Looking Back at 2024: Thoughts and Pictures from a Huge Year of Racing Part 1

Matt Burton hugs his son after winning the IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

For most of the last 30 years I have been at a lot of races in my capacity as a journalist, photographer and race announcer, but 2024 will go down as one of the most memorable, without a doubt. It marked my first Olympics as a journalist, which was certainly a highlight, but there were a lot of other notable events that made the year special. As we wrap up our 2024 recaps, I figured I would share some photos and stories that were particularly poignant for me. I’ll break the year up into three sections – this first story will look at the first half of the year, the second will focus on a busy summer, and the third will look back at a crazy-busy fall.

Here we go:

Clash Miami

Ben Kanute finishes the bike during T100 Miami. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Even race-director extraordinaire Andre Lapar had to admit that the Clash Miami weekend involved almost too much racing. There was a World Triathlon Americas Cup race, the T100 race, all the Clash events (sprint, kids, long-distance tri, etc.) and the Redline Relay bike race. I was on deck as the lead announcer for all the races other than the T100, but I kept myself busy that day with my camera, covering the event for Triathlon Magazine.

One of the highlights of the weekend was a great interview I did with American Olympic medalist Katie Zaferes, who was in the midst of a spirited bid to earn a spot on the competitive American Olympic team after becoming a mom in 2022. (I have no shots of the Americas Cup race – I was busy on the mic that day!) I also got to do a bunch of interviews for Credo Tri, including fun chats with Ben Kanute (hence the photo above.)

UCI Track Nations Cup

My son was part of the national cycling team for many years, so I’ve been shooting cycling events for a number of years. We were really lucky to have many of the world’s top cyclists competing in Milton, just 30 mins drive from my house, as they competed for valuable Olympic qualifying points. While the American team (pictured above), would end up sixth in Milton, they would take gold in Paris a few months later.

IRONMAN Lanzarote

Anne Haug on her way to breaking Paula Newby-Fraser’s course record at IRONMAN Lanzarote. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands just off the coast of Africa. I’ve been going to the island since 1998. This year was a special one for the IRONMAN, as Anne Haug put together one of the most incredible races I have ever seen. Haug’s 9:06:40 topped Newby-Fraser’s 1995 course record of 9:24:39. Haug ran a 2:49:08 marathon after completing one of the world’s toughest bike courses, finishing 14th overall. Only two men ran faster than she did on race day.

Rosie Wild. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

As amazing as Haug’s performance was that day, another highlight for me was getting to meet Rosie Wild. She raced in Lanzarote as a pro triathlete and qualified for Nice thanks to a fourth-place finish. Wild is the first woman to have passed the British Armed Forces gruelling Parachute Regiment’s selection test. The woman is literally a real-life version of GI Jane, and has proven to be every bit as tough as a triathlete. You can read my feature story on Wild here.

Photo supplied by Rosie Wild.

Escape from Alcatraz

Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

I am almost embarrassed to admit that despite having been in the sport for as long as I have, until last year I’d never been to one of the sport’s most iconic events. In addition to covering the T100 race, I got to support a couple of athletes I coach and take in the race. It truly is a bucket-list event.

IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns

Matt Burton wins in Cairns. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Hannah Berry wins in Cairns. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

I’ll definitely get a “destination” story up on IRONMAN Cairns over the next little bit, but my second trip to the event offered another chance to check out the Great Barrier Reef, but also a chance to watch one of the year’s most inspiring races. I used the picture of Matt Burton hugging his son after his win in Cairns as the feature photo for this story because his was a truly incredible story.

Four months before, just months after winning IRONMAN Western Australia in 2023, Burton went in for surgery for a deep bone infection in his foot. As he was put under for a third surgery in February, Burton was told that he might wake up without a foot if they didn’t think they could clean out the infection.

Suffice it to say that the surgery was a success, and Burton bounced back. It wasn’t easy, though.

“Then it was the slow crawl back where every day was the PB,” he said after the race. “When you have 10 weeks off, you start from zero. You’ve got no fitness. But the beauty is muscle memory. Ohh. Muscle does remember, and it just took ten weeks to remember before I really started to feel a little bit more myself. And then I decided to come here (two Cairns) two weeks earlier and it was the best decision in my life.” 

You think?

Canadian National Track and Field Championships

Mohammed Ahmed on his way to the win in the 5000 m at the 2024 Track and Field Olympic Trials. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

While my first “serious” sport was tennis, I ran through university, so track has always been close to my heart. When I had the chance to shoot some of the nationals in Montreal at the end of June, I jumped at it. The highlight was watching Mo Ahmed run 13:10:99 to win the 5,000 m. It’s the fastest 5,000 m race I have ever watched in person. Ahmed would finish a heartbreaking fourth in the 10,000 m in Paris, and would fall in the qualifying rounds for the 5,000.

World Triathlon Para Series Montreal

Canadian Leanne Taylor. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

After shooting this event, the final Paralympic qualifier, I was truly regretting not having sought accreditation for the Paralympics in Paris last summer. While the day was very rainy, it was one of the most inspiring race days of the year for me.

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