Ironman 2007

Stretching our legs in Merrit on the way to Penticton. We stopped at the rest stop which we now do on all trips to give Evan a little break.

The Swim. Controlled chaos as 2500 swimmers all going at one time.

The Bike. Dave never seemed to be in his aero position for pictures but still rode pretty quickly.


The Waiting in Between. We were waiting at the Bear Market in Keromeos for Dave to come by. Great food, fresh fruit and a bathroom make this a great spot to watch the race.



Trying to keep Evan entertained while waiting for Dave to go by. Turns out we missed him...he was too fast.



Part of our cheering squad. Evan was cheering for a lot of the racers trying to perfect his form for when Dave ran past.

The Run. This is the last part of the run where they are cruel and make you turn left at the finish line and run the last mile on an out and back so that everyone can see you. What they forget is that everyone at this point looks like crap and just wants to finish after a long day.



Dave was featured in the local paper and I thought that I would write in after the race to let them know how Dave did and what it was like to follow him during his Ironman.

Editor:

I am writing in regards to your article on Dave Selvage and his Ironman race on Aug. 26 (The long road to recovery).

I drove to Penticton to follow, cheer and encourage Dave and to make sure he had a friendly face at certain parts on the course that I know from experience are tough.

Going back in time a bit, I remember Dave chasing a chance to get a spot in Ironman Canada back in 2006. He put down his money for the race and, within a very short time, his dream was cut from him on the operating-room table.

Living three doors down at the time, I remember going over to see Dave and him having a hard time just walking from the living room to the kitchen. I also remember his first walk outside, down to my home and back. Keep in mind after his surgery was not that far, in a townhouse complex – and this wiped him out for the day.

Dave wanted to go from walking to doing his first Ironman in just under a year, and he told us he would be happy with 12-13 hours.

Fast-forward to last Sunday, and Dave has come out of the water about eight minutes ahead of where he thought he would be. We are waiting for him out on the course halfway up Richter’s pass – the first big climb of the day – when I get a call from his wife that he is already at the top.

Dave was just cruising along on the bike and was ahead of schedule by about 10 minutes. I totally missed my buddy at the first spot I told him I would be.

After 25 minutes of driving to catch up to “Speedy,” we were able to give him our first words of encouragement.

We again headed to another spot where I told Dave we would be to cheer him on, only to get another call from his wife saying that he was already in from the bike and that he would be heading up Main Street on the run.

This would be the last time I would see Dave until he crossed the finish line some time later.

We did get word that Dave had a good time at the halfway point in the run – have to love Internet coverage and a friend online – and we were waiting for him with his family at the finish line.

We saw Dave run around the corner for his last mile on the run before finishing and he was hanging tough, but you could tell the day was hard on him. Nine minutes later Dave was running down the last few meters of the run course on his way to becoming an Ironman.

Dave’s official time for the day was 11:37:15.

As you can see, his time was well under the 12-13 hours he predicted. He averaged just under 32 kph on the bike for 180 km. This is a very good bike time for basically only training one year. I know lots of people who have done triathlons as age groupers for years that would like to have this bike time.

Also to come in 640th out of 2,368 finishers – about 300-400 people did not finish or did not start on top of this number – is a very large accomplishment as well.

Dave has worked hard this year to balance his family, job and, of course, the many hours it takes to become an Ironman.

My family and friends are happy for Dave to achieve his dream of becoming an Ironman. This just goes to show you, if you put your mind to the task at hand and keep doing your best, anything is possible.

Great job, Dave. And as they say at the finish line: Dave Selvage, you are an Ironman.”

Brian Cropp, Surrey