Awaiting the Timberman – Triathletes cheer, volunteers needed as the Lakes Region’s Ironman is set to return

LACONIA — What’s arduous, 70.3 miles long, and will attract thousands of people to Laconia in three weeks? The Ironman Timberman, which is returning to the Lakes Region for the first time since 2016. The race, known as a “half-Ironman,” will take place on Sunday, Aug. 22 and will be headquartered at Opechee Park.

A small army of volunteers is needed. Emily Gaudet, volunteer director for the event, said that she has around 400 signed up so far, and is looking for up to 100 more. Volunteers will be provided with food, and can raise funds for a nonprofit organization.

Volunteers will be needed to help athletes register on Friday, Aug. 20, as well as on race day. They will be needed to help athletes transition between the swim, bicycle and run legs of the event, and to paddle in Lake Opechee to act as lifeguards during the swim.

“It takes hundreds of volunteers to put this on," said Gaudet.

Individuals or groups who are interested in volunteering can register at ironman.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=54688. Those interested in applying for a grant from the Ironman Foundation should contact Gaudet at emily6797@gmail.com.

The race will start with a 1.2-mile swim in Lake Opechee, then a 56-mile bike ride from Opechee Park to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and back to Laconia via Gilmanton. The running course, 13.1 miles long, makes two laps around Lake Opechee, turns down Lexington Drive, then runs along Winnisquam Lake and concludes on Main Street in the heart of downtown.

The prodigal Timberman

The Timberman goes back two decades in local history. It was started in 2001 as a grassroots race by local athlete Keith Jordan. The region’s natural charms turned it into a favorite race for many triathletes, and its growth attracted the attention of the World Triathlon Corporation, which owns the Ironman trademark and organizes more than 170 triathlons worldwide. The WTC purchased the race from Jordan in 2009, and ran the event through 2016. In 2017, the WTC ceased holding a triathlon in the Lakes Region, replacing it on the calendar with an event at Old Orchard Beach in Maine.

The “Ironman 70.3 Maine,” as it is known, continues, so now Northern New England has two Ironman-branded triathlons in August.

The Timberman is returning with a new location and new courses. Jordan’s version of the race was headquartered at Ellacoya State Park in Gilford.

Myles Chase, of MC Cycle and Sport in Laconia, used to be the official bicycle tech for the event.

“I am not involved with it any more, but I am super psyched to see it come back into town, both for the city of Laconia, Main Street, and for my sport, cycling,” Chase said. He hasn’t seen the event drive business for him yet, though he expects that it will.

“I do see a lot of my current customers and athletes excited to see it come back, I think it’s going to take a season or two of that race to pull in new athletes and first-timers again,” Chase said. “I’m excited for it to be downtown, that will be a boon to downtown.”

There’s good news for anyone hopeful about getting into triathlons. Even though the Timberman went away for a while, the Lakes Region Triathlon Club stayed active, even through the pandemic.

Jennifer Reczek, vice president of the club, had the misfortune of becoming a triathlete just as the Timberman’s first iteration was concluding. She’s excited to take to the course for its return – she will be tackling the cycling course as part of a relay team.

“We’re thrilled to have it back,” Reczek said. It will draw more people to the Lakes Region, and could also have the effect of drawing more Lakes Region residents to the sport. If they are interested, she said the LRTC would be happy to help them get their feet wet.

“We would welcome anybody that’s interested in checking out a triathlon to get in touch, drop in for a workout, see what it’s all about.” More information is available at lakesregiontriclub.com.

Reczek said that while there will be world-class athletes at the front of the Timberman pack, there will also be plenty of people pushing themselves to try something new. “Most people, to look at me, wouldn’t consider me an athlete,” Reczek said. Yet, she is, as is anyone who trains in pursuit of a fitness goal.

“It can be a little bit intimidating, but there are all sorts of people who come out,” Reczek said. “Don’t hang back because of what other people are doing. You do your race, that’s all you can do. Enjoy it. If you put the work in, you know yourself that you did the best you can do, be proud of that.”

The hometown race

Sandy Blanc lives in Milton now, but when she was younger she had a first-row look at the original Timberman events.

“I had no idea I would be participating in it, but it looked really exciting at the time,” she said.

Blanc, who will be 44 by the time the Timberman kicks off, was a runner for most of her adult life. This is her fourth year as a triathlete. She started with shorter events, known as “sprints,” and has since completed eight triathlons. “At 41, I decided to take swimming lessons so I could try a sprint (triathlon). I wanted to try something I had never done. I did one sprint, and I declared to myself that I wanted to do a full Ironman. It was fun, and very hard, but there’s something hard to explain about it. It’s very challenging as far as having three disciplines and having to execute all three in one race.”

The Timberman will be Blanc’s third 70.3-mile race, but her first Ironman event. She figures this is a chance for her to become familiar with the way Ironman manages its races, as she gears up to a full Ironman race, which is a 2.4-miles swim, 112-mile bike, and finally a 26.2-mile run.

“I want to do a full Ironman in two years.” Blanc said she’s excited about the Timberman, as she has a lot of family living in the Laconia area. Yet, she said she already has butterflies about the race’s start. “I get a little nervous before the swim,” she said, explaining that she usually sings a song to herself to relax while she’s in the water. “It helps me a lot.”

Positive vibrations

While this will be Blanc’s first Ironman event, it will be one of very many in which Dunbarton resident Sean Snow has competed. Snow, 54, has participated in 60 triathlons of the 70.3 distance, and 33 full Ironmans. Thanks to his performance in the Lake Placid event earlier this summer, he earned a visit to Kona, Hawaii, to compete in the Ironman World Championship on Oct. 9.

Snow transitioned to the sport of triathlon when he was in his late 30s. He had been a competitive mountain biker, and his entry into the sport coincided almost perfectly with the emergence of the Timberman. He participated in the Timberman each year it was held, with the exception of its first year.

And he wasn’t the only one who made sure to put it on his calendar.

“Honestly, that race, back in the day, it was probably the most popular,” Snow said. Even athletes at the top of the game, such as Chrissie Wellington and Andy Potts, would come. “Everybody loved the Timberman. It was a great area, really good mojo, it was a really good event . . . It was just something about the Timberman that just radiated positive energy.”

With the headquarters in a new location, the swim and the run are on completely new courses, and the cycling portion is revised from the original race. But Snow has previewed the new courses, and he said, “it still has that same Timberman feel.”

“I’m really excited about it coming to town.” Snow will be competing alongside his daughter, Stephanie, who has followed him into the sport. “We really appreciate, as athletes, being able to use the roads and to bring good energy and hopefully some economic impact to the area as well.”

Snow said he felt confident that he was speaking for a lot of other athletes when he said that it brightened his day to hear that the Timberman had returned.

“Thank you to everybody that we can come back.”