Coeur d'Alene Welcomes Athletes, Visitors for Ironman - SWX Right Now-Sports for Spokane, CdA, Tri-Cities, WA

by Mike Perry, KHQ/SWX Reporter

The picturesque city of Coeur d'Alene, with a five year contract extension in-hand, are welcoming triathletes from all over the country Friday. The annual event is Sunday, and the city has transformed itself into a bonafide racing headquarters.

Ironman Village began popping up at City Park on Thursday. Rows and rows of bike racks are up, ready to hold the bicycles that athletes will ride after they finish the swim in Lake Coeur d'Alene. The water temperature, by the way, was just below 57-degrees on Thursday.

Also on display are the many tents put up by vendors who hope to sell their wares to the thousands of athletes and spectators who will unavoidably stroll past their tables this weekend. Some of them are local to the Inland Northwest. Many have already begun arriving from as far away as Washington, D.C. – and perhaps beyond.

"You arrive in the town and you see the place starting to buzz, so by Friday it will be completely electric here," said one visitor with a British accent.

Of course, Ironman Village doesn't work without a host of volunteers who gladly trade their time to help athletes young and old get to where they need to be.

"I'm so excited for all the athletes," said Pam Waco, one of the volunteers in purple t-shirts who has been an Ironman athlete in the past. "They've done all the work, they've done all the training. This is a celebration of all their training."

Andrew Spellman is in Coeur d'Alene to swim, bike and ride in his first Ironman.

"We're excited, we got into town yesterday [Wednesday]; it's finally starting to be real," said Spellman, from Seattle.

Spellman said the nerves hadn't set in yet, so he was enjoying the city and all it has to offer – from the town itself to Ironman Village.

"It's fantastic," he said. "You have all these other people who are doing the exact same thing you're doing – going through all the ups and downs of training, it's great."