Even with all the trendy ultra- and long-distance races added seemingly weekly to the sporting calendar, the Ironman Hawaii world championship remains the revered granddaddy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 intoxicating. You catch the bug. It鈥檚 got that something,鈥� says Brent McMahon of Victoria, one of two Canadians who will contest the elite men鈥檚 division Saturday in Kona.
The sa国际传媒 capital, of course, has a significant history at Ironman Hawaii with Peter Reid winning the men鈥檚 title in 2003, 2000 and 1998 and being runner-up three times, and Lori Bowden the women鈥檚 champion in 2003 and 1999 and runner-up four times.
McMahon has proven a worthy heir to that legacy since the two-time Olympian, and two-time Pan Am Games-medallist, switched from the shorter triathlon distance to the Ironman distance.
An Ironman consists of a 3.8K open-water swim, 180.2K bike race and 42.2K run. McMahon destroyed the course record in winning Ironman Lake Placid in New York state in July in eight hours, 14 minutes four seconds. The Islander recorded the third-fastest all-time Ironman clocking of 7:46:10 in 2016 in Brazil and also holds the course record for Ironman Arizona.
McMahon, who was ninth in the 2015 Ironman Hawaii, went into last year鈥檚 Ironman Hawaii ranked No. 3 but his body seized up in the run portion and he faded to 30th spot. The lean but sinewy 37-year-old has clearly been biting around the edges, and feels he is ready to take that next step to claim the greatest prize in Ironman.
鈥淢y goal is to win,鈥� said McMahon.
鈥淚 was third out of the water last year. My aim is to stay near the front and swim with the front group. If my run is consistent, I should be right there.鈥�
Yet it鈥檚 been a hard road just to get to Kona this time after McMahon required surgery for a detached ligament in his thumb after falling on slippery pavement while racing in Australia earlier this year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a tough year . . . that injury put me on my heels for most of the season,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut I regrouped at Lake Placid and now have had a strong lead-up to Kona. All the work is done. Now it鈥檚 time to race.鈥�
The other Canadian entered in the elite men鈥檚 race is Lionel Sanders of Harrow, Ont., who was 14th at Kona in 2015. There are no Canadians in the elite women鈥檚 field.
The two-time defending Ironman Hawaii champion is Jan Frodeno of Germany, who went from edging Simon Whitfield of Victoria for gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, to becoming a star in the longer distances.
