Iron Man to attempt daily half triathlons for month
Chemo patient to show cancer not a death sentence
Imagine swimming flat out for two kilometres, followed by a 90-kilometre bike ride and then running a half-marathon of 21 kilometres.
Imagine doing it every day for a month.
Even the fittest of athletes would likely shake their heads at such a challenge. Malcolm Stinson is attempting to do it at age 57 while on chemotherapy for cancer.
“I’m not really trying to prove something to myself,” said the Edmonton-area construction company owner. “I’m trying to show that you can have cancer and it’s not a death sentence.”
The goal of 30 half-ironman races in 30 days is also an opportunity to raise money in the fight against myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells found in the bone marrow.
It’s a disease that typically doesn’t show up until patients are in their mid-60s or older, so Stinson’s diagnosis at age 49 came as a shock.
A man who had been a high performing athlete in ball hockey, BMX biking, triathlon and other sports — essentially an embodiment of health and fitness — suddenly appeared to be facing a future of physical decline and death.
“I started reading all this stuff on the Internet, stuff that said I had only two years to live, and so on,” he said. “That gave me even more incentive to become super fit.”
Stinson said he managed to keep the cancer at bay for seven years, before he suffered a setback to his health last fall.
That problem was eventually corrected and the cancer again went into remission, but the scare caused Stinson to think about making a major statement to repay all the help he had received.
Friends and family were supportive, until Stinson told them the idea he had in mind for doing a daily half-ironman — slightly longer than the distance between Edmonton and Ponoka — for an entire month. Stinson said he is not aware anyone else in Canada has ever attempted it, and certainly no one on chemotherapy.
“Everybody tried to talk me out of it … or suggest I do a (shorter) distance,” he said. “I wanted to do something that would challenge not just what other people think is beyond, but something I think is pretty tough.”
Tough might be an understatement.
Triathlon training buddy Gordon Bertie said his friend will have to be careful to moderate his pace and to remember the goal is completing the distance rather than setting good times. “If it was anyone but Malcolm I’d say this whole thing was crazy. But he’s tougher than nails,” Bertie said.
Those interested in his progress can follow along online at livingtotri.ca, which offers a venue to donate to Myeloma Canada. Bertie said Stinson’s friends are hoping to recruit some volunteers to help him get through the races.