Dr. James Irvine was in Utah for the Ironman World Championship. (FinisherPix)

By Derek Cornet

achievement

Irvine completes goal of competing in Ironman World Championship

May 26, 2022 | 2:14 PM

La Ronge’s Dr. James Irvine has returned to Canada after achieving his goal of competing in the 2021 Ironman World Championship in Utah.

The high intensity event, which occurred May 7, included a 3.8-kilometre swim, a 180-km bike ride and then a 42-km run through a picturesque region of the state featuring red rock canyons, mountains and a desert. Irvine was required to complete the course in about 17 hours, but ultimately wasn’t able to finish the running portion before time ran out.

He completed the entire swimming and biking portion, as well as 32 km of the run.

“I didn’t quite finish it, but my goal was to be able to someday attend that world championship and be at the start line, so I didn’t finish it but I was certainly pleased to be able to attend,” Irvine said. “It would have been nice to finish it, but that will be another day.”

Irvine arrived in Utah his wife, Trudy, and son, Jeff, about five days before the event to familiarize himself with the course. Aside from dealing with hot temperatures, there were sections of the course through hilly areas that Irvine struggled with. He explained while he was able to bike up hill confidently, he didn’t feel comfortable on the way down and didn’t allow himself to go fast.

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In his age group, 29 people competed but only four finished.

“I was sort of notified only eight or 10 weeks before the race that I qualified for it, so I wasn’t in quite the same conditioning I usually would be,” Irvine said.

Dr. James Irvine completing the swimming portion of the event. (Submitted photo/James Irvine)

Although he wasn’t able to finish the championship, Irvine noted it was a good family trip in what he described as a beautiful area of the United States.

Irvine is also still training in hopes of competing in a second world championships. He mentioned the event was held outside of Hawaii for the first time ever due to concerns about COVID.

“I reached my goal…but it wasn’t Hawaii,” Irvine said. “It would be great to keep training and maybe make it to the Hawaiian Kona world championships some day.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno