Dr. James Irvine has been training for months for the Ironman event. (Submitted photo/James Irvine)

By Derek Cornet

milestone

Irvine selected for Ironman World Championship

Mar 8, 2022 | 12:26 PM

A La Ronge resident is training hard after being selected for the 2021 Ironman World Championship in Utah.

Dr. James Irvine, who is no stranger to high intensity competition, found out one week ago he was selected for the championship on May 7.

“For this year, you didn’t have to win first place in my age group. You had to rank in the top of the world based on the events you were in,” Irvine said. “Most times for my age group, you’d have to place in one sanctioned event. You’d have to place usually in the top position whereas this year because of COVID, a lot of events didn’t occur.”

The 2021 Ironman World Championship was initially going to happen last October in Hawaii, but it was later cancelled due to the high number of COVID infections in that state. When Irvine learned he would qualify for it, he had already been in the process of training for a half-marathon Ironman event this spring in Victoria.

Those who select who makes it to the world championship in Utah determined Irvine fit the criteria as he is within the top seven per cent in the world for his age category.

Freedom and Flexibility

How App-Based Work Creates Economic Opportunity

Dec 12, 2025

Riderville

Now for the Hard Part

Dec 10, 2025

Seniors Scene

Christmas is Coming

Dec 09, 2025

“There are certainly times in the year that after a big event, I take a rest period after that, but I am still trying to be physically active,” Irvine said. “The heavy training I end up doing about nine months leading up to one of these full Ironman events, so all winter long doing running, biking, fat biking, snowshoeing, skiing, to just try to keep physically fit. I try to do some weightlifting.”

In 2018, Irvine was featured on NBC program along with nine other people who were hoping to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. A film crew travelled to La Ronge to follow Irvine’s journey, as well as at an Ironman event in British Columbia.

Irvine explained there won’t be as much media attention this time around, but he is still training hard to do the best he can this May. He said the terrain in Utah has more hills than Hawaii, which will make the biking and running portions more difficult. Irvine will compete a 3.8 kilometre swim, a 180-kilometre bike ride and then a 42-kilometre run.

“Jeff (his son) is coming to the event to be my coach, assistant and cheerleader,” Irvine said. “It will be great to have him there.”

–

derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno