#MSCWelland: Race Report

Lights, Camera, ACTION!

This weekend (June 24/25) was MultiSport Canada’s Season Opener presented by Sketchers Performance in the beautiful city of Welland. A few days ago, I published in my pre-race report how excited I was about racing in the Rose City. I did a bit of research prior to the race and learned that Welland is not only a city rich with history going back as early as 1788, but is also home to the finest rose gardens in the Niagara Region thereby earning its name of Rose City. Naturally, this fun fact stuck with me on my way to the race venue and throughout my racing experience on Saturday.

If there is one word I can use to describe the venue, I would use the word STUNNING. The gorgeous Welland International Flatwater Centre, with the sunlight kissing its surface was the first thing I saw as I rolled into the site.

The atmosphere was calm at 7am with the venue slowly filling up with athletes. It was a very easy and straightforward process navigating through the registration process and setting up my transition zone. It’s always nice to have a seamless, stress-free start to the race and we have the MultiSport Canada team and their amazing group of volunteers to thank for creating such a friendly and welcoming environment for all participants.

The registration area was well-marked and easy to follow, and the transition zone was well-organized and excellently set up. The venue was also spectator-friendly and the set up definitely made it easy for friends and family to cheer on their athletes throughout the race. It was incredible to see the venue packed with families and parents who brought their children and hopefully future MultiSport athletes, to participate in all the fun. F2C Nutrition had a tent set up for spectators to engage and create posters to cheer on their athletes.

My small but mighty team of spectators!

This race was the PERFECT season opener.

I raced in the Sprint Duathlon event on Saturday, June 24. The athlete turnout was impressive with almost 100 duathletes participating in my event! It was fantastic to see so many first time duathletes of all ages come out and race that day as well.

The course was fast, flat, and friendly. The race started off by the transition zone with a simple out and back format along the water (it was cool to see the triathletes swimming at the same time) — great set up for beginner athletes!

The duathletes are off!

Scenic run!

The first run was over before I knew it! Finishing the 2.5 km in 9:29, I hit a personal best right away! The spectators had created an electrifying energy as they cheered on every athlete in the run course. They provided great encouragement for all athletes and made the run so much fun!

The positive experience carried throughout the 20km bike course. The roads were well-marked and I was not concerned at all about finding my way on the bike. It also helped that the course maps were made accessible on the website and on-site prior to the start of the race. The bike course lived up to its reputation of being flat and fast as I achieved another personal best on the bike course. I have to especially thank the volunteers and the police officers on the bike course for keeping the roads safe for all athletes.

Leaving from transition. here I go!

Rolling into transition. Woah that was FAST!

The last run was two loops on the same course as the first one; familiar course to wrap up a great day of racing! Once again, the volunteers were impressive at the aid stations with not only handing out water and nutrition but also cheering on all the athletes. I had a smile on my face for the duration of the second run. It was a day of PB’s for many athletes and I owe it all to the perfect execution by the MultiSport Canada Team. Thank you to all the volunteers, John Salt and Steve Fleck, and the team of MultiSport ambassadors for a spectacular season opener!

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Race with us!

Free race photos by Zoomphotoinc are available after the race and race results are posted on SportStats shortly after the event.

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved not only as an athlete but also as a volunteer. MultiSport Canada does a tremendous job in ensuring that the races are executed in an organized, fun, comfortable, and safe manner. Volunteers are essential in making this happen. Click the link below to see the list of volunteer opportunities:

https://signup.com/group/1046599166028?utm_source=group-badge-volunteer-green

I mentioned in my pre-race report that the energy is guaranteed to be electrifying in Welland and it sure was!

Great sportsmanship, a community of passionate athletes and volunteers, and a fun multisport race series; these sum up what it’s like to race with MultiSport Canada. Check out their website at http://www.multisportcanada.com to see how you can get involved!