VANCOUVER AUTO RACING CHAMPION CHRIS CUMMING TO SWITCH GEARS AND MAKE HIS IRONMAN DEBUT IN THIS WEEKEND'S IRONMAN CANADA

Vancouver, B.C. (August 25, 2009) – Vancouver's Chris Cumming is accustomed to winning races, but he's usually sitting down and going 150 mph when he does. This weekend's race will present an entirely new challenge as the 39 year-old portfolio manager leaves his #16 World Speed Motorsports race car in the garage and makes his Ironman debut in the 28th annual Ironman Canada.

Cumming, who was born in London, England on August 26, 1970 and turns 39 just a few days before Sunday's race, is the reigning champion in the Expert Series (drivers aged 30 – 44) of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. He's scored six in-class wins so far this season, driving 45-minute races in a field of 30 cars… but he'll have met his goal on Sunday if he can finish in the top-third of the 35 – 39 age class at an event expected to span 12 hours and attract 2,900 entrants.

"I don't know who invented the Ironman, but once I saw it on TV for the first time many years ago I just knew I had to give it a try some day," says Cumming, whose other interests include skiing, wind surfing, snowboarding, golf and aviation. "My athletic background is basically track and field in grade school and some cycling with friends, so when I decided a year ago to do this I was almost starting from scratch. I originally intended to give myself two years and enter in 2010, but once I got going with my training I accelerated my timetable because I figured it wasn't going to get any easier as I got older."

Cumming's training regimen for the past few months has included about 14 hours per week divided into seven hours of cycling, three and a half hours of running, two and a half hours of swimming and an hour of cross-training – a 'reasonably rounded' training program for an Ironman competitor of Cumming's age, but different from his auto racing fitness routine.
"Driving in a Star Mazda Championship race is mainly about upper body strength, using a small steering wheel to turn wide racing tires over a 45-minute event," says Cumming. "Ironman training is more about endurance with an emphasis on lower body strength, except for the swimming, which is also upper body, but a completely different set of muscles. And you need to balance it all out so you can keep up a high level of effort for twelve hours, which is about average for my age class. I've done all the training I can at this point and I'm in my taper phase getting ready to race. It’s going to be a tough day."

The Ironman Canada Triathlon began in 1983 with 23 participants and was won by Mike Wagstaff, a New Zealander living in Banff, Alberta, with a winning time of 10:41:51. The field expanded to 74 in 1984 and in 1985 the event grows to 131 athletes and gets its first title sponsor, Miller Lite Beer. By the 20th anniversary of the event, in 2002, the field has grown to more than 2,000 athletes and the event itself has become one of the premier triathalon events in the world.

The 2009 Ironman Canada begins with a 2.4-mile swim; competitors hit the water at 7 a.m., starting and finishing at Okanagan Lake Beach in Rotary Park. The first 14 km of the bike course heads South on Main Street then Lakeside Road and East Side Road, followed by a left turn onto McLean Creek Rd., the start of a significant climb of approximately 1 km, followed by a scenic winding road that leads through the Okanagan Falls countryside. The next 35 Kms are relatively flat through Oliver and Osoyoos, followed by a long, 11 km climb up to Richter Pass (elevation 2295 feet). From Keremeos (the 132-km point), the ride then follows a gradual uphill climb to the summit at Twin Lakes, and then a fast winding downhill ride to Highway 97 and north to Penticton.

The 26.2-mile run course for Ironman Canada is known for its scenic beauty. Runners start at Gyro, with a turnaround at Christie Beach. The finish is located on Lakeshore halfway between Winnipeg and Martin Street, with this final stretch will be lined with spectators and supporters to cheer the athletes in.

"Were it not for this event I'd be driving in the Star Mazda Championship race at the Grand Prix of Mosport this weekend. I’m sure there will be times during the Ironman that I would give anything to be at Mosport," says Cumming. "I've got a month to recover from the Ironman before the final two races of the 2009 season at Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. I'm excited about being able to participate in two extremely challenging forms of athletics in the same year and I'm planning on running the Ironman Canada again in 2010. I'm also looking at doing some endurance auto racing, like the Rolex 24 at Daytona."

Cumming, the 2008 Star Mazda Championship Expert Series champion, started racing at age 30 after attending a Skip Barber school at Laguna Seca. He spent the next four seasons racing in various karting classes and in 2006 moved into open-wheel racing in the regional Pro Formula Mazda series. In 2007, Cumming won the Star Mazda West Coast Championship and in 2008 he competed in the national Star Mazda Championship, winning the Expert Series (for drivers aged 30-44). He is currently second in the 2009 Expert Series championship battle behind Japanese racer Toshihiro Deki, but hopes to close the points gap in the final two races of the season.

About The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear
For 2009, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear (www.starmazda.com) will feature an 11-weekend, 13-race schedule on major race weekends with American Le Mans, Grand-Am, the Atlantic Championship, NASCAR Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series. Prize money is $1.5 million, including a fully-funded drive in the 2010 Atlantic Championship. Drivers 16 and older are welcome to compete and the Star Mazda Championship also features Expert (30 to 44) and Master (45 and older) classes for more mature racers. The Star Mazda Championship features standing starts, wheel-to-wheel racing at 150 mph and budgets a fraction of other top open-wheel ladder series. For drivers interested in competing in the series, detailed information is available at www.starmazda.com/newdriver.
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For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and its drivers, as well as the Mazda Motorsports ladder system, please visit www.starmazda.com and www.mazdausa.com. For information, interviews and photos, contact Star Mazda Communications Director Peter Frey at (818) 398-5733 or StarMazdaPR@aol.com.
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On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car.
For more information on the various Mazda spec series, visit:
www.atlantic-championship.com www.starmazda.com
www.skipbarber.com www.mx-5cup.com