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It's crazy, it’s wild, and for most of us mortal humans, even the concept is unimaginable.
Day One is a ten-kilometer swim and a 144-kilometer bike ride. Day Two is another bike ride, this time 276-kilometers long. Day Three is a run -- an 85-kilometer run, from Princeton to Summerland.
It's called Ultraman Canada and it's happening right now. In fact, the first two days are out of the way already.
Day Three begins Sunday at 7 am just west of Princeton on the old and mostly dirt/gravel Princeton Summerland Road -- named one of the most dangerous roads in Canada, BTW -- then comes to its merciful conclusion at approximately 2 pm in Summerland's Memorial Park.
Usually, the Ultraman will have a few dozen participants. You wouldn't want many more than that because each racer is accompanied by a support staff that follows them around in a vehicle -- feeding them, hydrating them, and fixing anything that breaks.
Too many vehicles and things could get pretty hairy.
But this year, due to closed COVID borders, the international athletes that typically make up the majority of an Ultraman field simply weren't allowed to be here. So the numbers are even smaller than usual -- just a half-dozen registered solo athletes and one relay team -- all Canadian of course.
But once you're out there rolling along with these guys and gals, those numbers don’t seem to matter all that much. There's an obvious kinship and a whole bunch of good vibes at these ultra-marathons, and the fact that the 2021 family is a bit smaller than the 2022 family is not a big deal.
What is a big deal is the presence of veteran race announcer Steve King, who caravanned around with the group today, pulling over and setting up his PA system anywhere the road would allow it and delivering expert, running commentary to whoever happened to be nearby at the time.
Leading Ultraman 2021 going into the torturous Day 3 run is portfolio manager Jon Greyell with a 44-minute gap over current runner-up, realtor Barry Berg. We won’t go deep into respective ages here except to say Greyell is over 40 and Berg is over 50.
So, yay to any sport where you're just coming into your prime at 50.
For more info on Ultraman Canada or to register for upcoming years, go to its website here. To catch the finale of this year's event, be at Memorial Park Sunday afternoon.