(From left) Eric Healey, Devin Morrison, Ross Thompson, and Derritt Daigle take a break during a ride to admire a rainbow in the distance. Thompson, Daigle, and Terry Chaisson were training for the Subaru Canada Ironman in Penticton, B.C. this Sunday, but it has been cancelled. Photo courtesy of Eric Healey
Three local athletes have been training to take on the Subaru Canada Ironman competition in Penticton, B.C. scheduled for Aug. 27.
Unfortunately, mother nature has other plans, and the event is cancelled because of travel restrictions imposed due to fires in the area.
Ross Thompson, Derrit Daigle, and Terry Chaisson have been training together, and working hard to prepare for the endurance race of a lifetime.
Daigle said he was disappointed when he heard the news, but he understands.
“Sometimes you have to train lighter because of the air quality… or not at all because it’s really bad. Or indoors,” said Daigle.
The trio continues to train, despite the challenges they’ve faced throughout the past number of years.
“The three of us have been training together for about five years and two of the ironmans during COVID were cancelled. Last year we were able to finally do it together,” said Daigle, adding that they were able to defer their registrations for the Subaru Ironman Canada event over to 2024.
An Ironman competition is made up of three physically demanding events, done back-to-back. They swim first 4 km, cycle 180 km, then run a marathon of 42 km.
“Most of the challenge is on the run section, which is the last part. You know—you want to keep going and sometimes your body is a little reluctant to keep going,” said Thompson.
“One of the things that I always look at is … prior to a race or a competition I always look back at the training that I’ve done leading up to it. You fall back on that, like why would you want to quit after you’ve done all this training, right?”
Thompson said it’s very helpful to train alongside those with common goals.
“The three of us, we train together, probably 10 months a year. The three of us—we like to push each other, right? But we always have a beer together afterwards,” said Thompson.
Even though the Ironman competition was cancelled, they have another event to look forward to that’s closer to home.
“We’re also getting into the ultra-distance running, so anything over a marathon—between 50 and 100km,” said Thompson.
The Iron Horse 100 is being held out of St. Paul on the last weekend of September.
“So you run from basically St. Paul, around Elk Point and all the way back. That’s another thing we train for together—is long-distance running.
“I train six days a week, and then I take one day off for rest. Most of the week I train at noon. I’ll go for a swim at noon, and then I’ll run or bike at night,” said Thompson.
“The cycling is good. We’ve got a lot of really good roads here—a lot of good secondary highways with very little traffic on them, which is nice. We do a little bit of running out at Mount Joy and my favourite spot is in Vermilion at the provincial park.”
