HIGH ACHIEVERS: Sheila Kealey becomes multiple champion in Ironman debut

By Martin Cleary

When all was said and done at the inaugural Ironman Canada Ottawa endurance challenge earlier this month, two champions in their 20s were hailed for their speed, grit and determination.

Toronto’s Luke Evans, a Carleton University graduate, was the men’s and overall winner in eight hours, 40 minutes, 22 seconds. Gatineau’s Aliisa Heiskanen, a graduate of the University of Ottawa, was the women’s champion in 9:32:46.

But there was actually a third notable race champion, who only learned about her accomplishment after the Ironman.

Ottawa’s Sheila Kealey, an endurance athlete, health promoter and head coach of the University of Ottawa nordic ski team, emerged as the Age-Graded Time winner.

When all the times of the 2,136 men’s and women’s Ironman finishers were collected and multiplied by a factor determined by Ironman for the specific age groups and gender, an intriguing category was created – the Age-Graded Time standings. The Age-Graded Time results can be found with the official results at http://www.sportstats.ca.

Ironman established a benchmark time, which was the average of the top 20 per cent of finishers in each age group over the past five years at the Ironman world championships.

This allows for a comparison of athletes’ performances across all age groups (which are every five years) and provides for the best equitable comparison of athletic efforts. Essentially, it’s a way of levelling the playing field and factoring in the natural performance decline because of aging.

Kealey not only finished her debut Ironman with a time of 11:07:30 for the 3.8-kilometre open-water swim, the 180-kilometre bike ride and the 42.195-kilometre run, but also she was surprised to land on top of the Age-Graded Time standings and was the fastest in the women’s 60-64 age group. She also was 27th overall in the women’s standings.

The Age-Graded Time results showed Kealey had an age and gender-adjusted clocking of 8:01:48, which was 15:34 better than runner-up Susan Arnold of Thornbury, ON, at 8:16:22.

“I was surprised, happy and hope it can be an inspiration,” Kealey said in a phone interview this week.

Kealey, 60, achieved so much in her first-ever Ironman. Completing the Herculean task is one thing, but she also won her age group, the Age-Graded Time category and added another huge achievement to her list of long-distance honours. She regularly finishes high in the overall standings at the annual Gatineau Loppet in cross-country skiing.

In her 40 years of swimming, cycling, running and cross-country skiing, Kealey has brought her talents together in triathlons and one half-Ironman, but never the full Ironman.

That was until it was announced more than a year ago that Ironman Canada was coming to Ottawa, after a lengthy stay in Penticton, B.C.

“It was fantastic that it would be in Ottawa. They would shut down all the roads and this should be an intense challenge,” said Kealey, who was instantly sold on the idea of making her Ironman debut in Ottawa. “I didn’t consider an Ironman until Ottawa was going to be the host.”

“They were shutting the city for the three sports I did. It intrigued me. I only had to do my planning and training. It took the uncertainty out by having it in our city. Ottawa would do a great job.”

Kealey, who trains 12 to 18 hours a week in the spring, summer and fall either cycling, running or swimming, devised her first Ironman game plan and it worked.

“The organizers did a spectacular job,” Kealey added. “There was so much cheering (throughout the courses). There were amazing volunteers. The loop courses through the city made for people cheering all the time.”

The loud, crowd encouragement was helpful to Kealey and all her multi-sport peers. When it was over, Kealey was overwhelmed.

“It was amazing, especially the (finishing) venue between the National Gallery and Major’s Hill Park. It’s something to finish. I was sure I could finish, but I was not sure I could finish,” added Kealey, who was welcomed by family members, neighbours and people she hadn’t seen in many years.

Being a high-performance nordic ski coach, a nutrition expert and a thoughtful athlete, she devised a solid strategy, which started in April after her ski season, and executed all the necessary training. The big plus was she has been familiar with all three sports for many, many years as she has made them part of her lifestyle.

Kealey swam three to four times a week with a masters-aged group at Carleton University. She also had open-water workouts at Britannia Beach, the start of the Ironman, and Mooney’s Bay beach.

Her cycling and running training also happened three to four times a week with varying distances and intensities.

On race day, all three aspects of the Ironman played out well for Kealey. By doing some swim training in open water, she wasn’t disturbed by some jostling or choppy water during the opening session of the Ironman.

But about halfway through the swim, she was one of a number of swimmers who discovered a shoal on the course. Her hand touched the bottom of the river and some athletes stood and walked until they could swim again. She finished the swim in 1:13:25.

Her 2.5-loop cycling experience through Ottawa streets and the downtown section was uplifting for Kealey. She drank plenty of nutrition drinks, ate a number of Rice Krispies squares to fuel her ride and paced herself well to save energy for the concluding marathon run.

“To have it on our home course, it was really special,” enthused Kealey, who completed the cycling in 5:39:44.

The 42.195-kilometre run was a pre-Ironman concern. She hadn’t run a marathon in 30 years.

“I did have my doubts,” she admitted. “I didn’t have a high run volume. But I dialed back on the bike to help with my run. The last event was the hottest event. I was surprised I felt good.”

Kealey finished the run in 4:01:33 for an official time, which included 12:15 for time travelling through the two transition zones, of 11:07:30.

“I coach endurance athletes and I was pretty thoughtful about how I trained and rested,” Kealey said about why she was able to have a memorable first Ironman. “The day of the event I paced myself and made sure I had enough nutrition and drinks.”

Kealey kept her moving forward with concentrated sport drinks, electrolyte drinks, maple syrup and water.