Ironfan

How to be an Ironfan: For the Athletes /  by Jonas Caruana

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This is the third of a four-part series called "How to be an Ironfan", a guide to cheering on friends at endurance events. The first post is about preparations to make before race day. The second post is about what to do on race day. This third post is for the athletes re: what they can do to help their Ironfans. And the last is for the 'Inner Circle' – people who are close to the athlete – and has next-level tips for these next-level supporters. 

How to be the best athlete to cheer for

So you've got your big race coming up. You've sent your Ironfans the posts on how to best prepare for race day and what to do on race day. Now as the athlete, there are some simple things you can do to make life easy for your Ironfans. Here are a few tips:

Dinner with the Ironfans + unofficial pre-race briefing.

Dinner with the Ironfans + unofficial pre-race briefing.

Connect your Ironfans. It's highly likely that you'll have people coming to cheer for you who are from different parts of your life, they might not know each other, and they might not be staying together. Connect them beforehand: introduce them and share a little about how you know everyone. Better yet: bring everyone together for a meal and an informal pre-race briefing.

Communicate your bib number. Send it out however works for you (e.g. text message, social media, etc) along with a link to the tracking page – so that friends and family can be a part of your race even if they can't be there in person. Also, share the names and bib numbers of your training buddies so your Ironfans can spread the love. It’s a long day, and it’s more fun if there are lots of athletes to keep an eye out for and cheer on.

Tell your Ironfans what you'll be wearing. Once you decide what you're going to wear, take a photo of you in your gear and then share that with your crew, calling out any key points of visual recognition e.g. bright red helmet, blue triathlon suit! Also send them a pic of you and your bike – again, it helps with visual recognition. Knowing who to look for really matters when spectators are waiting around for a long time, and you pass by them quickly... so they don't have much time to figure out if it's you! (And there's nothing worse than waiting for a couple hours and then missing your athlete!)

Send the course maps to your Ironfans (as well as the event's official website). Then huddle with them and help them plan out their day. As the athlete, you spend a lot of time looking at the course maps and scoping out where the coffee's at, etc. So while you're at it, think about where your support crew might want to position themselves, and suggest those positions to your support crew. Also, there are often last minute updates to the course – make sure you pass these on to your cheer squad so they can reposition accordingly. And for extra brownie points, maybe even print copies of the maps for everyone. Turns out, PDF course maps aren’t the easiest to work with on mobile devices.

Share your race mantra. If you've got specific things you want to hear on course, let your Ironfans know. This is a great way to have triggering words / phrases / race mantras communicated to you at times when you really need to hear them and saying them to yourself alone doesn't do the trick.

Share your power songs. Similarly, if you've got specific music you’d love to hear on course, let your Ironfans know: what songs, and when you’d like to hear them. Sometimes a good beat is all that you need to keep moving!

Let people know how they can reach you. Tell people how available you'll be by phone / text message in the lead up to the race. I normally shut 'er down the afternoon before the big race so I can focus on my mental game. Let people know in advance that you're grateful for their messages of support and that you'll get back to them post-race.

Last of all: try not to be too much of a prima donna. Your Ironfans get that it's all about you for 24 hours and that's why they're there in support – but be a nice rockstar and you'll guarantee that they'll do it again. Say thank-you a lot and acknowledge people after the race – without the crew, it doesn't happen!

So grateful for this crew who came from Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco and Vancouver to cheer me on!

So grateful for this crew who came from Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco and Vancouver to cheer me on!

How to be an Ironfan: It's Race Day! /  by Jonas Caruana

This is the second of a four part series called "How to be an Ironfan", a guide to cheering on friends at endurance events. The first post is about preparations to make before race day. This second post is about what to do on race day. The third post is for the athletes re: what they can do to help their Ironfans. And the last is for the 'Inner Circle' – people who are close to the athlete – and has next-level tips for these next-level supporters. 

Let's talk about why you're at the event

So you've planned it all out: what to bring, where you're gonna cheer, who's coming – and everyone's getting pumped. You'll be the best Ironfans ever! But before y'all jump into the rodeo wagon and head off to the start line, let's take a second and talk about why you're going in the first place. 

Yes, today is about cheering on your athlete and having a great time yourselves. But it's so much more than that. Consider that your presence might be deeply meaningful to your athlete – sentimentally and emotionally. It is. They have been working hard for months, slogging it out, often in conditions most people would consider kinda ridiculous: riding in the cold and rain until it's borderline unsafe, hands so frozen they can barely operate the brakes. Up at 5am for those early swim sessions. 'Going for a run', where that run is longer than a half-marathon. 

Another late evening training run – gotta get the miles in.

Your athlete has a lot invested in this: emotionally, financially, time committed. No matter how casual they may seem about it, this is important to them. And your presence – as someone who knows them – is important too.

Because on race day, you get to bear witness. You get to stand for your athlete in what will likely be a roller coaster of ups, downs and everything in between. When they start to crack mentally – and that may very well happen – you get to be there for them and give them the words, the smiles, and the cheers that just might keep them going long enough to get to the finish line. Your presence might be the difference between your athlete achieving their goals, or not. You get to be a part of a huge learning experience for your athlete.

And you get to learn and be inspired yourself. You'll witness people achieving dreams, people doing what they might not have imagined possible, people who you might never imagine would do a thing like an Ironman and yet, there they are, crossing the line. Get ready to be awed by what you're about to witness.

So think about that as you pack up and get ready to head down to the course. You being there matters more to your athlete than you know! It's so rad that you're showing up to support!

Race morning, pre-race:

Here are some ways to be uber helpful before the start gun goes off:

Help your athlete get to the starting line: drive them there, drop them off and take care of parking so they can get on with preparing for the race: they will need to take care of things like body marking (race numbers), setting up their kit in transition, and will probably need at least a couple of runs to the porta-potty (gotta love race mornings!) before they get into their wetsuit.

Have a friend hold you a spot in the line! Photo credit: sweatcourage.com

Have a friend hold you a spot in the line! Photo credit: sweatcourage.com

Hold them a spot in the porta-potty line: this gets increasingly long, increasingly quickly, as the time to starting the race approaches.

My wetsut – an Orca 3.8 – is great when it's on, but wow is it hard to get into!

Do up their wetsuit: they're far easier to take off, than they are to put on. Learn how to work with a wetsuit beforehand; be careful of fingernails as triathlon wetsuits are pretty fragile on the outside (extra thin in certain places) and very easy to puncture. Have your athlete show you how to grasp and work with the neoprene.

Be a gear mule: It's often cold pre-race due to the early starts. Your athlete will probably want to wear a sweater, sweatpants, socks, shoes, toque / beanie... things to keep their core temperature from dropping pre-race. Let them know you'll be around to take their gear at the last moment; it'll save them having to bring gear they might otherwise have to throw away.

Be around to do anything else that might come up. One time, a friend – who is always super-prepared and organised – forgot their swim cap and goggles. We were a 25-minute drive from the hotel. The mission: get the swim cap and goggles before the gun went off. Which was in 60 minutes. Anything can happen on race day! And having a great crew around to help deal with these things is awesome. (How that story ended: we got her the goggles, with minutes to spare!)

During the race:

You've already packed your gear, planned your route and now it's time for your crew to execute the plan and have a blast doing it. Some specific pointers:

Cheer with sentences: Call their name out and say something specific e.g. "Great work Tom – keep it up! Light and bright!" Why this matters is because 1) there are a ton of athletes and a ton of fans yelling "wooo!" How will your athlete hear you cheering for them? 2) being called out by name is sentimentally meaningful and helps get your athlete out of their head and reminds them their friends are there to support them.

Juliet’s race mantra: “With all my might”.

Even better, ask your athlete if there’s anything they’d like you to say to them. Do they have a race mantra? My friend Juliet's was "With all my might" one year and every time she sped by we screamed "Go-Juliet-with-all-your-might-GOOO!!" Sounds a bit cheesy. But it totally works.

Communicate rankings: If your athlete cares about rankings and positioning within the field, and if they want you to, take note of their position, time the gap between them and the person in front of them, and relay that information as your athlete goes past.

One important 'don't': I've experienced it myself, and every athlete I've ever spoken to agrees: absolutely do not say they're "almost there" if they're literally not 100m from the finish line. 

Be a sports photographer for the day: If you’re handy with a camera: bring your fancy SLR, pack your zoom lenses and be your athlete’s personal sport photographer for the day. Document them and the event. For the athletes, there’s nothing they love better than an incredible shot of them in action. And the day is usually such a blur; it’s nice to relive it in pictures, and especially to be able to see pictures within 24 hours of the event (most of the official event photography companies take several days to post anything). 

Take pics and post to social media: Even if you’re not a pro shutterbug, whip out that camera phone and take as many shots and short videos as you can. Post them on social media and use the hashtag you agreed on beforehand. Friends and family who are following from afar will love you for this!

Pace them. If your athlete wants you to, run alongside them and pace them in the latter stages of the race. Be careful on this one: some races allow it – having pacers is common in most ultra-marathons – but in Ironman events, it is strictly forbidden (your athlete could get disqualified). Check the race regulations beforehand.

Enjoy yourself! Endurance events – and their finish lines – are some of the most inspiring places on the planet. You'll find yourself cheering for complete strangers and really getting into it – let yourself be absorbed into the emotion of it all and be filled with wonder: these people just worked out for 10+ hours straight? Maybe I could do that? Then go home, and sign-up for something!

Post-Race

Dierdre and Juliet; post-race treats in hand!

As soon as they finish: ask what they need and go get it. It might be simple or it might be something odd (you never know), or even medically important. It's good to have two people here: one to stay with your athlete and the other to run the errand. If your athlete ends up in the medical tent, have their health card info handy, know where the closest hospital is, and most importantly, who to call and who can stay if things go downhill. 

Hopefully all they'll need is a favourite snack at the finish line. I crewed for some friends at a half-Ironman in Spokane, Washington last year and they both had specific requests: Juliet wanted slices of cold watermelon. Dierdre wanted beer, and they both love Mexican Coca-Cola (it's made with cane sugar – tastes waaay better!). So I packed up a cooler and had these finish-line treats in their hands within minutes of crossing the finish line. They were stoked!

Get lotsa photos: with the medal, with the baby, with the crew... capture it all.

Jenna and Siân at the finish of Ironman Coeur d'Alene – their first full Ironman!

Get them cleaned up / refreshed: Have a change of clothes for them; a damp, cool facecloth is heavenly at this point in the day. Carry their bag, push their bike. They'll probably be hobbling along at this point. Make life as easy as possible getting from the race to the celebration meal, or whatever's next.

Last of all... be patient and help your athlete relax. You've probably got a million questions and are so excited for them. They are mentally and physically drained. Give them space to collect themselves – the gory details of the day will come out sooner or later (probably later, when cold beers are in hand).

And don't forget to give yourself a pat on the back for being such a rad supporter. Great job! 

 

For the athletes

The first two posts in this series are both intended for the Ironfans. But there are lots of things the athletes can do to help, and the third post in the series is for them: How to be an Ironfan: For the athletes.

Feel free to add your tips in the comments so that others can benefit from them.

Thanks

Appreciation goes out to Dave Mackey, Sam Sykes, Matt Corker, Jaryd Zinkewich, Sian Slawson, Dave Gordon, Alexandra Plante, Jenna Nutting, Nancy Loo, Juliet Korver and Dierdre Douglas for contributing ideas to, and reading drafts of, this series.

How to be an Ironfan: Preparing for Race Day /  by Jonas Caruana

This is the first of a four part series called "How to be an Ironfan", a guide to cheering on friends at endurance events. This first post is about preparations to make before race day. The second is about what to do on race day. The third is for the athletes re: what they can do to help their Ironfans. And the fourth is for the 'Inner Circle' – people who are close to the athlete – and has next-level tips for these next-level supporters.

"We're coming to see you race! Where can we watch you?"

I did my first triathlons in 2014 and anyone who has done any kind of endurance event knows how much of an all-consuming experience it can be. There’s the training you do to prepare. And then there's race weekend, where there’s a lot going on and a lot to think about.

And while I was new to the sport as an athlete, my friends were new to it too and after my first race it occurred to me that figuring out how to cheer at a triathlon and actually have a fun day is also quite an undertaking. "Where can we see you?" "What should we bring?" "Do you want us to be anywhere in particular?" and many more questions like these will arise as your friends try to figure it all out.

The goal of this series of posts is to answer those questions and provide a guide to help athlete supporters know what to do to be most helpful and how to have a great time themselves (athletes, send this to your Ironfans!). Your suggestions are welcome too, so please add them in the comments so that others can benefit.

Lastly, it's worth noting that while I focus on triathlon as an event type, the tips here are transferrable to other endurance events like marathons, half-marathons, ultras, trail races, granfondos etc. With that said: let's go!

Swim start of Ironman Canada in Whistler, BC, in 2014. Big day ahead!

Preparation

Let's break this down into three buckets: Food + Gear, Route, and Crew. If you've got a group of friends all going to an event? Delegate responsibilities amongst the crew – life will be easier!

Food + Gear

Food: cheering at an endurance event is itself, an endurance event! The longer the event, the more food you'll need to bring. If a race is 11 hours long then that is 2-3 meals and a lotta snacks. Think: coffee, water, electrolytes (you’ll need ‘em too), sandwiches, wraps, granola bars, trail mix, fruit… whatever you need to get through the day. Get food beforehand, or at least plan out where you might source it along the way. Don't count on it being easy to find food as you need it, as race courses are often set away from urban areas. And for any convenient food locations that do exist, expect line-ups. Plan ahead, pack some of your own food, and skip the lines.

Money: credit card, debit card, cash: for when you happen upon those enterprising kids on course selling chilled, sliced watermelon.

Clothing: wear stuff you’d be active in. Think sweat wicking, comfy, layers. Long course triathlons start early in the morning (cold), go right through the day (hot) and can finish late at night (cold again). So you need to be able to layer up or down with the temperature. Wear your athlete's branded team kit (if they have it) to show support and be more easily recognized at a glance. Consider extras in the case of rain (raincoat, poncho, umbrella), cold (gloves, hand warmers, blanket), or heat (swimsuit).

Gear: cowbell (make some noise!), sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, bandaids, bug spray, blister patches, eye drops, bike (makes chasing your athlete around a course easy), bike lock, walkie-talkies (surprisingly useful), collapsible chair / beach towel to throw on the ground... all that stuff you need to deal with the minor annoyances of a long day outside and potentially away from civilization. Nothing saps the adrenaline of an Ironfan faster than sunburn and mosquito bites! Headlamps and glow sticks for events finishing after dark. Pack all your gear into a bag with two straps that you can wear on your back and have your hands free – do not use a tote bag or anything one-sided; that’ll get annoying real quick.

Digital stuff: Smartphone with a full charge. Back-up power: charger, charge cable, battery back-up devices. Download an athlete tracking app: Ironman has one available for both iOS and Android. Get your athlete's race number which is a unique number that will help you search for your athlete in the listings. While you're at it, get the race numbers of of your athlete's teammates / training buddies so you can cheer them on too. If you’re a shutterbug and have a proper camera, consider bringing it! (And don’t forget the memory card LOL.) Make up a hashtag for your athlete – circulate it amongst the crew – and use that to thread your various social media posts on the day. Share the hashtag with anyone who wants to follow the race but can’t physically be there. Think: friends, family and relatives who live far away – they’ll be so grateful to have a way to follow the action from afar.

Finish line treats: Ask your athlete if there's anything in particular they'd like to have at the finish line and find a way to have it for them e.g. watermelon slices, a change of clothes, beer!

Party stuff! More on this in "Crew" below. For now: just remember that whatever you bring – you'll be carrying it around all day.

Emergency contact: Not quite food or gear, but no less important. Ask your athlete who their emergency contact is, get their contact info and share that with a few people in the crew. Hopefully it won’t be needed, but if it is, having a few people in the know can help speed things up in the case of an emergency.

The definition of Food + Gear for the athletes. This is "T1" or the area where athletes transition from swim to bike. Those bikes are locked and loaded with all the food + gear the athletes will need for 180kms on the bike, the longest leg of an Ironman triathlon.

Route

Look at the course ahead of time. Find the event's website (confirm with your athlete that you have the right one!) then download the course maps and get together with your athlete to plan.

The 2014 Subaru Vancouver Triathlon (Half-Ironman distance) bike course had three out-and-back sections that all passed through one road junction – this spot was perfect for spectators as they would see athletes 3x per lap, for 4 laps!

First, identify the good athlete viewing spots. Look for places that will enable you to see your athlete multiple times without moving positions. These tend to be on out and back sections, and at road junctions (see example from the 2014 Subaru Vancouver Triathlon). Also think about where there will be low crowd coverage – these points get lonely on the course and you'll get major brownie points from all the athletes for showing up and cheering there.

Ask if your athlete wants you to cheer at specific places? And if so, what approximate times do they expect to be at those points, so you can be ready.

Second, take note of:

  • Where are the transition / check-in areas?

  • Where can you get water / food? (Aid stations = for competitors only)

  • Where is there shade?

  • Where are the bands (tons of races have live music nowadays)?

  • Where are there paths that run alongside the race course (so you can follow your athlete)?

Third, now plan your race day route. Involve your crew in this process so they know where peeps will be, when, and who's joining for what parts: some people will be in it for the whole day. Others will just want to see the finish line. Think about the flow of the day: where will you be in the morning, where will you go after lunch? Know when you can take a break: this really applies to longer course events. At Ironman Canada during the first few years when it was in Whistler, once the athletes were on the bike and had come back through the village and were headed out to Pemberton, we had a 3+ hour break depending on how fast our athlete was. That was a great gap to get brunch, head to the pool, and relax for a bit.

My training buddy Greg at Ironman Canada in 2014; stoked to see us cheering!

Then, know when to get into gear and really turn it up for your athlete. Toward the end of the day is when they need you the most. Cheer them on at one point, then leapfrog them and cheer 'em on again. Plan to follow your athlete around the course: they will love you for it!

A couple of last tips: Pace yourself: you won't see athletes in the swim (obviously) and depending on the course, potentially not much on the bike. So save yourself for the run, that's where you'll be chasing them around the most. And, set expectations with your crew upfront: have a chat about what people are up for and can handle. Do this the night before! Not everyone wants to run around an Ironman course like an Amazing Race participant for 12 hours. That's ok – just plan it accordingly and everyone will be smiling at the end of it.

A quiet spot on the run course of a half-Ironman in Spokane, Washington. It's great to show up in these spots because you get to lift the athletes where they otherwise wouldn't get a boost. That's my friend Juliet in the picture, focused and laying it down on the run.

Crew: People Make the Party!

The "Irontribe", Ironman Canada (Whistler), 2014 

Don't go it alone! Even an Olympic distance triathlon is well over two hours for most athletes. It can be a boring-ass day if you’re unfamiliar with what the event entails. So make a day of it with friends! Pack a picnic. Barbecue. Beer!

Pro tip: exchange phone numbers before race day and set up a group message so that everyone can message each other and stay in contact. This is crucial because oftentimes people in the cheer crew don't know each other. 

Go crazy: wigs, whistles, vuvuzelas, cowbells, costumes, wear matching colours, make signs… come up with some fun stuff to get your athlete’s attention. Tell them what to look out for and give some hints for where the on course you’ll be. Trust me, after however many hours of ripping their guts out on the course, they’ll be looking for you like a lost explorer and magically you will appear, beaming all the encouragement and energy they need to pick it up and keep moving. Super Soakers are rad on a hot day (just be sure to ask athletes as they go by whether they want a spray). Portable speakers for music are awesome; ask your athlete if they have a power song they’d like you to play when they go by! Or bring a megaphone and cause a raucous! Put a mic in peoples' hands and see what happens. Go crazy! 

Get ready to rumble!

So: Food + Gear, Route, and Crew. Plan out your day with those three things in mind and you're going to have a great day. And if you don't have time, just throw these five bare essentials into a daypack and hustle on over to the course: your athlete's race number, food, water, cowbell, phone.

Hopefully this post has set you up to be fully prepared for a great experience supporting your athlete on race day. Now read the next post: How to be an Ironfan: It's Race Day!

Did I miss anything? Got some pro tips to add? Please put them in the comments below for others to benefit from.

Thanks

Appreciation goes out to Dave Mackey, Sam Sykes, Matt Corker, Jaryd Zinkewich, Sian Slawson, Dave Gordon, Alexandra Plante, Jenna Nutting, Nancy Loo, Juliet Korver and Dierdre Douglas for contributing ideas to, and reading drafts of, this series.