McMahon Canada’s Ironman
Brent McMahon of Victoria fulfilled a lifetime ambition by winning Ironman Canada on Sunday in Whistler.
“I’ve had some pretty special wins in my career, but being Canadian, it’s truly special to win this race,” he said.
McMahon recalled that Ironman Canada, when it was held annually in Penticton, being the first Ironman race he saw live as a fan. That moment never left him.
“Later, I saw my friends [fellow-Victoria triathletes] Peter Reid and Jasper Blake both win Ironman Canada,” he added. It was on his bucket list. On Sunday, McMahon delivered, winning Ironman Canada in his first attempt at the race: “It is so great to be one of those Canadians who has won Ironman Canada.”
McMahon hopes it sets him up well for the one other big race title that has so far eluded him — the Ironman Hawaii world championship in Kona. His latest setback at Ironman Hawaii came last fall when No. 3-ranked McMahon was stung by a box jellyfish in the swim portion and had to abandon the race.
“[Three-time Ironman Hawaiichampion Reid] used to race Ironman Canada before winning in Kona, so I will use that as confidence and goal-setting as I look to Kona in October,” said McMahon.
Two-time Olympian McMahon went from the shorter Olympic distance at the 2004 Athens and 2012 London Summer Games to transition successfully as a major world racer in the longer Ironman races.
The two-time Pan American Games medallist set the course record in winning Ironman Lake Placid in New York state last year in 8:14:04 and recorded the thirdfastest all-time Ironman, clocking 7:46:10, in 2016 in Brazil. The 37-year-old Islander also holds the course record for Ironman Arizona.
McMahon elevates Sunday’s victory in Ironman Canada up to any of those he has previously won.
“To be able to share it all on home-country soil, with so many family and friends cheering me on and seeing me in best form, is something I will always remember,” he said.
It more than makes up for the disappointment of not winning his hometown Ironman Victoria 70.3 (half-Iron distance in miles) in June at Elk Lake as Marko Albert of Estonia took the win.
McMahon was determined Sunday in Whistler as he completed the Ironman distance of a 3.86K swim, 180K cycle race and full 42.2K marathon run in eight hours, 31 minutes, 33 seconds over a very challenging mountain course on a hot day. Fellow Canadian Jeff Symonds was second in 8:40:27 and American Matt Russell third in 8:45:33.
McMahon has one more race before Ironman Hawaii. He hops a plane at YVR for the Asia-Pacific Ironman 70.3 this weekend in Cebu, Philippines.
“You want to do it right away because your body is not yet in full recovery and showdown mode,” said McMahon, about the quick back-to-back racing.