IM Finishers

Congratulations to our Ironman finishers from yesterday. Starting with IM Louisville Leslie McLeod finished with a time of 15:20 and Nathan Brooks finished with a time of 13:22.

Jumping over to the west coast, Joanne Merkley finished IM Canada in a time of 13:58, Shawn Patton 12:58, Kevin White 12:21 and Christian Caswell with an amazing time of 10:34.

Congrats to all!!

IM Louisville & IM Canada

On August 30th our club has six members competing in the 140.6. South of the border in Kentucky we have Leslie McLeod & Nathan Brooks doing Ironman Louisville. All i can say is enjoy swimming in the Ohio River, ...right Tim? Oh ya, i thought Louisville was flat, it ain't.

Across three provinces in B.C. the KTC has Joanne Merckly, Shawn Patton, Kevin White & Christian Caswell competing in the Canada's only Ironman. Good luck to all, & we we have a bit more on these individual athletes.

TT Results from Aug 18th

new PB's by the Merck & Joe Welsh. congrats to both.

TT Cancelled for Aug 25th

The Time Trials will take a break for one week only. We will resume the TT in the month of September. :)

Q&A with Mark Harrison

Mark Harrison was born in North Bay, ON went to school at 2 French schools (Frere Andre and Ecole La Source) and High school - Barrie North Collegiate -- Georgian College & currently is the part-owner of Huronia Transportation. Besides being an avid Triathlete, Mark likes to spend therapeutic time at his cottage as well as listen to music, play guitar, dine out , and watch NFL Football.

Q1 You recently did 70.3 Steelhead in Benton Harbor, what did you like about the course ? Steelhead was amazing...super fast course...The swim is a point to point with the current...If current is going South to North...thats the way you swim...The bike was challenging...relatively flat, but heading out you had a tail wind, sure enough, 45k at the end of the race, you had the head wind...and the run was quite fast as well...alot of the time you felt you were running downhill... Only 2 semi-challenging hills, but the rest of the race was perfect...

Q2 Tell us about running barefoot both at IMSouth Africa & Boston Marathon ? In SA, during the bike course, I had quite a few troubles...poor nutrition, lack of proper fluid at aid stations...just didnt really prepare myself as well as I should have...so getting off the bike, my legs were cramping and just didn't want to move..Plus, I had started to form a blister on both my feet...during the first loop of the run (3 loops in total) the blister worsened, and by the halfway point of the second loop, around 16km to go...I did the only thing I could think of...take both shoes off and run with just my socks...This actually helped me out in more ways then one...Not only were my feet feeling better because I wasnt rubbing the blisters, but with the shoes being off, there was extra weight with each step and it made me lighter while running...Still had my worst ever marathon, but its all about the adventure...

For Boston, I races SA on April 5th, 09...got back into Ontario on April 16th, flew out to Boston on April 17th, and raced the Marathon on April 20th...So 15days after my feet were left raw and damaged, I was running another marathon...I tried a different pair of shoes (needless to say, I sure as heck wasnt gonna wear the other pair) and they were lighter (Zoot Ultras 2.0) but still with about 8k to go, those blisters opened up again, and off came the shoes!!!

You actually get more praise and more cheers with your shoes off!! so that was helping!

Q3 I understand you come from a swimming background. Did you take lessons as boy, swim varsity, become a Lifeguard that sort of thing? My swimming background was from when I was 4-7yrs old and did the YMCA learning programs...We have a family cottage just south of Parry Sound, so I was definitly a water baby...but in general...I don't really have a background in anything!!

Q4. Is it true you sometimes where eye shadow ? Only if the mood is right, the lights are dim...and there is a crapload of booze!! but not usually ;) (note ~ not to be taken seriously)

Q5. I can't help but notice that both you & Shawn Patton shave your legs ? What's the edge here or is this a metrosexual thing ? its a little of both...Shawn likes the feel (note ~ censor had to remove the next six paragraphs) ......me, I just look sexier...most girls feel that way, (again censor had to jump in here...) unhum,,,next question.

Q6. The next bike you buy will be a? I couldnt tell ya...this past May I bought a 2008 Orbea Ordu, 606 Zipp wheels, Full Durace, with Zipp Vuka Aerobars..San Marco saddle, with Xlab Carbon Wing for the hydration at the back...Rides like a charm, but you definitly can feel the road alot more...My last bike was a 05 Cervelo, P2 Dualist...So we will wait to see what my next purchase will be,...but it wont be for a couple years...

Q7. If there is one bit of advice you could give a new triathlete, what would that advice be? set goals for every race.

whether it be to finish a sprint...an Olympic....a Half or Full Ironman....always have a goal and strive to attain it...you want to beat 1hr30mins in a sprint...then do it...just dont give up!! and always, always find a balance between life and training...dont live to train....train to live :)

Q8. On August 4th in the Barrie Examiner a young man completed his first Ironman at Lake Placid. The paper gave him the moniker of "IronPhil". Any comments? Well...don't want to say too much on paper...because in the end he did beat me...but IronPhil is a little overboard after just one Ironman...maybe "Aluminum Phil" or "tinfoil Phil"...seriously tho, that kid had an amazing swim...54mins and change is right up there with the pros...if he focuses on the bike and run, he will be a tough triathlete...but I'll be willing to take on the challenge!!!

Q9. How was the Barrie Tri? The Barrie tri is a blast..with it being my local race, I always want to do well, and there seems to be tons of "athletic supporters" out there come race day. in 08 I came in first overall by 3secs...so this year, I knew a few people would come and claim the title...I figured that 2 in particular would beat me, and that I would place a respectable 3rd overall..which I did...but its nice to see so many people from the KTC out either racing, or volunteering...from Mischele, Gary and Leslie, to Jamie Nielsen, Nathan and Mojo volunterring (sorry if I forgot anyone) and then to see Shawn Patton, Lloyd and Kirsten, Jon Dow, Kevin (and his wife-forget her name) it was just great to see us represented... I will be trying to get in to speak with the race organizers this year and see if I can help out with the direction the race will take in the next few years...I want it to keep its local feel to it, but also be one of the best independant races around...which I feel we would have no problems accomplishing.

Thanks KTC members!

Thanks to all KTC members that volunteered! We made quite a presence and I had many ask about us!! YEAH! We will show our club spirit next year with our new club gear that we will launch this off season! Email Mischele with your requests for items.
Good job to all KTC members too! We had some PB's, PR's and podium finishes! We are the best around!!!!! Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Volunteers Needed for Saturday

Barrie Tri. Hey KTC members, we could use your help this Saturday Aug.8th @ 4:30pm to prepare for the Kids of Steel event. Meet by the Pavilion at Centennial Beach, Barrie. A few hours is all that's needed.

Windy TT Group of 4

Most likely the windiest night yet for teh KTC Time Trials. A great job done by Kirsten, Lloyd, John & Matt.

Speed Work @ St. Joes Aug 5

A quick breather inbetween sets. Theo once again doing an excellent job running the drills.

Cheers to Theo!

Barrie Tri this Sunday

Sun. Aug. 9th it's the Barrie Triathlon. Cheers & good luck to all participants.

70.3 Steelhead, Benton Harbor, Mi.

The KTC Hammer puts the big sledge hammer down for Mark "the rig" Harrison who showed the Motor-City & the Midwest how to get it done,...baby!!! Mark crossed the finish line in a time of 4 hrs & 48 minutes & 44 seconds. Mark be proud. Walk the talk. Talk the Walk.