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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1514012
SOCIAL CUES LIKES FOR THE LODGE Nestled along the river (and with a gorgeous mountain backdrop), the Fraser River Lodge embraces its remote digs in Agassiz—but the marketing team reaches out to potential visitors with jaw-dropping videos by Alyssa Hirose " I don't think there's a harder one-day sport than Ironman. At the peak of training, you're hit- ting about 25 hours a week." 5 a.m., biking into work from Coquitlam, swimming or run- ning during lunch, biking back home (at elevation) and then doing strength training. By the time Ironman Whis- tler came around in 2014, Weir was ready. "Everything was perfect," he says, referring to the weather, course and crowd. He placed 56th out of 219 in the 45-49 age division and found himself getting emotional about it: "I couldn't believe how far I had come, and I wanted more." But the following year in Whistler was the worst. "It was super cold," he recalls. "I remember riding on the bike thinking, I'm pretty sure I've got hypothermia here. I was just shivering uncontrollably." But with friends and family watch- ing, he pushed to the finish line, and then some. Over the next few years, Weir completed four out of the six World Marathon Majors (with Tokyo and Berlin still on the horizon), and three more Ironmans. His favourite was Austria in 2017. "The bike ride was through the foothills of the Alps," he says. "Lots of trees, snow-capped mountains with sharp peaks. I don't think I've swum in such clear, natural water since. And the support was spectacular; it felt, in stages, like you were doing the Tour de France, where people lined up by the side of you, cheering you on from ve- randas and bars." He ranked 71st out of 338 in the 50-54 division, and 902nd out of 2,869 overall. It's hard, but "you get a huge buzz out of it," he contends. With three grown kids and a grandchild, Weir is de- termined to stay fit—and he hopes to one day hold the record for the oldest person to ever complete an Ironman. "I want to be around for as long as possible, and I want to be as healthy as long as possible," he says. "If it wasn't for the Adera challenge, God knows where my health would be right now." View Finder On Instagram, aesthet- ics are everything, and the Fraser River Lodge knows it: a simple sweep- ing drone shot of the mountains can be just as engaging as a painstak- ingly edited video. 8.9k plays 587 likes Aisle Be There The lodge's entire TikTok is devoted to weddings— the company has found its niche in that lucrative space, and wedding-relat- ed videos often perform well (as users tend to save content that they might find useful later). 73.8k plays 8,574 likes It Takes Two This Instagram collab post was made in part- nership with a creator— Madison Sinclair—who has 104k followers and counting. This broadened the lodge's social reach by exposing the venue to that audience (with viral results). 189k plays 11.5k likes 56 BC BU S I N E S S .C A F E B R U A R Y 2 0 24