Philip Aguirre can add Ironman to his list of achievements.
After years of training, he first completed the long-distance triathlon in Arizona in mid-November, .
"It was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be, one of the harder days I've ever had," said Aguirre, Old 性视界传媒 restaurateur and executive director of Newton Business Improvement Association (BIA).
"There were definitely some dark periods out there," he added. "I had a good five-minute period in one porta-potty that I didn't want to leave because it was a safe haven, but I turned my hat backwards and I got the job done.鈥� Overall it was great. I took my whole family down there (to Tempe, outside Phoenix), a great experience."
A gruelling, day-long Ironman race involves a 3.8-kilometre swim followed by 180 kilometres on a bike and 42K run.
Aguirre's good time in Arizona qualified him for one of eight spots at the next September.
Back in 2015, while recovering from a "broken" back, he set a goal to complete an Ironman race within five years, which eventually turned into 10.
"I had to go to a back specialist who told me that I probably couldn't run anymore, and that I should really just be focusing on more normal things," Aguirre recalled with a laugh. "I thought he was crazy and I was like, 'You know what, I'm gonna do the exact opposite.'
Back in the day, Aguirre ran for the University of Victoria, in cross country and indoor track and field. Running and being athletic was always a big part of his life, he says.
"I thought I needed five years (to train for Ironman), and so I planned to first do the Sun Run, then a sprint-distance triathlon, a marathon, half-Ironman and then an Ironman," Aguirre explained. "I did that, but COVID got in the way, so here we are 10 years later."
Until this past August was the site of Canada's only Ironman race, and Aguirre chose not to make it his first.
"It's really hilly, from Osoyoos all the way up the big hill to Keremeos, it's in the summer and it's a difficult course," he noted. "Ironman is a long day, and my wife was worried that I, you know, might not make it on a hard course like that. Arizona is a flat course, and it's held later in the year, November, when the temperatures aren't as hot. So strategically, I chose, in quotations, an 'easier' course to do my first."
Despite a busy life with BIA duties, the restaurant, coaching his kids' hockey teams and more, Aguirre found time to train and complete an Ironman race.
"I'm very proud of that," he said. "The best part is that I got to share it with my family, my kids, who came down to Arizona with me. You know, they got to watch dad punish himself for 12 hours straight. They were out there cheering me on, which was great because they never got to see my running career back in the day. I think I finished running at UVIC in 2002, somewhere in there. So you know, here's proof that dad can run and swim, bike, and that he's got some strength as well, just doesn't talk a big game, you know."
Another local BIA executive director, Elizabeth Model with the Downtown 性视界传媒 organization, has completed more than 100 Ironman races around the world, and in 2023 co-wrote a book about those adventures with husband John Wragg.
"She's always been an inspiration, for sure," Aguirre said. "We are definitely in the same field, our jobs are very similar, and her sharing her stories with me had definitely inspired me to continue on my path. Having someone like that encourage me was amazing."
This year Aguirre plans to do two half-Ironmans, in Victoria in May and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in July, to train for the Ironman in France. "After the race next September I don't have firm plans, it's one year at a time, we'll see how it goes."
