Home > Feature

Canadians Reid and Brown get ready for Ironman 70.3 New Orleans tomorrow

A strong pair of Canadian pros have headed down south for Ironman 70.3 New Orleans taking place tomorrow, April 17th.

Taylor Reid hopes for better luck in Louisiana after a crash with a camera man in Oceanside pulled him out of the race and left his bike totalled.

 

Reid spent much of the winter training in his hometown of Caledon, Ontario but has also had some time preparing in the heat after a training stint with Paulo Sousa’s triathlon squad in California.

Reid lines up against some notably fast competitors, including Americans Andy Potts, Matt Charbot, Andrew Starykowicz and TJ Tollakson.

On the women’s side, this will be the first race of the year for Canada’s Brooke Brown, who is shifting her race focus this  season.

“I’m eager to kick off the season at NOLA to assess my fitness, like many Canadians, coming out of winter,” she told TMC. “I am just three months post-jaw surgery. I am really grateful that I was able to bounce back so soon, as both myself and the doctor anticipated greater delay.”

Brown, who originally comes from Windsor, Ontario and trained with Reid in Caledon, has been living abroad for the last few years. Most recently, she’s been in Mexico recovering from her surgery in the heat.

Credit: Gustavo Villegas Betanzos

“I have spent the last three weeks in Cozumel, my home away from home, building fitness and strength as well as adapting to the heat. The initial post-surgery diet was quite restrictive, so I lost a fair bit of weight and muscle. While I have put back on most of the weight, my power on the bike continues to struggle.  However, I have had good company and sparing partners here including Swiss pro, Celine Schaerer as well as some former teammates. It has made me work hard in the swim, bike and run.

Given my speedy recovery, my coach (Jesse Van Niewenhuyse) and I have decided to give early season races a go! Currently, we are building towards the Ironman South American Championships in Brazil this May.”

We haven’t seen Brown racing on the Ironman circuit much lately, but last summer she rounded up some wins in Europe at independent races such as IronMedoc in Houtin, France.

“The last few years, I have taken a step away from Ironman to gain more race experience and to compete in unique and independent races while traveling across Europe, predominantly in France or Spain. I am very excited to return back to the Ironman scene, and see if it is not too late to punch my ticket to Kona for 2016!”

Brown is joined by training partner Schaerer on the start line tomorrow, as well as last year’s winner, Sarah Piampiano.

We wish Reid and Brown the best of luck tomorrow.