They unveiled a mural Wednesday on Penticton's Okanagan Lake waterfront, on the west-facing exterior wall of the little building at 195 Lakeshore Drive that serves as a change room, washroom and visitor centre.
Created by Okanagan-based muralist team "Jomae," the work, entitled "Movement & Motion," is a colorful, modernistic ode to Ironman Canada, the storied triathlon that finally returns to its Okanagan birthplace this weekend after a ten-year Whistler-ish absence -- an absence exacerbated two years by the pandemic.
That the mural looks out toward Rotary Beach, the SS Sicamous, the historic Ironman (and Peach Classic Triathlon) start line, and in fact almost the entire swim portion of the race is no coincidence.
But for all the familiar politicians and VIPs attending and speaking at the unveiling, it was a somewhat less conspicuous fellow standing off to the side, near the "IRONMAN" fencing that now rings Rotary Park, who in fact had the most to say.
"I did this race in 2007," he said when we asked why he was there and wearing an "Ironman Lake Placid" hat. "Now I'm 15 years older and I'm here again. We'll see how it goes on Sunday."
It'll probably go pretty well. Randy Swift -- yep, that's his real name -- has been plenty swift in no less than a dozen Ironmans since his 2004 debut, including nine at Lake Placid.
But of all the Ironmans on his resume, he said it's Penticton that most floats his boat. So much so that he drove here all the way from his home in upstate New York for another go 15 years after his first.
"I had a cousin who lives in Kelowna," he said about his 2007 experience, "and I wanted to come out and do this race. I'd always heard it's the race out here.
"And at the time you could only sign up by being here in person. So In 2006 I came out. I flew into Sea-Tac and drove up, volunteered and got in line at 4:30 in the morning for my little piece of paper.
"And then a year later we drove out and did the same cross-country trip we just did this week."
Swift said he "loved" the race. And he discussed the course with both familiarity and reverence.
"I feel like there's a mystique about Penticton," he said. "And the course is epic. Going up Richter pass, coming up through Yellow Lake and doing all these epic climbs. It suits me as an athlete."
In 2007, Swift finished with a cumulative time of approximately 10:45, a personal record. Now 50 years of age, he's hoping for something equally respectable.
"I just thanked the mayor as he walked down the street for bringing it back," he said. "When they moved it to Whistler, I had no interest. Why? Because it wasn't Penticton, I gotta say.
"Honestly. This town embraces this race like no other place I've done an Ironman."
Also on site was jubilant Penticton mayor John Vassilaki.
"It's great for me, being the mayor, to bring it back on my watch," he said before his turn at the microphone, "because I was also here when we let it go. So this is a real pleasure."
Vassilaki, a councilor in the early 2010s, recounted that "it was the amount of funding they required to continue in Penticton, and it was just getting out of hand."
"It's taken us about two and a half years of negotiating to get it back. The amount of funding we gave them was equitable for the city. And for the return we'll get, it's worthwhile.
"They're now here for a minimum of five years, but I'd like them here forever."
Watching the event Wednesday was Penticton Vees majority owner and Penticton resident Graham Fraser, a guy intimately familiar with the sport of triathlon.
He's participated and organized them for decades, and would ultimately play a huge role in Ironman Canada, running it for 17 years.
Fraser, living in Ontario at the time and busy organizing a variety of other races, entered the Ironman scene back in '95 when the event was synonymous with Penticton and was, unfortunately, encountering money problems.
"Ironman was financially in trouble," he said Wednesday. "A guy named Michael Bregman owned it at the time. It was in financial trouble, but he put money in it so it could keep going.
"So I knew Michael from putting on my races back in Muskoka, Ontario, and he approached me and said he'd give me 50% ownership in Ironman, and I could put it on in Muskoka, where I'd just put on my world championship."
Fraser thought that was a pretty good idea. But then he got an in-person visit from Judy Sentes, in one of her many pre-city councilor roles, this time as Ironman Canada Chairman of the Board.
Sentes was on a mission. She knew Fraser was the new Ironman Canada boss, and she rightly figured he'd want to move it to his part of the country. So with the race director in tow, she flew to Ontario and suggested in no uncertain terms that he come to Penticton before he made a decision.
"And I did that," said Fraser. "and said, wow, this place is amazing. So I took the risk and said to my wife (Sue, who's played a big role in the family's endurance sport dealings), 'There's an event that loses $100,000 a year and we have to pay $200,000 for it. Are you in?' And we ended up doing it for 17 years."
But the good times came to an end, said Fraser, when "a private equity company came and took it over."
"We had nine Ironmans by that time, including all the ones in the States. Then the private equity guys came in and took the US ones, and I fought to keep this one. But three years later (in 2012), they said we're taking this one too. And we just said we can’t fight these guys anymore."
But the Frasers, Penticton residents for the past four years, are thrilled it's back -- as much for the "inspiration" and the potential health impact as the economic impact.
"It's such an inspiration," said Sue Fraser. "You watch these people do Ironman and you say wow, maybe I can walk around the block. Or do a 5K. I have friends who've been inspired by it and are now full-time runners because they saw Ironman here."
But perhaps the most enthusiastic person at Wednesday's gathering was one-time Ironman saviour Sentes.
"Ironman Canada was one of the six original Ironman sites," she said. "So we go way back. Even as wonderful as the (Ironman) World Championship is in Hawaii, nothing can compare to the scenic opportunity every step of the way here.
"Everyone who is a triathlete, expert or novice, they all know Penticton."
