When I talk about Quebec with people who know it poorly or not at all, one of the things I often mention first is the snow pentathlon.
Unique event: a “five-sport triathlon” in the heart of the city. This is Quebec: snow city, sports city. My city is winter.
It's melting
Or it was… because climate change wants to melt this part of us.
Next year it will be 10 years since I competed in the pentathlon. The question of snow cover had never been a problem. But at the end of January and beginning of February 2024, concern gripped the pentathlete planet: Will our favorite competition be canceled? Like others elsewhere. In France, the Transjurassienne 2024, famous in the world of cross-country skiing, did not take place due to a lack of snow.
- Listen to the political meeting between Antoine Robitaille and Benoît Dutrizac QUB :
Totally “shrimp”
On the Plains of Abraham, artificial snow had to be blown and spread, the courses had to be changed and brought back to the oval so that the competition could take place.
All events took place around what is commonly referred to as the “shrimp” of cross-country skiing. The 20th edition of the Pentathlon, a brilliant idea by Jean-Charles Ouellet launched at Lac Beauport in the early 2000s, was the first “totally shrimp—”.
The magic still worked. Especially on Saturday mornings with sun, almost no wind and pleasant winter temperatures.
For the first time I dared to try the short distance solo, i.e. all five sports. In order: 5.5 km cycling (coasts of Gilmour and De Humor!), 3 km snowshoeing, 12 laps of the ice rink on skates, 7 km cross-country skiing and 3 km running.
management
Three management challenges. The first thing about preparation: different muscles need to be trained minimally for five sports. From November onwards, the prospect of the pentathlon will motivate you to get as much exercise as possible.
Then, during the competition, effort management. You have to push, as the distances are short, and keep your cartridges! Finally, equipment management: The sixth sport, transitions, should not be neglected.
Current and former Journal colleagues gathered Saturday to take part in this unique sporting event. Photo Marc-André Gagnon
Although I was exhausted, I was happy to return to the plain in the afternoon for the “repentathlon”, this time in one of the two teams of colleagues from the Journal de Québec led by Jean-François Racine. I was responsible for the racket area.
Archive photo, Didier Debusschere
team spirit
The magic was once again at full force. That of the team.
The response was even exaggerated (“It must taste like blood!”). Renowned athletes (our national team player Alex Harvey, Mayor Marchand) standing side by side with brave but less trained athletes. Waiting for minutes in the cold (you have to bring layers. Otherwise there are always two “Roule Hot” trailers).
There are also the crazy transitions where we have to remove the Velcro chip from one athlete's calf as quickly as possible in order to attach it to the calf of the other who is taking over. When it's your turn, you have wings! You give it your all, you go above and beyond to “not let the other members of the team down,” notes colleague Kathryne Lamontagne.
Next year
Once the challenge is met, in the big tent, over a well-deserved beer or two (and a chilli), we tell each other about our exploits, brilliant or not: “Damn, I did one lap too many!”. And we get started , to think about next year. “I will find a way to prepare better,” promises retired colleague Régys Caron, a respected skater.
Let's just hope there's enough snow…