Over 1,000 participants swim, cycle and run at Ironman 70.3 west of Calgary

1,100 athletes braved the wind and rain to compete in a world championship qualifying Iron Man race. CTV News Calgary's Tyson Fedor reports.

It might have been a little wet and chilly for the folkies on Sunday, but the weather was just right for the competitors in the Ironman 70.3.

Over one thousand people from around the world swam, cycled and ran Sunday at Lake Harmony, west of Calgary.

For event organizer Tom Bamford, it couldn’t have been nicer.

“We’re thrilled to be at the community here, just west of Calgary,” he said. “Lake Harmony is a great venue, because we have open highways, we have vistas of the Rocky Mountains, (and) a beautiful lake to swim in.”

“We’ve got 1,100 athletes from around the world, (from) 16 countries,” he added, “and it’s a world championship qualifying race for (the Ironman event in) Nice, France next year.”

Bamford said being a world championship qualifying race is significant.

“Well, the race is part of a global series of Ironman events,” he said. “The 70.3 level is a certain distance, and it has a world championships that athletes can qualify for -- 30 men, 30 women in their own age groups can qualify for the world championships.

“We also have hundreds of other athletes,” he added, “that just really want to get the distance done. And we have relay teams too, enjoying the day.”

He said the wet, chilly weather conditions Sunday made for a tough cycle but by the time participants get to the running portion of the race, they feel better.

“When you’re on the bicycle and the wind and the rain (come down), it is a challenging experience, and we’re doing some modifications on the course just to make sure everybody gets home safe and sound,” he said.

“But once they hit the run, they start warming up, they get the blood flowing down to the feet -- and everybody kind of is in a better position, and they look forward to that finish line.”

For more about the Ironman 70.3, go here.

With files from CTV’s Tyson Fedor