Determined sailor conquers Whistler Ironman
[caption id="attachment_19381" align="alignnone" width="591"] Petty Officer First Class Kim Chaisson[/caption]Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~A sailor with Regional Cadets Support Unit Pacific gave herself a confidence boosting, early 50th birthday present by completing her first Ironman Race. It took Petty Officer First Class Kim Chaisson from dawn to dusk to complete the gruelling Ironman Canada course at Whistler on July 29 during in an energy-sapping heatwave. She finished near the bottom in a field of 1,191 racers but says she was proud of her perseverance to complete the race course that involves 3.8 kilometres of open-water swimming, 180 km of cycling and a 42 km of running. “When I crossed the finish line I thought to myself, I can’t believe it’s finished. I did it, it made me feel better than graduating college,” said PO1 Chaisson. “It was a great 50th birthday present to give to myself.”PO1 Chaisson finished in 1,148th place, with a time of 16:47:05. A range of emotions, from relief to jubilation, swept over her as she crossed the finish line in the darkness of late evening. “Conquering the course was an internal battle and a process because throughout the race my mind was constantly working to shut my body down,” said PO1 Chaisson. “As the race continued, I continually asked myself: Why are you doing this and can’t I just stop and walk for a little while?”At several points she did take a break to walk or get off her bike to rest and rehydrate at one of the designated rest stops, but says she was determined not to quit.“I was thinking to myself, how you are going to feel tomorrow if you don’t get this check in the box as one of your life’s accomplishments. I needed to get it done, so throughout the race I was...