Getting set to launch its ninth year in 2020, the Toronto Triathlon Festival continues to make massive fans and showcase everything we love about the sport. Registration has just opened for the TTF and Race Director, Jeff Chong, tells us what to expect in July. He also explains how the race came to be. There’s no easier race to access for Torontonians. That in itself is such a treat! While it is hard to quantify the value of getting to sleep in your own bed the night before a race, or being able to ride your bike to the start line, we all know those are huge perks. Riding on the DVP? That’s priceless!

Suzanne: How and why did you create this fan-favourite event in the first place?

Jeff Chong: I am a proud Torontonian and have been active in sports since I was a kid. So, when I left my career on Bay Street, I wanted to pursue a passion by starting a company immersed in sport business. And one of the first mandates we pursued was the establishment of a high profile endurance platform embedded in Toronto’s urban core.

We were able to convince City Council to provide us with access to portions of the downtown highways and that has become, predictably, one of the signature elements of the TTF. We had to dream big, as most dismissed us when we spoke of trying to secure such a unique course.

And in 2012, we kicked off the inaugural TTF, lucky to ride the halo effect that follows Olympic Champ, Simon Whitfield, wherever he goes. Fortuitously, he used the first TTF as his final warmup before the 2012 London Olympics. And he has remained a dedicated ambassador, and dare I say, friend, ever since.

On a personal level, I know how much I’ve gotten out of playing sports—at a higher level, when younger, and more recreationally as I’ve gotten older—and the opportunity to create a cool and unique athletic platform was, in our view, a challenge worth taking on. If we can expose triathlon as a sport to a new generation of athletes, then we are doing something right, right?

What makes this event so special?

JC: The easy answer here is: The Highways. But I think that doesn’t tell the whole story. As trite as this is going to sound, the triathlon community is a special one. So, to me, the athletes and the attitude they bring down to Ontario Place make the event special. We at the TTF create the venue and field of play, yes, but it’s the people—not just the athletes, mind you—so, I’m talking about the dedicated volunteers and the vocal supporters, who collectively create an unmistakably positive and cool vibe—and, if you’re willing to go with it, it can take you to some pretty cool personal places—you’re own Magic Moment, if you will.   

Many Team Atomica athletes have raced this event since its inception in 2011, what can they expect for the 9th running of the race?

JC: We have always thought of the TTF Weekend as a celebration of multisport. We attempt to bring people together in a celebration of healthy lifestyles. Stay tuned for updates in the New Year, as 2020 is the first year of the next phase of growing the TTF in this regard.

What do you love most about the race?

JC: There is a moment on the dock, right before the first wave of the Olympic Race goes off, that I cherish. It’s not that I’m doing anything special or specific, but it’s a quiet moment that I take for myself. To my left, the race director is about to sound the horn to kick things off. To my right, there might be a media person jostling for position. Behind me, a screaming family member, supporting her husband. In front of me, 75 athletes getting ready to blast off with their first stroke. Above me, hundreds of spectators lining the Ontario Place bridges overhanging the swim start. It’s an orchestrated chaos. But for some reason it just gets really quiet for me. Of course, then the horn goes off, and the stress of putting on a race of the size, hits. But that prior moment is one that gets me every year. It never gets old. I love it.

 

What’s the hardest part of putting on an event like this from an organizational perspective?

JC: As we all know, Toronto is a crowded place—lots of people, lots of cars. And it seems, everyone is in a rush to get there. (Where is “there” I sometimes wonder? But I digress.) We take the partial closing of public assets like the highways seriously and we understand the strain it can put on an already congested downtown core. So, I’d say coordination of the myriad of elements that go into staging the TTF is the hardest thing—liaising with multiple City of Toronto departments, the police, EMS, parks staff and transportation officials is, at times, a high wire dance. But it’s all worth it. Hopefully the athletes don’t think about these things at all and they just enjoy their TTF race experience. If they have, then, I guess we’ve done our jobs.

 

REGISTRATION FOR THE 2020 TTF HAS JUST OPENED!  Sign up and mark your calendars for this fantastic event! Register before Jan 1, 2020 and save big.