoshinori Tamura, Japan, for the men's second place in which Tinley's 8:53:00 finish is only 13 seconds ahead of Tamura. 1094 athletes complete the event in under 15 hours.
1995
TIMEX returns as the Title Sponsor for the second year. Michael McCormack beats a truly international field that includes Germany's Steffen Hartig (2nd) and defending champion Teemu Vesala. The women's race is won by Holly Nybo. Second for the second year in a row is Canada's own Lynne McAllister.
1996
TIMEX Ironman Canada is seen around the world when new race owner Graham Fraser from Trisport Promotions uses his connections to get the race on Eurosport, ESPN, TSN and other networks from around the world. Everyone get's to see quite a show - Germany's Thomas Hellriegel shatters the course record by almost 20 minutes, beating new Canadian star Peter Reid along the way. Paula Newby-Fraser looked to have an easy win in hand until she ran into problems on the run course, and was only just able to handle the always consistent Jan Wanklyn.
1997
Subaru becomes the new title sponsor of the event. Just under 1,700 athletes enter the water for the 7AM start. On a cool, rainy day, Canadians dominate the day with overall wins by Guelph's Noel Harrington and Victoria's Lori Bowden. Harrington uses an incredible bike ride to hold off the challenge of first time Ironman, Vancouver's Mark Bates, who manages an incredible double - a win at the Canadian short course championships, followed by a podium performance at Canada's premier long distance race. Bowden needs an incredible 3:01 marathon for her victory, after finishing the bike portion of the event over 14 minutes behind Etobicoke's Melissa Spooner, who finishes second. It truly is a day for Canadians, with 11 of the top 15 men, and three of the top five women!
1998
Subaru Ironman Canada sees its toughest day, as over 250 athletes fail to finish due to the "hawaii-like" conditions. Temperatures up to 38 degrees and high winds make the day extremely tough for all the athletes. Chile's Christian Bustos is the only man to break the 9 hour barries, while Lori Bowden powers her way to one of the most impresive women's triathlon performances ever - her seventh place overall finish put her right in the hunt for the men's title!
1999
One of the most thrilling Ironman finishes in history ends with American Chuckie Veylupek edging Shingo Tani of Japan and Bryan Rhodes of New Zealand by less than 45 seconds to claim his first Ironman title. Lori Bowden continues her dominance of the event, posting her third straight win. Bowden’s time of 9:14:03 is more than 35 minutes better than second-place finisher Lori-Lynn Leach of Canada.
2000
1,785 athletes compete in the event, which features the fourth consecutive title for Canada’s Lori Bowden, who wins by more than 30 minutes. Bowden’s husband and fellow Ironman World Champion Peter Reid claims the men’s title.
2001
A then-record field of 1,985 athletes takes to the water, the largest single-wave Ironman start in history. Yet another Canadian sweep as both men’s and women’s titles are taken by Canadians. Peter Reid holds off strong challenges by Switzerland’s Olivier Bernhard and Germany’s Matthias Klumpp to claim his second straight title. Gillian Bakker rallies during the run to claim her first Ironman title in her home province. 2001 also features the heartwarming story of Louie Bonpua. Bonpua, who suffered from leukemia, reached a lifetime goal of completing an Ironman, by finishing Subaru Ironman Canada in 16:56:40, providing inspiration to people all over the world. Bonpua would pass away in early 2002.
2002
Another record field, as 2,032 athletes compete in the 20th anniversary of the event. "The Queen of Penticton" Lori Bowden struggles through the swim and bike, but registers a brilliant run to claim her fifth women's title in the past six years. Garrett MacFadyen of Halifax, makes it a clean sweep for Canada for the third straight year, earning his first Ironman title in the process. The first race champions, Dianne Lynch and Mike Wagstaff are on hand to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the event.
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