Somersault Awards Reception

Last friday was Somersault's annual awards reception. Three of my four races this year were Somersault events, and having done three qualified me for the Champions Challenge points competition (you accumulate points based on your overall finish in each race), and I finished second in the M35-59 category. I never raced against the guy who beat me, but he was consistently a top five finisher in his races - that's where I'd like to be next season, so it's a good benchmark. He also represented Canada at this year's ITU World Championships in Chicago, and I've been considering whether that's the type of thing that might be a long term goal for me.

Realistically there are lots of faster folks in Ottawa who were not part of the Champions Challenge, and that's due to the overall emphasis the tri community seems to place on iron-distance races. I have no doubt there's lots of triathletes in the city that would dominate the Somersault series if they chose to, but they instead focus on Ironman and 70.3 races. So the fact that I finished in the top ten point-getters in the Somersault series certainly doesn't mean that's representative of where I rank among the city's triathletes.

However, if I had been told last year that I would finish my first tri season 2nd in my age group and 9th overall in the series, I would have been ecstatic. So while the award itself isn't all the significant, attending the ceremony to accept it is part of honouring the work I've put in and celebrating my fitness. It's an important milestone in my journey.

The ceremony also marked Somersault founder Terry McKinty's retirement, and it was cool to see some of the big wheels of the local tri community (Rudy Hollywood, Rick Hellard, Ian Fraser) come out to honour him and reflect on what he's done for triathlon in the region. We're really lucky to have a well-run series of multisport events in the area, that not only allows us to race frequently, affordably, and close to home, but is also so welcoming and accessible to newcomers and people of all abilities. To that end it was also cool to see a well deserving Geordie McConnell of the OTC receive a Spirit of Somersault award. He's done a lot to help grow the sport in the city, and his infectiously positive attitude and general helpfulness really helped me get through my first multisport event back in 2014 when he conducted the orientation session at the National Capital Tri at Mooney's Bay.

Next year's dates for the Somersault series have been announced and I've pencilled in my rough schedule. More on that in the new year when I reflect on my goals for the 2016 season.