Saving Ironman

COEUR d’ALENE — When the full Ironman in Coeur d’Alene ended its 15-year run in 2017, some people were glad to see it go.

Cynthia Rozyla and Britt Bachtel-Browning were not among them.

They thought it was a mistake and said so. With a “small group of crazy” people, they teamed up to bring it back, even taking to the streets at that last 2017 full Ironman CDA, with a megaphone, crying, “Save Ironman.”

Not all were amused.

“They laughed at us,” Bachtel-Browning said.

That was then.

The full Ironman CDA — 2.4-mile swim, 140.6-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run — is back, bigger and better than ever, set for June 27. It features a field of more than 3,000 registered athletes, one of the largest in event history.

“Look at us now,” a smiling Bachtel-Browning said during an interview with The Press. “We’ve come a long way.”

Both women were big fans of the full Ironman when it was held annually starting in 2003. It was so popular, in fact, a half Ironman, Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene, was added in 2016, held again in 2017, along with the full.

But that year, the city, the Coeur d'Alene Regional Chamber of Commerce and Ironman ended the contract for the full Ironman, blamed primarily on declining participation of both athletes and volunteers.

“This town at the time couldn’t support two races in a year,” Bachtel-Browning said.

In 2018 and 2019, only the half was held. It was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus.

A call for the full Ironman began growing louder.

Rozyla had formed the nonprofit North Idaho Sports Commission in 2015 and is its president.

When Bachtel-Browning learned in 2017 Ironman was moving on, she formed the grassroots “Save Ironman,” later changed to “Friends of Ironman."

They agreed to unite to try and bring back the full — and succeeded with a simple approach: A three-year cycle, the full the first year, then two halfs, and start over, all races in June.

Bachtel-Browning, today the commission's vice president, recalled writing a “heartfelt letter” outlining why Ironman should be in CDA.

That started the dialogue.

"Quite frankly, we just would't take no for an answer,” she said, smiling.

Ironman liked it. So did the city of CDA. Of course, the NISC did. The three put their names to a new three-year race pact in the Lake City.

No surprise to Rozyla and Bachtel-Browning. They said they put together an enthusiastic group that was determined to see the return of the full Ironman.

“It just kind of pushed new life into it,” she said.

Deal done, Rozyla and Bachtel-Browning are not relaxing. They can’t. They have way too much work still to do.

They’re responsible for raising $125,000 for Ironman as part of the contract. They are also responsible for registration for IronKids at 9 a.m. June 26 at McEuen Park, and for recruiting volunteers, too.

The commission is also recruiting volunteers for bike/crowd control around City Park for the full Ironman.

IronKids, sponsored by Idaho Central Credit Union, has a Toddler Dot Trot, a half-mile race for kids 3 to 8, and a mile for those 5 to 17. Cost is $20.

It attracted more than 500 kids in 2018 and organizers hope to repeat that this year.

“It’s important to the local community to have IronKids,” Rozyla said.

“It’s a really great opportunity to get the community involved,” said Bachtel-Browning.

Rozyla said that as race day draws near, people are more excited to have the full Ironman again. It will be an open race, as it currently stands, with the pros starting the swim at 5 a.m., followed by the women at 5:05, and the rest of the regular folks in a wave start at 5:35 a.m.

The long-range forecast is calling for sunshine and clear skies on June 27.

The commission is seeking donations, sponsorships, community partnerships and in-kind contributions. It's doing well, steadily raising money since the race was only officially said to be a go about eight weeks ago. That put them well behind schedule, but they're making up ground.

“We usually start planning and preparing right after the last one is over,” Rozyla said. “That was our original intent. With the pandemic and everything, we didn’t really have the go-ahead and businesses had suffered. It was a different kind of a year."

So they hit the ground running. They have about 25 community partners and about 60 sponsors already and more than 100 volunteers.

“The response has been good," Rozyla said.

The commission is involved in other events throughout the year. It is described on its website as "comprised entirely of volunteer community members who want to harness the power of sport to make our community even stronger.

"We love our community and seek to make it the premier destination for sporting events of all types, to see our economy flourish and benefit from sports tourism, and to see our region gain the national — and even international—media attention it deserves."

For now, it's putting its small but mighty resources behind Ironman.

Both Rozyla and Bachtel-Browning love the spirit of the event, the atmosphere, the cheering, the camaraderie, the competition.

“If people want to get involved and help, we would love it. We know there are people with skills out there and passion and we’re kind of red lining right now,” Bachtel-Browning said.

To register for IronKids: bit.ly/3iFLxJy

To volunteer: bit.ly/3xi8ruH

To reach the North Idaho Sports Commission: www.nisportscommission.org/ or 208-661-9713.