my ironman story

This story starts about 35 years ago, but first I want to express my gratitude and love for my wife Monique for supporting me on this long time goal. I could say so much more about her but I’ll keep it focused on Ironman for this story. This was her 14th or so Ironman and she only did it for me and now that I’ve done one I can see what an incredible commitment that is. Thank you baby because without you this would have never happened.

For the backstory, I grew up in a little town in the Kootenays called Trail. Triathlon was not a thing there and Ironman was barely a thing at all at that point. It was mostly about skiing, and mountain biking was just starting in the Kootenays. In about 1985 I was 16 and my Mom came into my room bringing me a newspaper article from the Trail Times about a guy called Gerald Klassen, he owned a local bike shop in Trail that still exists today. The article was about him finishing Ironman Canada in Penticton and of course it had all the crazy distances in the article. My Mom said maybe one day you would like to do this. Since then it has been in the back of my mind and a goal of mine.

My goal for this race was twofold; first to actually finish and second was to not walk the run; I was ok with some walking. To do this I figured I would have to be under 15 hours. Based on my rough math I thought I could get it done between 14 and 15 hours. In the end I was pretty close at 14:34.

So the race: The swim was fine, someone pushed me and I ran into someone and sighting was hard especially at the end when I was looking into the sun. I got out of the water, looked at my watch with a time of 1:36, which sort of shocked me as I’m a crap swimmer. I still don’t know how that happened.

On the bike I knew I would have to be disciplined as it’s my strongest of the three and I could hammer it. I wanted to not destroy my legs so I could run the run so I rode pretty easily to Osoyoos but those damn gels (which make me want to puke thinking about them now) were not sitting well. I stopped at the aid station in Keremeos and had a banana, my favourite training nutrition, and within a few minutes I was back on track. I kept it pretty easy till the Twin lakes turn off.

On a pre race reconnaissance drive of that Twin Lakes out and back section I knew I would like it: hilly and twisty. I was looking forward to this section so I opened it up a bit there and had tons of fun. That Trek Speed Concept can rip on the flats and descents when in aero. Not so much on the climbs but it felt great to get out of the saddle by the golf course up a short steep pitch. The rest of the way into town was quick and smooth although from Skaha back to T2 was a bit uphill which felt tougher than I thought it should.

I walked the first hill up past the Bench which a lot of people did. The 10km out and back was ok, some walking, some running and getting my legs ready for the run. The run was ok, better than I thought really. The hardest for me was at about 23 to 33 km. I kept thinking, holy crap I have so far to go. The last 10k were the best, which is weird. I thought to my self: 10k - Ive done that a thousand times, this is not a problem.

The finish, well words can’t really describe that. I was actually happy to finish after dark as the lightshow and the noise from the crowd was so amazing. I drifted from side to side down the chute giving everyone I could high 5s. That was the most amazing experience and having Monique waiting at the finish line and see me coming down the chute was very special. A memory I will never forget.

So with that I want to really express my gratitude for my Human Powered Racing teammates who have supported me to achieve this goal and especially to Mike Neill for his awesome and often humorous coaching. I am very grateful to have all of you in my life!

My Mom passed away about 17 years ago and so she never got to see me finish an Ironman. So with that I dedicate this Ironman to two women in my life, my wife Monique and my Mom. I hope my Mom saw me finish too.

Finally, and once again, a huge thank you to Monique for making this dream come true.