Imagine swimming 3.86 kilometres through chilly mountainous waters, cycling 180 km over coastal mountains and running 42 km in 30 C weather only to finish your 10-hour day with a sprint to the finish for a place on the podium.
That scenario was Canmore’s Karen Thibodeau’s nightmare, but it became a reality on July 26 at Ironman Canada in Whistler.
“I can’t imagine anything worse than coming to the line and having to sprint. The girl in third was so close to me. My body was so close to dropping … I had to push to stay ahead and still have energy to finish the race,” Thibodeau said.
The 34-year-old Canmore resident and pro triathlete did cross the line in a time of 9:51:35 to finish second, and the top Canadian in the race. Bree Wee won the race at 9:46:58, while Mackenzie Madison was in third (9:52:46). However, the top four women traded the lead several times over the tough course.
“It was a good battle. There was lots of back and forth, and that’s a new experience for me,” Thibodeau said.
Through calm waters on the 3.8-km swim, Thibodeau was the second woman out of the water with a time of 55:59, two and a half minutes behind Anna Cleaver of New Zealand. She caught Cleaver at kilometre 60 on the bike, and held onto her lead until kilometre 165, when Madison overtook her.
Heading into the run, Thibodeau was 30 seconds behind Madison and charging fast. She regained the lead, but by kilometre 22, Wee had made up more than two minutes on the run to draw even. Thibodeau dropped to second, then third with half the run to go.
With the crowd roaring around Whistler and the baking sun punishing runners, Thibodeau surged back into second place at the 10-km mark. She couldn’t shake Madison, and sprinted the final stretch to keep her at bay.
At the finish, the top four women collapsed and were loaded into wheelchairs and taken to the emergency room.
Days after, while recovering from the exhaustive experience, Thibodeau said it was the toughest and most exciting Ironman race she’s ever been in.
“With something that’s 10 hours long, you don’t usually have that type of race. It keeps you engaged and gets the crowd more excited. There’s more energy around it and it makes time go by quicker. But it also makes it more stressful as a race,” Thibodeau said.
“In an Ironman, there are usually stretches where you can disengage. But with this race, I was getting splits and calculating how fast I had to go, it’s a lot to be taking in. There was definitely good and bad.”
Thibodeau’s rise through the Ironman ranks has been swift. Growing up in the Maritimes, she was a competitive swimmer and qualified for Olympic Trials in the 200m backstroke and 400m individual medley and went on to medal at Canadian Nationals.
Looking for another challenge, she left sport to work as a mental health and addictions outreach nurse in Vancouver. In 2009, she moved to Spain and was introduced to cycling culture. She returned to Canada and was convinced to enter a triathlon in Oliver, B.C., which she won.
She applied for her pro card in 2012 and then competed in her first Ironman Canada event, then moved to Canmore. When she’s not training in Canmore, Tucson, Arizona or Hawaii, she works as a mental health nurse at the Children’s Hospital in Calgary.
Her next goal is to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii next season. The Whistler result has only motivated her to keep chasing her goals.
“The win is what you want. I tend to come in second a lot, and that keeps me hungry for that first place finish. In Whistler, it was such an epic day. I stayed tough through the race. That’s all I can ask for,” Thibodeau said.
She’s got another Ironman distance race in Penticton in three weeks time (Challenge Penticton), and she hopes her body is recovered for that race.
“I’ve never done two full distances so close together, so I’m getting to know myself. I’ve come in second on that course twice before. I know the race and I know how the body is responding. I’ll gauge what kind of effort I can put in and hope it’s all systems go,” Thibodeau said.
When she comes back to Canmore, she plans to relax with some long trail runs.
“I really enjoy trail running. It’s nice to have a break, but you never totally shut it down. My favourite thing to do is go for a long run in the mountains with no watch, no pace to worry about and just enjoy the outdoors,” Thibodeau said.
