Somersault Sept 2026 Newsletter - Some Comic Relief
Some comic relief and some behind-the-scenes content about Somersault.
Happy Fall! 2026 was such a great season, and one that we’ll remember for a long time. We still have the 2026 Fall Colours Run to look forward to, but it’s already time to start thinking about what you’d like to do in 2027. 2027 will be here before we know it, and some races are already sold out! Below, you’ll find lots of updates and info, including some funny stories, a new local triathlon training program, and a quote from one of my favourite movies.  Some Comic Relief: Picnic Tables and Freezies At Somersault, we do our best to plan for every scenario. We thought it'd be fun to highlight two scenarios that we never saw coming. To quote Samuel L Jackson in the 2006 hit "Snakes On A Plane": You know all those goddamn security scenarios we ran? Well, I'm smack in the middle of one we didn't think of. Comic Relief: Picnic table Leading up to each race, we visit the race venue to do a site visit. We keep an eye out for unplanned construction, new hazards, and things like that. For Camp Tri 2025, we did 2 pre-race site visits, and the last one was only 5 days before the event. The day before the event, we showed up to set up the race and during our swim course set up, we found a picnic table about 10 inches below the water surface. At first, we thought that we could pull the table out, but it turns out that someone had poured concrete onto the table. We spent some time trying to figure out a way to pull it out with a truck, dig it out, or use brute force, but we ended up adjusting the swim course slightly to avoid the obstacle. Who would have though that we'd ever have to plan for THAT?  How to Freeze 1,200 Freezies For The Canadian 2026, we thought it would be fun to have Jumbo Freezies at the finish line, served by our good friends at Built To Perform. Freezing that many Freezies is harder than you might think and getting them to the race was even tougher. We started by buying 1,200 Freezies, so we were committed before we even had a plan. Once we bought them, we realized that our only freezer big enough to hold that many frozen treats was in our basement storage area, inside a crawlspace. Getting 1,200 Freezies down there was our first obstacle. Then came the freezing. We had to freeze them in batches, using cookie sheets. If you put that many Freezies into a freezer at once, the ones in the middle are so well insulated that they can take weeks to freeze. So, every morning and every night, I’d empty the frozen cookie sheets into the chest freezer and put new ones in their place. It took 20 days to freeze all 1,200 Freezies. On race week, we then had to unload everything from the freezer and put the Freezies back into their original boxes so we could get the freezer out of the crawlspace. When fully loaded, the freezer weighed nearly 500 pounds. We brought all the boxes back upstairs, loaded the freezer into our trailer, plugged it back in, and loaded everything again, hoping we hadn’t lost too much progress. On race day, we loaded 50 Freezies into our Somersault Ice Cream Bicycle and served them at the finish line, restocking as needed. In the end, we successfully handed out 1,100 Freezies. So, all things considered, we were pretty glad we bought enough! 
Back by popular demand is Triathlon 101. This is a 14-week program hosted at Carleton University and coached by Somersault's own Ben Cohen (True Trail Triathlon). It includes 3x in-person workouts each week, including swim coaching, with an indoor triathlon at the end. This program sold out quickly in winter '26. Graduates of this program have gone on to complete (and podium!) at the Early Bird triathlon, K-Town Tri, and The Canadian.  Last Call For Fall Colours Our annual Fall Colours Run is coming up on October 10th and 11th. This two-day event is going to be a blast and is jam-packed with fun features. It's already 80% sold out, so don't delay too long! Included in your registration is:
Saturday Perks:
Sunday Perks:
 In Case You Missed It:
Let's Keep in Touch: Stay connected with us! Follow us on social media to keep up with all the latest news, race updates, and fun content. Join us on Facebook and Instagram for insider updates, exciting announcements, and a behind-the-scenes look at our events. Or, visit our website to see what else we have in store for you! That’s all for now! The Somersault Team |