Updated: Chinook Classic Triathlon returns on August 15

Update: On August 4 we learned that the event had been cancelled.

The 17th annual Chinook Triathlon Festival is still a go and will run next month, according to Platinum Racing’s “chief sweat officer” Tom Bamford.

The event will be capped at 200 people – that includes both athletes, race organizers and volunteers and will take place at Camp Chestermere, just outside of Calgary. The race site features spectacular views of the Rockies on one side with Lake Chestermere on the other.

The day’s events include a half-distance race, an Olympic-distance race, a duathlon and Aquabike races.

Bamford and his team have been working with Alberta Health Services to implement COVID-19 safety protocols. In addition to limiting the field size, those include:

• wearing masks before and after the race
• an extended transition zone with race-day bike drop off
• a rolling swim start – two swimmers every 10 seconds
• social distancing rules on the run
• pre-stocked aid stations
• a streamlined finish

More race details are available here.

For the aid stations, on the bike athletes will be able to get water bottles handed to them by volunteers wearing gloves and masks, while on the run athletes will be able to get cups of water from tables themselves. Finish line food will be taken care of by the staff of Camp Chestermere, who have been running kids camps this summer adhering to Alberta Health Services COVID policies.

As is standard with the Platinum series events, athletes will receive a cycling jersey rather than a race T-shirt and a finishers medal. There won’t, however, be an awards ceremony after the event.

“Our team looks forward to offering a rather unique race experience in 2020,” Bamford says. He’s not kidding. At this point any race here in Canada is truly unique.