Ironman triathlons are a huge part of the year for us—and for all the wonderful athletes who participate in them! Thanks to Ironman Group putting on events across the latitude range in North America, athletes can have a great time avoiding the summer heat up north or staying clear of the winter’s chill down south. But in the first few months of the year, Ironman events on the North America circuit take a break for a good bit of much-needed rest and recuperation. And while we here at BCC Live have a lot of other events to attend in that time, we still take a bit of a breather…
Until now. That’s right—at the start of April, Ironman returned to the spotlight with two events on the same weekend: 70.3 Oceanside and 70.3 Texas. Oceanside, California welcomed athletes on Saturday the 2nd and Galveston, Texas followed up the next Sunday, providing a perfect opportunity to accommodate everyone who wanted to get an early start on the season. What’s more, our “home team” in Boulder had their work cut out for them as well, handling the broadcast for 70.3 Oceanside as well as the Ironman Africa Championship at Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. Four big projects in one weekend—too much to handle? Not for us! But how did we tackle all of it, and how did it go?
Well, the good news is, we already had a fair amount of experience with these events. Though venue layouts, start or finish locations, and courses may change, the base concept of an event is consistent. We rolled out our plans from previous years, studying what we tried and what we learned to find strengths and points of improvement. From there, it’s all about searching for updates—months in advance, we interface with the race directors and other staff members from the Ironman Group to see how their plans have changed. Meanwhile, other BCC staff members will update our plans, check with venue hosts and local governments to make sure everything will be race-ready, and start booking travel for our team members. Proper planning prevents a paltry performance, so we go to great lengths to make sure just about everything is ready to go before anyone even sets foot on site.
And speaking of “on site,” let’s find out how that part of the job went. First up was 70.3 Oceanside, a real favorite in series and a fitting choice for the first race of the North American season. Athletes were met with a swim in the open ocean, a bike both through the hills of Southern California and along the coast, and a run along the coastline where the sea breeze surely helped keep things cool. Our team arrived onsite with a plan ready to roll and three experienced team members ready to give it their all. Fortunately, the weather was in everyone’s favor—with a high of about 65 degrees, both athletes and staff were at no risk of overheating, so we could all give it our all to make the event as good as possible.
While the Oceanside team was setting up its first equipment, the Galveston team was just arriving on-site at the charming Moody Gardens, a resort and tourist destination that was more than ready to accept athletes and spectators. Runners were able to weave through the resort’s peaceful paths in a multi-loop course, but not before a ride on a truly remarkable bike course which led them down 25 miles of the coastal Bluewater Highway and all the way off of Galveston Island before returning to Moody Gardens for their transition. Though the temperature in Galveston was about ten degrees higher than in Oceanside, this proved not to be an issue, as the strong winds classic to the area sure helped cool things off! In fact, there were concerns that the wind would blow away speakers or bring thunderstorms with it. It was time for us to plan for the worst…
Back in Oceanside, final preparations were underway for race day. One of the most crucial parts of setting up for any event the Ironman Group puts on is making sure the point-of-sale systems onsite are ready to roll so all the athletes can pick up souvenirs and last-minute gear, and this event was no exception. BCC Live sees to it that point-of-sale systems are ready, powered, and provided with Internet at every Ironman event in the country, so we have plenty of experience! Of course, with the help of the dedicated merchandise staff, anything can be made a breeze.
Over in Galveston, the wind didn’t bring thunderstorms—but it did bring rain. Our team and staff hunkered down for a couple hours with our gear covered up, ensuring nothing took water damage while we reinforced everything against the wind with plenty of heavy sandbags. Fortunately, the wind blew the rain clouds away before long, and we were back in business to finish our setup.
Finally, Saturday rolled around and we sprang into action. Galveston had the most straightforward job, finalizing their plans for their Sunday race day while putting on an IRONKIDS fun run with the same sort of party-ready audio we bring up for full races. Meanwhile, Oceanside’s race day was in full swing, starting bright and early. Soon enough, they were sending video back to our home office to facilitate a great broadcast, covering the opening of the Ironman season and noting all of the pros who were competing for the top spot. It took quite a bit of work to get all that video up and running, but we’re always ready. Our team recently set into motion a major upgrade to our home studio including a new set and advanced new equipment (keep an eye out for a blog post about that!), so we were certainly up to the task.
Fortunately, when it comes to events, BCC Live moves like a well-oiled machine. Before long, the final finishers at Oceanside had crossed the line and our team began to pack things up, while also ensuring everything was ready for a top-tier awards ceremony. Race day is always a long day, but it’s worth it to see the smiling faces of our victorious finishers.
But as the Oceanside team was winding down, Galveston was picking up the pace—and the Boulder team kept on trucking! In fact, the African Championship began at about 10:45 PM Saturday on Boulder time, so it was a very long day for them indeed. Luckily, since we have enough staff to put on multiple events at once, nobody ended up being too overworked, but it was still a lot of tasks for a small company to juggle!
With a great plan and a nice venue, 70.3 Texas got going right on time to send athletes into the water. Over the day, team members swapped around roles to keep everything running, whether that was running the start and finish, preparing the stage for awards, or recording the entire length of the course on video. While the Boulder team wrapped up their broadcast of the African Championship, things started to cool down for Texas, too. No major issues arose during the events, so we all had a worry-free time. Remember what we said about proper planning?
By the end of the day on Sunday, all of our teams were packed up and ready for a well-earned night’s sleep. While some of us had to catch a flight the next morning, others just had a short drive back home from the studio—but either way, it was time to enjoy the sweet victory of four major projects completed. It was a lot to handle all at once, but nobody else does things like we do, as often as we do, with the determination and dedication to succeed that we have. The Ironman season to follow will bring similar challenges, but we’ve just shown that we’re up to the task!
