Ironman: Canadians hoping to answer challenge of sport’s biggest event

Two Canadians return to the world Ironman championship seeking to crack Kona’s code.

The Hawaiian birthplace of Ironman racing — a 3.86-kilometre ocean swim followed by an 180K bike ride and a 42K marathon — continues to be the Super Bowl of the sport almost 40 years after the first race in 1978.

Victoria’s Brent McMahon and Lionel Sanders of Harrow, Ont., will compete in the world championship a third straight year Saturday.

The Canadians own half a dozen Ironman victories between them. They’ve also raced under the exalted eight-hour barrier during their careers.

Each man hopes his race plan is the right one to finally conquer the variable heat and fickle crosswinds of Kona.

“You have to figure out how you work in that race,” McMahon said. “Once you do, it’s much easier to repeat.”

He points to defending champion Jan Frodeno of Germany, who finished third in 2014 and won the next two world titles, as an example of a triathlete who solved the physical and mental puzzle that is Kona.

McMahon won Ironman Lake Placid in July and set a new course record of eight hours 14 minutes four seconds.

Sanders claimed the ITU world long-distance title in August in a race shorter than an Ironman — a 3k swim, 120k bike and 30k run.

The world championship prize purse is $650,000 (U.S.) split between the top 10 finishers in the men’s and women’s races. No Canadian women are entered in the pro field Saturday.

The last Canadian man and woman to world Ironman championships were Peter Reid and Lori Bowden in 2003.

After finishing ninth in 2015, McMahon ranked third in the world heading to Kona in 2016.