Howe Sound - Gibson's Iron

VI Va'a sent a men's and women's team to the 28km Howe Sound Iron this July, amidst competing teams from California, Oregon, Washington, Alberta and other parts of British Columbia.

Gibsons and the entire Howe Sound area made for one of the most gorgeous race courses, amongst the coastal mountains, islands, beaches and bays.  After a very long wait, summer had recently arrived in the Pacific Northwest and we had to douse ourselves with water a  few times before the race to keep cool. After our warm-up paddle we had a chance for a dip in the ocean before lining up behind the start line. Photos courtesy Jon Brunk www.jonbrunk.com

A 28km iron seemed very daunting, and those that had raced it before said that you never stop getting intimidated by it. There were some taut nerves evident by the little bit of start line creep. The leading two teams immediately broke away from the pack at the start, while two of the other top teams had an unfortunate collision between some rocky outcrops exposed by the low tide. Our steers person expertly maneuvered us out of harm's way, and into third out of the gate..a spot we fought hard to try and maintain.

A couple of incredibly strong women's teams recovered from their collision near the start line, chased us down and passed us within the next few km. VI Va'a kept catching up and falling back, eventually taking 5th place overall in the women's race, with a time of 2 hours 45 minutes, less than 3 minutes from 3rd place. The men's teams completed the course in a much closer spread. VI Va'a men finished in an even closer 5th place, with some help a couple of the Island Brave guys that raced with us.