The upcoming Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada will be the first time that this race is held outside of the USA. Race director Dominique Piché sat down with Slowtwitch to share how all this happened. Dominique left his full time job with the Montreal police force to devote 100% of his time to develop Mont Tremblant as a triathlon destination, not just for racing but also for training.
An athlete himself, he had worked for Ottawa, Canada based race director Terry McKinty as early as 1995. He had also gone to see Ironman Lake Placid when it kicked off in 1999 and felt that Mont Tremblant would be an ideal location for an Ironman event. In 2003 Dominique had taken over the Mont Tremblant triathlon, a sprint distance event that would serve as the eventual foundation to which he brought the WTC.
ST: Dominique, how did you first meet with WTC and how did the ball get rolling?
Dominique Piche: I first met WTC in 2011. At the time, we heard that there was a desire to expand, and took that as an opening as I had the vision to make Ironman racing happen in Tremblant. The key was to get the local community involved. We wanted to sell this as a full package to both WTC and the community. The community needed to do many infrastructure upgrades to have roads worthy of racing at the same time, the community understood that if they set up a world class destination for triathlon as they have done for skiing, then it would be win win and not just something that happens on one or two weekends per year. The government invested over $10 million to upgrade the roads. In the planning process, Marc Roy, the President of Sportstats was integral in preparing our proposal and the development of ensuing events once we secured the wins from WTC.
ST: Some communities see these races as an inconvenience, but seemingly not Mont Tremblant. In fact your 70.3 and Ironman events are run right in the middle of the summer tourist season. How is this possible?
Dominique: From the beginning, our plan was not a one - two race package. What we have been trying to do is develop an entire triathlon season from May until early October, with athletes and camps coming every weekend. The courses are set up all summer for the bike and run with signage. There are MDot logos, and markers on lamppost and on the pavement. We even have aid stations that run on weekends on parts of the course to welcome athletes. As you drive into the resort, there are blinking signs for this entire period - warning drivers that athletes are in training. Like skiing or golf, the community sees triathletes as our customers for an entire season, not just for the events. Tremblant is now adding an aquatics center with a 50m pool with a $16 million investment, which will be ready later this year. And, of course, they want people to come back and ski in the winter. We now have three races with the full Ironman, the 70.3 and the 5150. Adding in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship and we’re up to a 4-race season with training camps going on every weekend in between. Move over Boulder and San Diego.
ST: Is that sentiment the same for the average resident of Mont Tremblant?
Dominique: We have thought about this since we have 4 events in 2014 in Mont-Tremblant and the last thing we wanted to do is overwhelm the local citizens. Since the population of Mont-Tremblant is less then 10,000 we estimate that 25% of the residents get involved with the event has volunteers and we see many of them come back for all events. Most of our captains and coordinators are exactly the same for all events. The support from the city and residents has been amazing this year and will all culminate next weekend with the World at our door!
ST: So how did the next step evolve to secure the 70.3 Championships?
Dominique: We knew the contract for Vegas was coming up for renewal and did not want to wait several years for a chance at being the championship venue. As luck would have it, in 2012, WTC CEO Andrew Messick got to experience our venue as an athlete, doing Ironman Mont Tremblant. I am sure Andrew’s firsthand experience as an athlete had some bearing, but in the end, we had to make a solid proposal showing WTC that we’d take the championship to a new level. I have been traveling around the world, watching what is best at the various marquis venues including Kona, and my team is committed to lift this event to the best ever. It seems that the word has gotten out in the triathlon community about our venue and resort. The hotel operators have told us that international athletes have already booked to arrive for the 70.3 Championship up to10 days in advance. Keep in mind that this is only 21 days after we host the Ironman North America Championship in August, so Tremblant is buzzing triathlon during this entire time.
ST: How many volunteers does it take to run each event and with that many volunteers are you concerned with volunteer burn out?
Dominique: The Ironman 70.3 requires 1600 volunteers, the full Ironman needs 3500 mainly due to the duration. The World Championship will require around 2000 with the additional bells and whistles. Most are motivated simply to give back to the sport. As you know we have big triathlon communities in Quebec and nearby Ontario. We draw from all of that to compliment our core support from the local residents.
ST: Talk about the run course changes and how they came about.
Dominique: We wanted to make sure that we could showcase the venue to the world but at the same time make it more spectator friendly for everyone. Modifying the run course makes it harder as we have removed the flat section on the Petit Train du Nord. In the pedestrian village athletes will actually go much higher than before, that section is bound to be very exciting for the athletes and spectators. The venue allows [spectators, family and friends] to see the athletes up to 5 times on the run.
ST: What have you learned from observing the races at both Vegas and Kona that you would like to build on from a championship perspective?
Dominique: We want to focus on a championship experience that has not been experienced ever in the 70.3. As I mentioned we have learned from other events, but we have also benefited from the Tremblant community putting on world caliber ski and cultural events. By bringing all that expertise together with our focus on the triathlete, we feel this will be a great end user experience.
ST: The government of Quebec has lots of experience in hosting International events including UCI World Cups. How will the triathletes notice this?
Dominique: As you know, all pro athletes need to qualify. Of course we want the top guys here before they go to Kona. It is different from the UCI having world cups in Quebec. This is a world championship, so the athletes don’t get invites. However, we will do a lot to make it easier for them. We have an ambassador program for home stay, which is being coordinated by Heather Fuhr. Local families are setting up home bases for athletes from each country. So entire residences will turn into national home bases for pros.
ST: One thing missing in Vegas was a parade of nations. This is easier to do in Kona where many athletes are centered on Alii drive. In Vegas they were scattered everywhere but in Tremblant most will be staying right on the ski hill. Do you feel this will make for a strong race week environment?
Dominique: On the Friday welcome ceremony, on the Tremblant Ironman boulevard some special plans are in store that are yet to be revealed. The ski village is perfectly suited for this type of race week feel. We won’t have the Pacific Ocean, but we have the mountain and we’ll have the full race week buzz that you will expect with a championship event.
ST: Will we see you again in Kona?
Dominique: I will be in Kona from October 1st to the 14th and this is my 4th time to the island. On race day I actually help out controlling the media on a motorcycle, my police background helps. It is a magical place and I look forward to returning every year. In fact about 10 of our coordinators from Mont-Tremblant will be in Kona in 2014 to experience the event, it is our way to say thanks for doing 4 events this year.
ST: What about the Slowtwitch gathering in Kona?
Dominique: We can make an appearance like we did last year.
ST: Anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
Dominique: We will be putting out every ounce of energy to showcase the resort and want to push the limit from an innovation and creativity perspective. The triathlete is our customer and we are committed to making this event one of the best ever.
