Caledon celebrates special airing of triathlon championship

Written By ROBERT BELARDI

This year was supposed to be a big year for Olympic coach Barrie Shepley. 

The Caledon resident, Chairman of the Coaching Association of Ontario and Olympic Triathlon coach, had three prestigious events lined up in his calendar. It was all set. Head over to Tokyo in July for the Olympics to work with CBC, then Edmonton in August for the ITU World Triathlon Grand Finals and finally, cap it all off in the sunny islands of Hawaii for the Ironman Kona in October. 

He went to bed New Year's Eve, believing 2020 was going to be a special year. 

But, everything seemingly fell apart in March because of COVID-19. A year full of celebration left many aghast. He saw the depression, carving its mark into the faces of all the athletes, whose hard work and dedication for competitions would have to wait until this is all over. 

But like most athletes and coaches, it's not about how you get knocked down. It's how you get back up. And Shepley, got back up. 

“I sat down with our C3 board; C3 stands for Canadian Cross Training Club it's a Caledon based organization not for profit that we've had for 25 years. This is our 25th year actually. Instead of relying on other people, clearly big things like one-thousand-person events couldn't occur this summer, what is it that we can do?” Shepley said. 

The James Dick Quarry, situated at 18119 Hurontario Street in Caledon Village was the best bet. 

It's a retired sand quarry, C3 has had for the past fifteen years. 

There was a lake in there and a unique subdivision owned by TPC Osprey Valley that hadn't been built yet in behind in Alton. 

“It meant that we could do many races in the summer, just with smaller numbers,” Shepley exclaimed. 

Over 30 races were hosted this summer, some for children as young as three, and up to those as old as 60. Sons, daughters, fathers and mothers all ran at the same time. There was no way to have a 1,000-person event. Over 30 races, 1,000 people participated. 

Now, if amateur racers were able to participate, what about the pros? What about the professional triathletes, who lost their competition this year? It didn't take long for Shepley to put that one together. 

His friend and reporter Brenda Irving from the CBC helped him out with television coverage. 

One of his famous clients, who is a triathlete himself and CEO of Lululemon, Calvin McDonald didn't hesitate to assist with naming the competition. Within 15 days, the agreement was made and the artwork for the competition was complete. 

Athletes from across the country were set to stay in Caledon for three days for the competition and to sight-see the town. A $20,000 purse prize was up for grabs for the winners. 

With a limit of 100 people on the grounds, everyone wore a band for tracking and tracing of the virus if needed. Shepley said, the biggest challenge was to turn down 250 volunteers, who were anxious to help with the event. Instead, 25 volunteers were in attendance. 

Two weekends ago, one of Caledon's grandest success stories emerged and professional triathletes competed in the lululemon Canadian Pro Triathlon Championship. 

Toronto, Ontario native Tamara Jewett finished in first place, Quebec Amelie Kretz took home second and B.C native Rachel McBride held the last place on the podium. 

Following a long-hard year of recovery since a gruesome shoulder injury, Ontario native Jackson Laundry won the men's championship, B.C native Brent McMahon took home second and Quebec native Jeremy Briand finished in third. 

The race premiered on YouTube last Friday. 

Shepley, turned the negative of COVID-19 into a beautiful positive. 

“It was beyond my expectations. In the middle of April when I started to consider this, there was no racing going to be happening in the entire province and literally, I'm a race commentator, I announced more races this summer than any other race summer in my life. That's 35 years now commentating and coaching. It turned out to be spectacularly busy.” 

Shepley kindly thanked everyone who was a part of this, including local sponsors such as Royal Containers, Benson Steel, Nuvo Iron and Kinetico. 

Without everyone's work, the quarry and the subdivision, this would not have been possible. 

Last Saturday, was also a heartfelt moment for the C3 staff. Shepley and many others held a memorial bike ride for one of their members who tragically lost her life in a car accident on Highway 10 and Old Baseline. 

Patricia Lopez, was a mother, grandmother and triathlete, taken too early at the age of 51. 

Looking further ahead into the Winter, Shepley is going to continue to make sure triathletes are trained and prompted for competitions. He will hold an indoor triathlon every last Sunday of every month until May. 

Only then, we will see what happens.