lake placid events

LAKE PLACID EVENTS

Lake Placid, New York is known by most as the home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics, however, the Olympics are not the only things that goes on in this remote little mountain town. There are various events that go on throughout the year that bring in people from all parts of the world. Lake Placid is well known in the US, Canada and around the world for hosting international athletic events. People enjoy Lake Placid and return year after year. These events and the people who participate in them make the town an exciting and interesting place to live and visit. A few of the well known and popular events are the Iron Man, the Lake Placid Horse Show and Can/Am Hockey.

THE LAKE PLACID IRON MAN
The Lake Placid Iron Man is a very well known triathlon. It is part of a series of Iron Man triathlons that are held around the US. It is held every year in Late July. It consists of a 2.4-mile swim; a 112-mile bike course and a 26.2-mile run through the Adirondack Park. It has around 2,000 to 3,000 competitors each year.

Athletes train year round for the Iron Man. There are athletes training in Lake Placid throughout the warm and sunny part of the year. The swimming portion of the triathlon starts at the Mirror Lake Beach, the bike portion starts in Lake Placid and goes through Keene and Wilmington and back to Lake Placid and then is repeated a second time.
The running portion starts at the speed skating oval and ends at the oval after the 26.2 mile run around different areas of Lake Placid. On the day of the race there are people struggling through each section of the course from early morning until as late as twelve o’clock, midnight.

The competitors are usually wealthy white men and women ranging in age from 18 to 75 years old or older. The Iron Man brings a great number of athletes, their friends and families and spectators to Lake Placid.
Generally, during the week of the Iron Man all the local motels, hotels and rentals are booked at full capacity.
Local residents of Lake Placid and the surrounding towns who work in town are often very opinionated about the Iron Man. Coleman Lieb, who has spent his summers working at Placid Planet, a local bike shop, and the Crown Plaza Resort has developed his own opinions.

“I enjoyed it at Placid Planet during Iron Man week” he begins, “we were given food from local restaurants so we had free pizza and sandwiches from Simply Gourmet”. However, he adds, “we were very busy at the shop and I thought the customers were sometimes lacking in patience and were disrespectful to our staff and technicians.

He continued, “At the Crown it was almost a normal week. I just made more money in tips because the families had more luggage than usual so I had to carry a lot of luggage and they appreciated the help and tipped well”. He then added, “Occasionally they were difficult to deal with, but for the most part they were easier to deal with than at the Placid Planet”.

The Iron Man is a huge economic benefit to Lake Placid because it attracts so many competitors, their families and friends and spectators who do not hesitate to take out their gold or platinum cards at fancy local restaurants and shops.



THE LAKE PLACID HORSE SHOW

The Lake Placid Horse show is a very popular event in the equestrian world. It attracts competitors ranging from young beginner pony riders all the way up to some of the best riders in the world who compete on some of the best horses in the world. Some of the competitors are on the US Equestrian Olympic team.
Kara Kaufman, a participant in the Lake Placid Horse Show offered her opinion.

“Lake Placid is my favorite horse show,” Kaufman began, “not only do I love the show itself, but I love the town too. At a lot of the horse shows, there is nothing to do outside of the show, but in Lake Placid there are a million things to do and see. It’s perfect for parents who want to come watch their kids in the show, but do not want to be bored in a hotel for the rest of the day”.

The show goes on for two weeks and is held at the end of June and the beginning of July. Competitors compete in various classes for cash prizes and ribbons in each class. The competitors are wealthy upper class Caucasians.

The horse show is a huge help in keeping the towns economy booming since it attracts such a wealthy group of people. The people involved generally have enough money to make doctors and lawyers look poor and they do not hesitate to spend their bankrolls of cash in town.

During the day, the town is pretty quiet since the show is going on, but at night the town is booming with adults going out to dinner and to the bars and the younger horse show kids strutting around town trying to find something to do.

However, many locals don’t enjoy the horse show as much as the participants.

“I hate it.” Stated local waiter Erik Obey. “I feel like I have to make sandwiches non-stop”.

THE CANADIAN AMERICAN (CAN-AM) HOCKEY LEAGUE

The Can-Am hockey league is something that goes on throughout the year. Hockey teams of all ages (generally younger hockey players) come to Lake Placid from around the eastern U.S. and Canada to compete against other teams at the hockey rinks in town, including the Olympic Arena.

There are Can-Am camps during the summer and tournaments throughout the year. When Can-Am is in Lake Placid it is hard not to notice them; there are groups of kids running around town in matching jackets and tracksuits, usually causing a ruckus. The adults always seem to be intoxicated or on thier way towards it.

Although the Can-Am people are generally obnoxious and rowdy, having the “New Jersians” and “Canooks” come to town is very beneficial to the town’s economy since they buy all the local booze and rubber band guns.

Since the 1980 Olympics, Lake Placid has been a very busy town, not only with tourist coming to relive the “miracle on ice”, the US Hockey Team Gold Medal game, or Eric Heiden’s five gold medals.

People come from all over to jump horses, race triathlons, play hockey and participate in many other healthy outdoor athletic activities. Events go on throughout the year that are very beneficial to the town, its businesses and residents. They bring in a great deal of diversity and contribute to the local sporting communities efforts to hold competitions and promote Lake Placid.