S6E7 -- Ohana Guest : Gerard Charlton (Iron, Ultra, Uber)

Gerard Charlton has had a pre Ultraman sporting career and post Ultraman sporting career.

Like most athletes, pre Ultraman, Gerard was all about racing Ironman in Penticton (11 times) and just trying to get a little faster.  In 2005, with some prodding from Steve King, Gerard took on Ultraman Canada.  At that time in his life, his sports became more about meeting the challenge and doing it for a greater good.  These challenges included him becoming the third ever Uberman finisher and completing the Canadian Death Race.  

For a quick recap of the Uberman experience you can watch this video on Youtube narrated by Steve King.
Uberman 2018 Youtube video narrated by Steve King

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ultra TriFest Canada
• Ultra 515 World Wide Championships
• Ironman Canada
• UM Canada
• Canadian Death Race
• Uberman
• Ironman World Championships 
• Silk Route
• Abbotsford Air Show
• Alta Lake Sports Club
• 1982 Vancouver Triathlon
• Iron Cops
• Covenant House
• Franciscan Sisters of Atonement
• Canuck Place

Shout outs and mentions in this episode:

• Tony O’Keeffe (S6E6)
• Steve King (S1E1)  (S1E2)  (S1E3)
• Dan Fisher
• Grant Fisher 
• Dave Beardsell 
• Mike Maraun
• Les McDonald
• Conall Bar
• Tom Price 
• Steve Wallick
• Jean King
• Gord Evans
• Melissa Urie  (S6E4)
• Giorgio Alessi 
• Richardo Alessi
• Dan Bercu 
• Pete McIntosh
• Nick Mallett  (S2E12)
• Randy Cunningham
• Devasish Paul
• Barry Berg  (S1E9)

Show Contributors:

Host : Larry Ryan
Contributing Raconteur : Steve King
Announcer : Mary Jo Dionne
Production : 5Five Enterprises
Music  :  Run by 331

For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/515TheUltraPodcast
Insta : 515theultrapodcast
Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:39

And they were tipping in on me, and then they were flagged all the things that one guy comes diluting me as he went past it.

Larry 0:48

Today's episode is brought to you by Ultra TriFest Canada, where you can race the traditional 515, a 515 relay, or a 515 non-stop. There's also a 360K format, which does not require a crew. And because we are hosting you in Whistler, there is also an Ultra Gravel race. And if you've always wanted to go to a 515 World Championship, check out the information on the website about our new Worldwide Championships, which is available to every 515 racer of all time. We are now asking athletes to express their interest in attending the 2025 events. Email us at ultratrifestcanada at gmail.com to express your interest in joining us in 2025. This will help us to determine a viable field for each of the events, and you will not have to pay an entry fee until it is confirmed. Again, get the information from ultratrifestcanada.com, proud sponsor of 515 the Ultra Podcast. My Ohana

Part One : CAF and flying history

Larry 2:00

guest today is following on a similar line as the other guests that I've had on this season, whether that's by his occupation, the races he's competed in, or the branches of the Ultra Family Tree that he's connected to. He's competed in 11 Iron Man Canada races between 1985 and 2009. He's also competed in Penticton in 2005 at Ultraman Canada. He did the Canadian Death Race in 2014 and Uberman in 2017. And somewhere within all of that, he also got himself Dekona for the Iron Man World Championships. Joining me today from my own backyard in Vancouver, it's Gerard Charlton. Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Yeah, thank you, Larry.

Larry 2:42

Thanks for inviting me on. You know, um, for me, this is this is kind of cool in that I'm having you on in back-to-back episodes with Tony O'Keefe, another Canadian Air Forces veteran who I know that you know. Um, can you can you tell me a little bit about uh that relationship between the two of you?

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Oh man, our our our friendship goes back a long, long way. So I can't I can't remember the year, but it would probably would have been in the late 80s, I believe. Uh Iron Man Canada. He and I were both in the Air Force together. I was a pilot, he was a weapons uh sensor operator, um, uh working with the um the fighter squadrons up in Cole Lake. And um and we, you know, we both did the Iron Man, introduced ourselves to each other. And uh I would say that we both, we both had the same sort of, I don't know, call it sick sense of humor, uh, sick sense of uh, you know, what do you want to do with yourself? And and uh we just hit it off in a big way. If I went up to Cole Lake, I'd you know, give him a shout and uh, you know, head up, meet his kids when his kids were just young. Um, he was a little ahead of me on the family making mode. And uh every every year, you know, at Pentikton, we would meet up there. And then uh Yeah, and then uh a lot, a lot of the story between us got separate. I left the military in '95 and he carried on. And and full respect to all those uh all the guys and girls that uh stay in there and do a full career. I just uh something changed in my life with my wife and uh family aspirations and stuff, and we moved on. And and uh I I tried to keep in touch, but this is back in the old days when you know with snail mail, uh, email wasn't even happening. And um, but we did we did sort of uh I'd either hear about what he was doing via people like Steve King and or I'd I'd make kind of when email came along and I'd make contact. And uh it's it's it's almost you know, it's like an old friendship. It's like uh if I if I meet up with him or give him a phone call, it's like you know, 30 years have gone by, but it could have been yesterday. Uh we we totally uh we've gone totally different routes um in terms of well, you know, I guess life. No, we haven't. Um in fact, we've we've just recently I was talking to him and we're talking about okay, what's next in our agenda? And I'm big into you know, bike, I'd like to get into bike touring more. And and uh Tony goes, Have you thought about the Silk Route? And I went, Oh yeah, I just went, Oh, that's just a whole new level. And I went, Yeah, you know, like uh gonna have to think about that one.

Larry 5:10

But uh have you looked at that? What's the what's the distance? What kind of time commitment would you need to put into that?

SPEAKER_02 5:16

It's huge. Um, I mean, you could do it in bite-sized chunks or you could low one one run at it. I think it would take a few months. Um but uh I was just planning on possibly going over a visit Tony in Italy and just go do some bike touring around there with him uh because he's just in a beautiful, beautiful spot. And um, I'd love, you know, if he came back here to Vancouver, I'd take him around and do some stuff. But he's just got, I mean, where he where he's cycling there is just beautiful. And um, yeah, the um the the silk route, I did look at it um uh briefly after we mentioned it, and I went, wow. Like, I mean, I kind of know what it is, but I never really, and then there are there are sort of there's silk route races, and there's so uh I wouldn't be into the doing the race. There's just some very, very interesting stuff that goes on along there. And and of course, um, you know, every country you go through there, well, many of them uh end with Stan. And and there's a few that um a few of them that there would be conflicts involved there too. So it'd be quite in it'd be a very interesting. Um, so that's why I say we're going to wow on another level.

Larry 6:16

So I don't know if that was a challenge he threw down for me, but well, well, if you guys do end up uh seriously starting to look at that, I want the two of you to come back on and tell us all about it. Yeah, I'm sure. Um, so we were saying that you were in the Air Force, and and that's what um kind of drew you and Tony together. What was it in about the Air Force that you wanted to join the Air Force? Was it because you wanted to fly planes or was it something else?

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Yeah, pretty simple. I yeah, I wanted to be a pilot. And um, I knew that. Uh, well, I didn't know that. I I I sort of came to that conclusion sometime midway through high school and talked to my parents about it. And uh, it wasn't like I want to be a military, but I just want to be a pilot. Right. And then uh my dad had mentioned, have you ever thought about the military? And I go, I'm from Greenpeace country, man. I didn't know anything about the military. The first time I saw a military aircraft was two months before, no, yeah, a month or two before I went to basic officer training in Chilliwack. Um, I'd done all the screening in the military. I'd gone to the recruiting center, done all the screening to air crew selection, and I went to the Abbotsford Air Show. And that was the first time I'd ever seen a military jet. And I was with my my wife now, she was my girlfriend at the time, but my now my wife, and uh we're just and I go, I want to fly one of those. And you know, I never did operationally really, but um, but uh yeah, and um I I I don't think I knew it, but I think uh much of my makeup in life led me towards uh you know playing team sports and and that sort of thing, individual and team sports, but uh once I joined the military, I really found my family. And and to this day, I still sometimes very much regret leaving the military because I would we made the decision to leave, but I was still happy in it. I wasn't unhappy in the military. It was just something else that came up and and it was time to leave.

Larry 8:12

So and and what kind of uh roles were you in while you were in the military? Did you end up doing any peacekeeping missions? Did you get into any combat zones? Was it all here in Canada? What kind of roles were you in?

SPEAKER_02 8:26

Yeah, I was I was one of the lucky ones. I I did not go to any uh combat uh zone, um um any real conflict. Um I was I was involved with peacekeeping, which I was very, very happy with. And it was a turning point in my life, I would say. I was a young fella at 25, I guess, uh 25 or 26 years. Yeah, it was 25. Um, and um got to see the world and got to see, you know, a couple of significant, what I would call cultures. Uh spent a lot of time in Israel and in Egypt. And uh and then traveled a little bit around there too, just on my time off, a little bit of time off that we had, but but really did a deep dive into understanding um the peoples in in those those places. And uh and I g I you know, I hate to say it, I think there's a huge amount of maturity that happened by by you know, at that age being entrusted with with doing that and uh and respecting people from another part of the planet. Um and uh yeah, and and in terms of going to um conflict zones and stuff like that. I um I know people that have done that, and I I was just I'm so fortunate. We we weren't we didn't really get into that in the years that I was uh I guess you know uh Bosnia did crop up just around the end of my uh my time and the first Gulf War happened. Um, but I I wasn't involved with those.

Larry 9:48

And and now what is your current occupation? Do you also have some work working around planes and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_02 9:54

I'm sort of I'm a pseudopilot, I guess now uh I I I'm a Transport Canada uh civil aviation inspector and um and sort of utilized as jack of all trades, master of none, but but um I'm because I've got a I've got a float plane background, a helicopter background, I've got uh my military uh air, so I do aerobatics uh out here on the West Coast. Um and um and I've also spent a little bit of wee time in the airlines, didn't last very long, and uh and I also I never figured I was uh uh cutout to be an airline pilot, and it and it it and it proved itself.

Larry 10:29

Oh yeah, yeah. So uh so you say you're a civil aviation safety inspector. Uh does that mean you are physically inspecting planes?

SPEAKER_02 10:41

Yeah, not not the planes so much. I'll I'll inspect the operations. Um I'm actually I I'm involved with uh sort of aerodrome's heliport. Heliports is one of my major portfolios, um, although it's yeah, yeah, it doesn't take up that huge amount of uh time in my job. But um all the the heliports were um helicopters will land at uh hospitals and that sort of thing. We call them H H1. Um that I deal with um um helicopter, float plane, and uh fixed wing operators, just not the national carriers so much. So I'll I'll I'll deal with the operations and how the pilots are training and that sort of stuff and how they how they do their daily operations. Um we have airworthiness people, the mechanics side um that deal with the actual airplane inspections. I do airplane inspections too, but just not as as robustly, let's say, as my airworthiness colleagues would.

Larry 11:34

Right. Um going back to Tony for a second, near the end of my previous episode that he was on, he mentioned that he wants to purchase a plane in Italy so that he can start flying around in Europe a little bit more. Um and and I I know that you own your own plane. So uh what what kind of plane do you fly? What what what do you where do you go with it? What range does it have?

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Well, I'm uh I don't own an airplane. I am the custodian of an older, it's a 1942 Piper Cub. And uh what kind of range and what can you do and where can you go with it? You can't go very far necessarily without refueling. Um, and you don't go very fast, but uh you can have a very enjoyable time while you're up there doing it. Um I've flown it, I flew it to Oshkosh shortly after I got it, um, back in about 2017 or 18, and um which is uh a long flight. So I'm flying from uh Vancouver to uh Wisconsin, um uh just on the edge of the Great Lakes. And uh that was uh that was quite an expedition. And I'd never flown, you know, my own I'd never actually gone, you know, sort of uh uh backpacking with the airplane um anywhere until that. I did a couple little test runs, but never actually overnighted. And uh and I uh basically flew all the way there and back just with a tent and uh yeah.

Larry 12:57

Tony mentioned that he wants his to go bikepacking. He he said uh he's not getting a plane that doesn't fit the bike.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Yeah, see, I mine's just a two-seater, it's a little tiny thing. It was actually a trainer back in World War II. Oh um, yeah, and so it's just uh I I sit in the back seat. So any but any passenger that uh come comes along with me gets front seat to ride, like they get they get the full the the the full panoramic viewpoint. And I I sit in the back, um, which I'm used to doing for my military time, so I'm quite happy sitting in the back end, and it's fun watching people uh do that. But yeah, Tony, a uh four-seater I don't have and and trying to cram up. I've crammed a guitar in my and into the uh back end, and I did that when I went to Oshkosh because I I like to play the guitar in one in my spare time if I can.

Larry 13:43

Um you said one of the things that's under your purview is uh acrobatics. Well, how are your skills? Can you pull off some acrobatics in your plane?

SPEAKER_02 13:52

I mean, yeah, not in my plane, in the cub. Yeah, no, I don't want to do that. It's 1942, man. I just want to like I said, I I'm I'm I'm just I'm just there to take care of it. Um uh I uh when I do aerobatics, I will uh do them in either other people's aircraft or um there is an aircraft that I'll utilize uh on the coast here uh for my own uh use. But what I do is I uh my my position actually is uh I took over from one of my uh colleagues that that retired is to oversee the instructors and um that that are teaching aerobotics. So I I uh I I hand out the instructor ratings and or the renewals, and um, I mean I can teach people aerobotics too. And then I I get a little bit involved with the people that are both doing competitions because it's quite a different fold. There's the competition aerobotics and then the air show aerobotics, right? So I get involved with some of them. We also can uh be involved with um uh aerobatic ratings to the to the aircraft themselves. So we'll um a lot of aircraft uh do are not um are not uh certified for doing aerobiotics initially, uh, some of the home builds, especially. And then uh we can we can walk them through that process of upgrading them so that they can do aerobatics in their home builds. Yeah.

Larry 15:10

Excellent.

Multisport History and beginnings

Larry 15:11

So, what brought you into multi-sport then? Like what kind of things were you doing as a child? Were you brought into it by a certain person or coach, or were you doing one of the disciplines in school? What was going on?

SPEAKER_02 15:24

Okay, so yeah, I'll try and uh I don't know how if I can wrap this up really quick. So there's the name Dan Fisher, and if any anybody in the West Coast might might know, or actually, you know, Americans would uh recognize his son, Grant Fisher, who just won a couple of bronze medals at the Olympics. Um so Dan was a schoolmate of mine going through high school. And when we um while we're in high school, I swam and I was a fairly high-level soccer player when I was younger, and I um um I bounced back and forth between swimming and soccer. I was probably more set up to be a soccer player than a swimmer, to be honest. Um, and um while we were in high school, we had three of the best runners in Canada, really, in our high school. Um, a guy named a fellow named Dave Beardzel. We had uh Dan Fisher and Mike Moran. And they were all just top, top level runners. But in order to have a team, you had to have four people.

SPEAKER_04 16:15

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

And they were always looking, they they so they'd always try and recruit me to come along because they said, You're a soccer player and you swim, so you've got you got everything we need. Um, all we need for you to do is finish. That's all you have to do.

Larry 16:27

Like right, just just make sure every one, two, three, you can be 100, we'll still win.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

That's all I had to be. So they every year they'd recruit me out to to join the cross-country team just to go along with them. And all three of them did phenomenally well in the running. Um, I think Dan probably um uh more so than the other two, just in their own in their own rights. Um and uh yeah, so um when I finished high school, about a year, it was I think it was a year out of high school, I bumped into Dan and he goes, Hey, have you ever thought about this thing called Travel? And I said, Yeah, I've heard about it, I heard about the Iron Man. And he goes, he goes, You should do it. He goes, Man, all you gotta you can run, you can swim, all you gotta do is learn how to bike, and you can do that. And uh, anyways, he be he told me because he was involved with the Alta Lake uh um club up in Whistler, which you know, back in those days there's probably a lot more sailing and cross-country. He was a cross-country skier as well. And um, Les McDonald, who uh, you know, I hope people know the name that name, um, was was I think the uh either the president of the Alta Lake Sports Club or whatever, and he was running the very first Athlon in Vancouver. It might have been the first one in Canada, I don't know, it was 1981 or two. And uh and uh so I I went out and I uh um you know I found out that you had to have a helmet. So I borrowed my nephew's hockey helmet and uh was a soccer player, so I uh I uh Canadian of you to get a hockey helmet. Yeah, well, and you know, and I and and I went out cycling with this fella, the a family friend who was a uh cyclist. He wasn't, I think he was competitive, but he actually rode a bike a lot, and he was showing me that you had to wear these shoes and you put them in a rat trap. And and I thought, well, I can't buy those. I didn't have the money or anything like that to do that at the time. But I thought, hey, I could just use my soccer boots. I'll just I'll I'll use the cleats of my soccer boots and strap them down, and that'll work. So oh my god. So I went out there just uh and uh I was just going out and having fun. I I can't remember, I think I came in like either I it was I didn't come in first, I know that I came in like second or fifth or something like that. I just remember there's an American guy that showed up and he had he had a tri-suit on. And to this day I still can't believe, you know, like the rest of us were just like, you know, in our bathing suits and stuff. And and I remember finishing the swim down at Spanish Banks, and one of my old buddies from the swim team was a lifeguard there, a guy named Connell Barron. I stopped and I was talking with him for about a minute or two, you know, just at the end of the swim because I hadn't seen him in a couple of years. And he goes, Hey man, this is a race. And I go, I'll see you later, man. I go, I get out of the water and go and have a shower, and I'm drying off. And meantime, this other guy's just bolted off on his bike. And and I and and I, you know, heard about the Iron Man. So you're going to take care of yourself, right? So you want to dry, make sure you don't chafe and all that sort of stuff, and put all my kid on and got on my bike and off I went. It was it was the looking back on it, it's hilarious. Um, you know, it just uh and I was smiling the whole way. It was just fun. And we we finished off at the Vancouver Rowing Club, or I think, you know, down in uh Coal Harbor there.

SPEAKER_03 19:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

And uh yeah, just like, okay, I'm sold on this. This is great. This is a lot of fun. And um yeah, I was and then you know what, honestly, it kind of died there for a few years because I I joined the military and I uh you know got into the training system and and uh I really didn't have the time to devote to this until uh uh a few years later. But yeah, it's good fun. Good memories of that.

Larry 19:55

Yeah. Oh, that's that's a great story of just making do with what you got. Yeah. Over the years. If you ever have find a photo of that, please send it over.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Well, I I definitely have I've got old photos of that. Yeah, I had to borrow my sister's bike too. So we had, you know, the old 10-speed, right? It was a uh I don't know, you call it jetain, I think it was a jetain or something like that. Uh, you know, it had the uh it had the center pole break, the ones up on top of the handlebar, too, you know, because it was like a cruiser for going around the city and and uh yeah, it was great.

Larry 20:27

Uh

IM history

Larry 20:28

well that hooked you in at least. And um, when I was looking at your race history, it looks like there is kind of a a pre-Ultraman race history and a post-Ultraman race history. And it looks like your pre-Ultraman is all your Iron Man races and stuff like that. And then it kind of changes as as it does once you discover there's longer distances and stuff like that. So maybe we'll come back to to the longer stuff in a bit, but let's I want to hear a little bit about your your Iron Man history because you were like in one of the first Iron Man races here.

unknown 21:02

Yeah.

Larry 21:02

And you've done a lot of them in Penticton. Tell me a little bit about how your Ironmans went here.

SPEAKER_02 21:07

Sure. Yeah. Well, so it all came down to like I'd been bit by the bug, and then I went through my military pilot training, and then I came out of that and I was posted, had my first posting, and I spent that year um um trying to overcome something that a doctor had told me that they figured I'd never run again because uh I had a little bit of a knee um issue that had that had come up at some point, I think, from my military training. And they just said, Well, you you just can't run anymore. And I said, Well, no, I'm gonna prove you wrong. So I spent that year just and and I had in the back of my mind I wanted to so back in the early days of the Iron Man, you know I mean, you'd you'd you'd send out a snail mail in like March or April. Um, you know, I remember springtime or something like that. And uh I just mailed this in with a $300 check to see if I could join this race. Uh, there's a few people I know that did the first couple of years. I was in the third year, 1985.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

And I think there's 125 of us that did it. And um Um, I know this goes completely against the grain of most people these days, but I'd never run I'd never ridden my bike more than a hundred kilometers. Just I'd just never gotten around to doing it. I'd uh I'd never officially run a marathon. And in fact, I've I've hardly ever done one. Um, but uh I did I did an unofficial one. Um in the early years in Vancouver, I just I I got out of high school and I decided I want to do a marathon. So I just uh I just threw my shoes on one day. And when they did have the marathon, I just sort of jumped in there, you know, unofficially and and just ran along with them. They wouldn't let me cross the finish line at the end, and I said, that's fine, I don't care. I just I basically I just wanted to see if I could do 26 miles. And and I was lucky they gave me some water along the way. But anyway, so I did yeah, I said 1985, and then uh um I did 86, 87, and I missed 88 because I was on peacekeeping. And then I did 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94. Um, it was basically an annual religious experience for me, uh the way I I used to say. I used to tell people, yeah, this is my one day a year. I just go out and I get to talk to God for a couple hours or a day or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 23:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

Um, and uh, or talk to my maker, if you want to call it that, uh, if you don't believe in God, but um um, which is fine. Um uh yeah, in 85, I did, I think I came in fifth, if I fifth or sixth, can't remember, to be honest. Um, it was again, it was one of these things I just got bit by the bug. I went out, I did it. Um uh, you know, I had swum the lengths that that that were required there, but I'd just never done the bike, and certainly I'd never done a runoff a bike like that. And uh most of us, you know, most of the people back then, it was it was an adventure. Nobody really knew how to train. There was a couple of people I think that did some of the early winners, definitely. You could tell that they they had trained, they knew what they were doing, and the rest of us were just taking a wild stab at it, right? You know, like in how much time can you devote to this new sport, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

Right.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

And then it it quickly accelerated, you know. I remember going back in '86 and '87 and stuff, and and and it was ramping up pretty fast. It became Iron Man Canada in '87, I think, uh maybe '86. And uh I can, you know, I can think of a few names, but people that were friends too. I remember running into Tom. Tom Price and I were both doing just a sort of a fun fundraiser, both uh I think the 25th anniversary, maybe. Um, and I bumped into him out in the run. And I don't know if he recognized me as much as I recognize him, but he and I, you know, sort of raced against each other, if you want. Um, and he would beat me. But we were out there just running, we were in the middle of the pack, just running along because we were just in it for the, you know, to be there and to raise money. I was doing it for iron cops and Tom was doing it for other reasons, I guess. And uh um, but he was he was a machine back in the in the early days. He was uh and he was just doing stuff that many of the rest of us uh weren't. And I can I could name any any number of other people that I was involved either racing with or training with. Uh Steve Wallach, who was the world's fastest um slidesdale at one time. So he was 200 pounds plus, and he was uh he was a nine-hour Ironman um at his weight class, if you want. Um, a phenomenal athlete, that guy natural. He was a rugby player, actually, um, you know, to begin with, and just uh converted into being an absolute um machine in the in the Iron Man and a good friend of mine because we were both he he's from Moose Jaw originally, and I was in Moose Jaw um as a pilot. And uh so we didn't really train together, but we went out training a little bit, um, and uh some funny stories, uh getting chased by cows and through fields and you know, running for our life and diving through fences and stuff. It was there's some very funny stories about that.

Larry 25:44

Yeah, for for the listener outside of Canada, Moose Jaw is in the prairies in Canada, it's in Saskatchewan. Yeah, yeah. Well, I I know that you were up in Penticton a couple weeks ago for the final Iron Man race. Um, what are your thoughts on on it coming to an end up there?

SPEAKER_02 26:03

That's kind of sad. I think I think most people would would say that. Um it was it was just fabulous going up and meeting some of the people that I I hadn't seen, some for many years. And of course, uh chief amongst them is Steve King. Um, and a lot of people think of Steve as as you know the voice of Iron Man. Um, I just have an amazing amount of respect for that man uh and his wife, um, and and the people around Jean. Yeah. Um the just you know, Steve, to me, he's the addictions counselor. Um, he has saved so many people. It's it's unfathomable. I I don't, I, you know, I couldn't even begin to think um, you know, how he's affected lives in that way. That's the way I see him first and foremost. Uh, he's also an incredible athlete. His his track record is just amazing. And a lot of people don't know that. Um, but um, yeah, I can't even begin to, you know, we we could talk about his his accomplishments there for a whole hour. Um, but he's also been a mentor for me because he was the one that sort of he knew that that in in my that I'd sort of given up on racing and he knew that I liked the idea of challenges. I talked to him about it, and um, and he was the one that told me what Tony O'Keefe was up to with this new Ultraman thing. And while I was in Saudi Arabia living there and working there with the young family, and when email sort of came up and we got in touch, you know, I sort of re-re-engaged with people a little bit because now we could email. And um, Steve said, Hey, have you heard what Tony's up to? And I go, No, I have no idea. And he told me, and I went, holy smokes. And and uh he he gave me the whole low-down briefing on it, and uh, and then he sort of uh, you know, he's he suggested to me, he goes, It's right down your right down your alley, Gerard. You know, you you like to race a course, you don't want to race people, you just want a challenge, right? And I go, absolutely. And and he said, So this is for you. And uh he he was spot on, and and just uh, you know, a few, not a lot, just gentle words of wisdom and advice. And that's really all I got from that. He knew that that's all that's all I needed. And and then we're off to the races, if you want to call it that.

Larry 28:14

Yeah. Um for people that may have picked up listening to the podcast a little bit later. My first three episodes all have Steve King on them. The episode one, it's all about his athletic career, episode two is all about his announcing career, and episode three is all about his kind of family life. So uh people that know Steve King and maybe don't know the whole background of those things, um, check out episode one, two, and three from season one, and uh you can learn a lot more about Steve. Because he yeah, he does bring a lot of people into this, and he supports so many people in that fantastic way where he he builds everybody up to be a rock star when he's out there announcing at at these Ultraman 515 events in particular. Um, even at the Iron Man, you know, I know he's spots people coming down the road, and even if he didn't have it written down, he's gonna tell you something about those guys that he remembers uh from years ago. And and it's it's always the most important thing to athletes is when Steve King calls them in.

SPEAKER_02 29:16

So and I will just add one thing there is if you get to know him, and you know, it's uh not for everybody, and I I don't want to start sending hundreds of people to go talk to Steve, but when you get to know him, you learn about life, truly. He's one of those. He and Gene, you you realize you you're you're in in in grace, in good grace. Um, yeah, yeah.

How to support the Podcast

Larry 29:41

Hello, listener. I love getting your feedback and suggestions for the podcast. Keep them coming at 515ultraman at gmail.com. For those that want to help me promote the show, I suggest edit the editor. And if you don't mind, the free reading support is showing five-star reading and reviewed. And if others discover 25. If you're still fine, you can show your appreciation for my work by clicking the support note at the bottom of the show note to go to my Find Me a Coffee page. Thanks for all of your feedback and support. Now back to the show. So uh leading into this, I said kind of

Changes - Events vs Races

Larry 30:40

you kind of had your pre-Ultraman racing where you were, you know, competitive and doing Iron Man to the extent that you were competitive. Um maybe getting out of the water and having a chat is not super competitive, but it kind of changed after Ultraman for you, where you gone on to more of these events and completing an event versus doing a race. Um tell me a little bit about some of these other events that maybe you were doing at the time that that meant something to you and and and why you were doing them.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Okay, so uh I'll I'll start off with a bit of a backstory if you want, if you don't mind. So 1994 was my last, what I would call my competitive Iron Man. And I consider it to be almost the perfect race for me. I I I bonked with about 10 kilometers to go. Um, but uh unbeknownst to me, I was in 10th place amongst the pros. I was doing pretty well. I was uh uh yeah, I was and and I I bonked and I still did about a 325, 320 marathon, but I was almost on a three hour uh, but you know, it was the first time I'd ever used a heart monitor. But I came to the realization that I'd spent many, many years just trying to get five minutes faster, you know, 10 minutes, maybe beat my last year's time or whatever. And my wife and I really were trying to have a family at the time, and it it just wasn't wasn't happening. And we found out that there were other reasons for it wasn't because I was busy racing, but um in the end, we've we've got a lovely family now. But I went away from that year and um and I thought there's got to be something more to this. And I floated to Tony O'Keefe the idea that you know they've gotten, I think it was that year, somewhere along the line, we had this conversation. It was before Tony got into uh the Ram. And I said, you know, the Americans got that race across America. I said, we could be doing something bigger in Canada, man. We could have the race across Canada. And I said, we could go across Vancouver Island, swim from Vancouver Island over to the mainland, bike across Canada, run Newfoundland, 1,500 kilometers, I think, from toe to toe. And uh I said, just connect all the dots. And I said, one caveat, it's gotta be for charity. There's no money in it, you know, like uh it's not a money thing. It's uh to get in, you gotta, and then I started doing it. Tony, Tony just laughs and he goes, he goes, okay, I tell you, man, bit of a logistical one. When you figure it out, get back to me, I'm all in. You know, it's kind of like, you know, drop the gauntlet, let's do it. And I I started looking at the logistics of it. I go, wow, man, it's just like, you know, how you the amount of time somebody have to dedicate to this, the amount of money it's gonna cost. And and I said, uh, I only wanted to do it if it was for a charity thing. And and I I did, I I looked into it, you know, uh not at great length, but I was starting you know, trying to figure out how could we do this and how could you mark I'm not a marketer. And um, it just sort of dies. So it's in my mind, it's always been in my mind that wouldn't that be a great thing to do, but but um yeah, and then Tony went on into you know bigger and better things and did the RAM and and I didn't.

unknown 33:40

Yeah.

Larry 33:41

Well, I saw recently that they're doing a race across India now as uh as a RAM qualifier.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

Yeah, yeah, there's some great, great things out there. And so the in answer to your question, so yeah, I I I did uh there's a little bit of philanthropic sort of charity side to me that my mom imbued in in all of us uh as we're growing up with five kids in my family. And and um, and I said, if I'm gonna do this again, I gotta do it for uh you know a higher reason. And uh I and I don't mean to, you know, come off sounding like anything. I just said for in order for me to be motivated, I I do like the challenges. I just don't want to do it for myself. I I don't want it to be a selfish thing. I want to do it for and um yeah, so Ultraman Canada, um, 2005, that was it. I I got involved with uh uh several uh charitable organizations and and a lot of that was um in in part due to coming back to Canada after being away for about 10 years, nine years, and seeing some of the sad changes I was seeing on the streets. Um youth, I had some friends that were police and they would talk about uh Covenant House and how great a job they did taking kids that you know had maybe been kicked out of their house as youth and or whatever, or found themselves on the street and uh you know, picked them up and and got them back on their feet, uh ideally or hopefully.

Larry 34:58

And uh um I um this is an organization in downtown Vancouver.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Yeah, Covenant House is uh yeah, it's it's well, I think it's across Canada, really, but I I'm I'm more connected to the one that you were associated with right at the end of the day. Vancouver, yeah.

Larry 35:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Yeah. And then there was uh Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement was one for uh that dealt with a lot of the they had soup kitchens and things like that, um, um, and dealt with uh, you know, um helping uh generally mostly the men. Um and then there were some there there uh there's a couple of few other organizations too, though those are the two main ones that I did for 2005. I just I had connections with them and I thought let's run with it, let's go that way. And it was uh, you know, whether you believe in I don't mean to get religious on anybody, but I I am spiritual to much to a greater degree and and uh uh in terms of uh dealing with humans. And um it was spiritually one of the most, you know, it was uplifting, man. I met some incredible people uh that year and I finished that event. Um, and I just thought, wow, I've found myself. This is it. I I love it. Um and um, you know, I didn't really care how I did, uh I just wanted to finish whatever I was putting my mind to and wanted to raise money and wanted to have a good time while I did it, and uh did all that. I had my kids supporting me um in the race. So my um, you know, I didn't, I didn't I've never had I was listening to Tony O'Keefe's uh podcast. He's talking about the crews and stuff. Yeah, he's had some machine machine work for crewing, and uh, you know, I'd have my kids out handing me bottles and stuff on the side, and it, you know, it was it takes all kinds in in in those events.

Larry 36:37

There's a lot of people that do that.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

Yeah, and it was for me, it was generally good. I've I've really maybe had one or two bad, you know, um, instances and all the in whatever things that I've done in all the years, but uh from the most part, it's always, you know, let's go out there have fun and you know, and uh and I get to I always say, you know, if I if I was doing an Ultraman or anything like that, and the family was involved, um, I get a chance to go out and just train for fun and get my family to support, like they're out there supporting me, which is, you know, I'm not taking any time away from them. They're well, maybe I am, but they're out there, you know, cheering me on and it which which is cool. And so

Canadian Death Race

SPEAKER_02 37:15

yeah, it was great.

Larry 37:16

Yeah. Um one of the things that people enjoy about listening to the podcast that they tell me is that they get to hear about new and different races. And I know that you've done one that is a little bit different for people that aren't from Canada, they might not have even heard of this. Um, and that's the Canadian Death Race. You get the most ominous name you can for a race, and people will sign up, I think is what the saying is. Um, so you did that one in 2014. Um, I'd like you to tell us about that, but before you do, can you just tell us what the race is?

SPEAKER_02 37:51

Yeah, it's uh it's a race through the Rocky Mountains, basically. Um three call it three mountain peaks, really. The it was it's 125k, I think. So basically three marathons, and you could pretty much call one marathon over each mountain peak, uh up and around each mountain peak, just to put it in simplistic terms. Um, it was my first real crack at an ultra marathon. I'd never done anything quite like that. And I had an old Air Force friend that decided to do it with me, filling in Gord Evans, um, good guy, and his family came out. And um, and I I did that one uh as a it was a fundraiser for um for a cause uh that I don't um care to get into right now. But um um and um yeah it kind of went pear-shaped. Um I was I thought I had trained. I I I trained my running up pretty good. I I didn't realize um the kind of steepness that I was getting involved with. And and I've I've I've always had back and neck issues um going back uh many, many, many, many, many years. And it's not to do with my sports, it's to do with other things, construction and and many other uh activities I've been involved with, but um dumb, stupid tricks as a teenager and stuff like that. But um and uh it's a pretty gnarly course, right? Yeah, it's it's extremely dangerous at night. Well, the steepness going up and down was so much so that you're literally falling down. They've got they've got one route that's called the butt slide or the bum slide. And like you don't slide, you fall down it. Like I remember going down, and I was I was I was grabbing for trees as I was falling down the the hill. Like I was trying to grab tree branches, stop myself from literally tumbling and rolling down the hill. Um, going up was was like it wasn't rock climbing, but um uh for those that have done it before, they'll say, Oh, you're you're you're making it out to be worse, but uh than it is. But it it was it was you're I I remember parts of it, you were sort of on your hands and knees almost like trying to climb up the you you couldn't walk it or run it. You had to grab for branches and stuff to haul yourself up, and for quite a distance too, like maybe a uh maybe uh 800 or a thousand meters of it. Um quite a distance, and it beat me up pretty good. And uh that was my uh if if there's any learning lessons that I've ever had, and I called Tony up after this too, because he he was the he's now the machine, he was the guy I knew that had done a lot of the stuff, and um I um I got rhabdomyolysis, like uh extreme rhabdomyolysis to the point, well, my kidneys failed. And uh uh at the end, I didn't know it, and they had to medevac me out of there. And um, and uh nephrologist that uh had to deal with me in Edmonton uh said he had never seen anybody like that, other than somebody that's been trapped under a building for seven days in a he was an Iranian and he just couldn't get his head wrapped around why I would have done this to myself. And so we could we we actually had a really good friendship at the end of that. We spent three days, he I was close to being on dialysis, he pumped me full of fluids and and uh really what it all came down to, I know that there's a doctor on the course that was thinking about taking me off the course part way or at the near the end. And I kept proving to him that I could go to the bathroom and stuff. But what I realized was um voiding is every bit as important as drinking uh your fluids. Like hydrating is good, but if you're not voiding, you're slowly building up stuff in your kidneys. And and if you don't void it, uh and so I probably I I know I wasn't voiding enough um early on in the race or midway through. And by the end of it, I was just I was done. And um, and there's several things that happened to me there. I started, I couldn't eat and uh I couldn't sleep, and then I got in a pool and I I got sick. And that's when uh my buddy's uh wife said, Gerard, I want you to go to the clinic. We're gonna take you to the clinic. And I went in there and uh yeah, huge, huge learning experience there. And I can't say enough to anybody that's doing these things that uh when you get out there, don't you you can't think that you just hydrating is enough. It's not um and uh so I've been living with that ever since. I I uh I recovered very quickly. In fact, they were gonna do a medical journal on my recovery because they couldn't believe how quickly I recovered. Like six weeks later, they figured I was done for like a year or so because my um my my levels were so high. My what do they call it? PK levels or something were were just astronomically high. And um, six weeks later, the doctors were all going, like, you're perfectly healthy. We can't stop like take it easy, you know, get back in the pool and if you want, but but don't, you know, like you you've you know, you had a really bad episode with your kidney. So uh yeah, I've been taking care of myself ever since that.

Larry 42:34

So well, you know, that's the other thing that people listen for is some good advice for how to do these sorts of races. So uh that's that's good advice. I like that one.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

Yeah, well, you know, and sometimes I I guess I didn't do enough research on the race and and knowing exactly what I was up against because I've known people that like I did a lot of hill training, a lot of hill training before I went there, but I didn't do like super steep hill training, which is what I should have been doing. And uh yeah, yeah, that and that that that bit me. And so um, you know, um uh I I I can't say I've been the smartest trainer and racer over the years. Um, and every once in a while you get bit by that, right? So there you go.

Larry 43:14

And and I think that race has like 15,000 feet of elevation in it.

unknown 43:20

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

I I can't remember. It was it was pretty it was pretty big, and there are some people that go there every year and they know what they're up against. Uh, you know, if I went back, I would know what I'm up against. I just went there maybe a little bit too overconfident that you know I can do this, I can I can do a double or a triple. I just dial it back a little bit, but I I wasn't ready for the uh for the inclines and and declines. So it just beat the pulp out of my body. Yeah.

Larry 43:44

Well, the race was trying to live up to his name for you.

SPEAKER_02 43:47

Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately.

Uberman

Larry 43:50

Um another big race that you've done, and and earlier this season, we had Melissa Uri on talking about this race as well. She was the first woman that. Do the race is Uberman. Um, I don't know if you know her, um, but that was another fundraiser for you. So maybe tell us how that race kind of went for you and what your thoughts are of doing Uberman and and what you were fundraising for. Because again, sorry, worldwide audience, this is kind of a close to the heart, close to home one for for people from Vancouver.

SPEAKER_02 44:22

Yeah, well, um, first off, I I I have never met Melissa, but and uh we've we've sort of had a little bit of contact. Um, I know she's a mother now. Uh she's had a young child since she she did her event, and um, and uh congratulations to her on that. Um, it's a big thing. Um, you've gone over the Uberman, so I guess people will will know what that was. I was the third person to do it. Um, the first person was a good friend of mine from my 2005 Ultraman Canada days, Giorgio Elisi. Uh uh a great guy, funny guy, um, very adventurous guy, and uh who I've sort of tried to keep in touch with over the years. Um, and uh his brother Ricardo, um, as well. Uh Ricardo was his uh crew manager, I guess, in in Pentecta back in 2005. Um, just lovely Italian guys, you know, like good guys, always always uh loving life and and having fun with it. And uh they they seem to have continued to do so. So uh um Georgia, I remember reading about this challenge, and that's all it is. It's not a race, it was a challenge. So Dan Berku, who put it on, just decided he wanted to make the toughest sort of triathlon kind of thing that you could come up with. And um so he proposed this as a challenge, and uh and I I remember reading about it thinking, oh man, who would do that? Who like I I'm thinking is kind of cool, but it's a little bit nut bar. Who would do that? And then uh there was an outside magazine article, and Giorgio did it, and and he did it with his girlfriend, just one person supporting him the whole way. And uh, you know, he didn't do it fast, and he wasn't trying to do it fast, he was just doing it. And uh, and uh I uh after when I read that article, I thought, okay, well, uh, I got it. So I I called him up and I said, Giorgio, you know, like explain to me this whole thing. Like, well, you know, how did it go? So he uh without going into too many details, he explained, you know, like uh um he just had a sailboat his he and his girlfriend got somebody to a friend of theirs to take a sailboat over to Catalina Island, and that that that's what he had for getting them. And then uh um when he uh did the biking and running, he just had his girlfriend with him. So uh they didn't they weren't at nighttime at all because he didn't want his girlfriend out there at night, girlfriend or wife, I think it was girlfriend, I'm not too sure. Um, and um and uh so it and and he finished it, and that was great. And then uh there was another fellow that did it the following year. I think there were two or three people that tried, and one person finished. And um, and that's when I sort of got the bug of go, okay. I've talked to Giorgio. Um, so I I I tried it on the the third year that that it it sort of went. And um, I ended up being the only guy towing the line that that third year. Uh, I think there was a few others that that had shown interest and had talked about doing it, but in the end, I was the only guy there. And uh and yeah, I I I had uh uh aspirations of doing it like an ultra, and I didn't in the end because uh I had my wife basically um supporting me, uh, like Giorgio had. I also had a sister-in-law sort of off and on, um uh that was available, two sisters-in-law that were sort of in and out of the picture because uh of various reasons. Um, but really Stephanie and uh was was the one doing all the uh support. This one I had a I uh I had uh a great support actually. Um, and um just friends from all over sort of came out. I had uh a paddler, an old friend of mine from the Air Force, uh Pete McIntosh came out and he paddled through the night for me and along with another fella. Um and uh um yeah, it uh it was it was uh it was a really great, again, a very sort of uplifting, spiritually uplifting uh experience, if you want. And that one I did that one, okay, in terms of why I did that, um, that was for um uh Canuck, the Canucks Hospice, uh Canucks Children's Hospice in in we call it Canuck Place in Vancouver.

Larry 48:11

And um I supported supported by the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team.

SPEAKER_02 48:16

Yeah, and it's a it's a hospice, is what it is, and it's really it's for it's for families and the children that when when life is short. And we'd had a few friends that had had to go through the experience there, and I had seen it myself, what was being done. And since then I've ran into several old friends that have lost children um that spent their final months, weeks, days um at the hospice, and and I've never met more beautiful people than than uh the people that are there that um help out the family. So it's almost you know, it almost chokes me up sometimes thinking about it and stuff. But and I didn't raise a huge amount of money, but um yeah, I think it was uh somewhere over $20,000. But just every every step of the way, it was just all about this is a journey. We're doing this for this reason, and uh the people I met and uh the whole way along. That's all I was thinking, is just I've got to finish the race because I'm out here doing this. I'm not trying to break any records or anything like that. We're gonna do this. And um, and it worked out well. We we uh we didn't do it uh ultra-style, we only did it during the day. Um, so I I I was asleep every night because I didn't want to just kill my wife either. And we had the dog, we had a we had a motorhome, and and and anybody else that was coming along, I was gonna make them go through the night. Um, and that uh that was actually pushed by the race director. I I had a rough swim. I was I was sicker than a dog out in the ocean. I've been ocean training here in Vancouver, but when I got out in the ocean there in Catalina Channel at night, I just um I I I've never been so sick uh sick in my life. And it went on for hours and hours and hours, and it it took me forever uh to get across. What should have been a 10-hour swim, maybe a 12-hour for me, turned into a 16-hour uh ordeal.

Larry 50:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

And uh I got to the end of the swim and congratulated by Dan Burko. And he just looked at me and he goes, You're not gonna try and alter this, are you? And I was I said to him, uh, well, that was the plan. And he goes, Don't. He just goes, you know what? You're here by yourself, just enjoy it. Do it during the day, let your family enjoy it too. Um, nobody, you're not in a race here, just finish it. And I I looked at him and I go, you know what? You're right. I'm not here to prove anything to anybody. This is cool. And so we got to see the whole thing um during the days, and uh it was a wonderful experience in in many ways. Um, yeah. So can't say enough good about it.

Larry 50:38

Yeah, and if people didn't listen to episode four this year, um when Melissa was describing it, it's the Catalina swim. Then you bike to the start of the Badwater Ultramarathon and you run the Badwater Ultramarathon. That's the whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 50:55

So yeah, well, and the beautiful thing about that is I'd always wanted to do a channel swim and you get to do it there. And I'd always thought bad water was a nut bar event to do, and I couldn't do it in June or July, but to get to do it in October, you get to do like you're not racing it with everybody else, but you get to do the event, and uh I thought awesome, you know, and you just get to yeah, just I couldn't think of a better event to do.

Larry 51:21

Yeah. When when you didn't have people passing you on the road for the for the run, because I mean the bike's the bike, people see people on bikes, but you don't see people running bad water unless they're in the race, usually. Were people looking at you a little strange? Were they asking if you're okay and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_02 51:41

Or I think so. Well, okay, uh the stories to get into that. So when I first started, yeah, that so we were in Badwater Basin, and there's a lot of traffic going directly into the basin. So there's a lot of people we went by, and I was just I was trying to build up my own personal energy by you know, waving at them and stuff because they're you know, yeah, they're wondering what the hell I'm doing out here. And I'm just like, I'm out here having fun, man. I'm just going for a run. And uh the first marathon that I was on there. And um, and then once you got away from the basin, uh the traffic thinned out quite a bit, or people were just like on their way to Vegas or something like that. You know, you see a lot of old rat rod um motorcycles and stuff out there, and and um and then I remember the climb out of Panaman's Panamant Springs, um, um, you know, traffic you're on a twisty, windy highway, and I was doing everything I could just to keep my knees together because the road, there was not a level piece of road on cambered off. It was totally cambered off, and it was hard. My knees just uh so I was just switching back and forth on the road to get different cambers to give my knees a break. And um, and then we got up on the high plateau there, and uh, I'll tell you, um, in terms of uh what people thought or knew, I to this day I don't know who did this, but I know somebody did, is that um, you know, and it had been 20 years,

Flyby Salute

SPEAKER_02 53:00

2023, I how long since I'd been in the military? So about 25 years since I'd been in the military. I mean close on 30, 25 years, anyways. And um, somebody, one of my old buddies who had a connection down with the United States uh Air Force or Marine Corps or whatever, um, the the uh the flight path through there through the rainbow canyon uh goes into the China Lake weapons range. And uh I had uh these F-18s coming across and they were they were they were they knew where I would, they were actually doing tip ins, like they were they were sh using me as a target. Oh wow, and they they were tipping in on me and then they would waggle their wings as they went past. One guy I saw him saluting me as he went past. Oh, that's awesome. And I'll tell you, man, I could see it through the canopy, and I'll tell you, man, I I get shivers up my spine now thinking about it. It was, you know, it's like uh it's like the highest form of honor, really. And uh yeah, um, so and and and I thought I knew who might have done it, but nobody's fessed up to it. And that that would be the military, you know, the old the old boys club. They just they they knew they had me, and I will never know who did that, but somebody they they were watching because we had a spot tracker going so they could follow us where we were, and so they they were feeding the coordinate, they must have been feeding the coordinates to the guys because they they were definitely I could see them coming in and they they would target me and they come in and they pull up and they'd they'd wave off. It was very, very cool. So that was mind-blowing watching this series of uh you know, F-18s and that sort of type of aircraft. It's great.

Larry 54:32

That's that's amazing. That's that yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 54:35

It was cool. Yeah, there's actually a little bit of footage from it. Um, like uh we all they've got is one of them uh blasting off. So they've gone past, they've done the wag, and and they're just gone. And and somebody finally pulled out a camera because normally they they take you totally by surprise, right? It's just they'll come up behind you or they might come in front, but you only see them as they're tipping in on you. And um, and uh somebody just got it. Um I think there's a there's a quick video sequence of just the the them going off into the distance after they'd after they'd blown past us.

Larry 55:05

Again, if you have that, if you can send it to me, I can use that as advertising.

SPEAKER_02 55:11

I think there's a I think there is a YouTube link uh there, and I don't know whether YouTube allows you to to dub into them a little bit. Um, but um yeah. Yeah, I can anyways, there you go.

Larry 55:22

Um I and you know that it's really cool that all these years later you have these Air Force people saluting you on this adventure that you're on, and and your life has kind of, as you've told us, gone through these phases and you're into this point now where you're just doing it for the adventure, doing it for a higher cause, helping out these charities and things. And and I know I I'm not sure exactly when you adopted it, but maybe early on, you you did take a Canadian Air Force motto, which you carry with you through through your adventures. Can can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER_02 56:05

Okay, well, I I would say, you know, um there's an oath to the clean that we all swear as an officer, anyways, and and you know, being in the military, but the the Air Force motto, um, the Canadian Air Force motto is per our du at Astra, which means through adversity to the stars. And um my bike, I I've actually got uh back in 2006, I got a custom-made bike for me. Um, I just thought I I I'd been riding, I've been getting bugged. I did 2005 uh Ultraman and I was the only guy with a steel bike there. Everybody else had newfangled bikes, and I still was riding my 1980s.

Larry 56:38

Oh, hold on one second. Wasn't Nick Millett in that race? He didn't have any fancy bike, he borrowed one from somebody when he got there.

SPEAKER_02 56:45

Yeah, well, I don't know. He but he was one of the guys that was bugging me about it. So Nick, Nick and I have been pretty good pals for a long time. Uh he and I, uh, so you know, just going back, he and I did the first marathon of of that day together, and we we spoke talked about nothing about but brewing beer and stuff. So it was just uh he and I sharing, and and all I said to him was I just want to do this first marathon in four hours. That's all, you know, just do a four-hour marathon, and then whatever happens after that happens. And and we ran the whole and we got to the end of the first anyway. So, so yeah, um, so I I was bugged by just about everybody there that I was the only guy that had a steel bike, and it was my 1987 Marinoni um that had uh that had just been my my trusted steed forever.

Larry 57:26

And I thought the bear traps and the soccer shoes?

SPEAKER_02 57:30

Yeah, well, so so that next year, uh prior to me, I ended up with a very big medical issue the next year, but prior to that happening, I I I went out and I sussed out a local guy that was building bikes and uh named Randy Cunningham. And um, and uh he when I met him, he was a bit of a military uh geek, um, kind of guy. He just loved military stuff. He goes, wait, you're in the Air Force? And so my bike is an ode to my Air Force time. It's it's called, it's called High Flight, which is an Air Force poem, if anybody wants to read up on that. Um and um uh the butt the bike has the Avro Arrow on the side and it's got high flight written on it, and then it's got my name with my uh my Air Force nickname on it, and um, and then it's got Air Force Rondell on it. And then on the chainsay, strategically placed where when you're at your very worst, you know, dragging yourself, you know, up a hill and your head's hanging down, looking down at chainsay, I've got er ardua at Astra. All right. So so when things are bad and you're looking down at your feet and at your chainsay, I just look at that and I go through adversity. That's it.

Larry 58:43

Excellent. When when

Per Ardua Ad Astra

Larry 58:45

you look back on on your sporting career, can can you think of times when you might have had to to face some adversity? Um, I know that a lot of people that do these events, they've come out of some adversity or they've been in dark places, and they they take these on as a as a substitute sometimes or a filler or um move one addiction to training addiction. Uh I'm not I'm not suggesting that that's necessarily happened for you. Um, but is there anything along the way that kind of fits into any of those stories or an adversity along the way that has made it so that you can do these things, that you can go these long distances, you can go into these dark places that people do when they're racing and come out the other side. Maybe maybe that's just your military background, but what do you think it is for you that helps you get to those finish lines?

SPEAKER_02 59:40

I don't know about me. I'd say in general, I think you touched on a few things. I've met a lot of people in the ultra world that that have got demons that they're running with or from, and that's okay. Um, in my mind, they're doing the healthy thing. They've found um, you know, they've got uh obsessive compulsiveness of some sort, and and they they deal with it by training, which I think is cool. Um, I don't know if I've got that same thing, but I've met many people that that deal with it in that way. And um, you know, I could even name names, but I won't. Um and in my own case, um, I've I've had um uh neck nerve issues since I realize now uh after being diagnosed when I was 40 years old with it with this neck condition, um, I was I was uh grounded off flying ejection seats because the doctors, when I I came up with this nerve problem, they did an MRI and they looked and they said, like, you can't fly ejection seats. And I said, why? And they said, because if you eject, it's not a matter of if, but you will paralyze yourself. You have a very, very bad, you know, neck spinal cord issue. And and it it it now that I look back or you know, over the years I realize that I've uh probably been dealing with these nerve issues up in my neck for a long, long time. And and I'm lucky, just darn lucky I didn't eject because um I well there there's a number of things I've said over the years that I'm lucky to be alive, but but there have been several times where um I should be in a wheelchair, actually, like according to the doctors, because I came very, very close. There was one time where I should have ejected and I didn't. I made a snap decision. And on the in the moment, in the heat of the moment, I didn't. And I I was lucky we we pulled out. It was a student that shut an engine down on me, and I I got it relit. And uh and uh I we were already below the ejection envelope uh to begin with, and uh, well, or just on the edge of it. And uh, if I had ejected at that time, um, and I didn't I didn't avoid the ejection because I didn't want to, it's just I made a snap decision to to restart the engine and and um and I'd followed through with it. And but if I had ejected, I probably would be in a wheelchair right now. So just very lucky, just fate. Uh I didn't make the decision because I knew that I had a compromise neck. I just so um I've I've had several things that have happened and two after the 2005 Ultraman. I was sold on Ultraman. I was I wanted to do it. I've been invited to Hawaii and everything, and um and uh I thought, okay, we're gonna do this for the future. Well, that very next year, um I it was a construction-related incident. I did a heavy lift one day and I uh I pinched the nerves up in my neck so badly that uh I lost all the muscle on the right side of my body. Like I look like a pre-pubescent boy. Um, and it looked like I had had a stroke. My right hand was curled up, I couldn't sign my signature or anything like that. And it was like that for a couple of months, uh, a solid month, anyways. And then it started to settle out a little bit. But I had to teach myself how to swim again. Like I couldn't even hold my arm up in the air. Like if I pushed off the wall in a pool, one arm just fell back, my right arm just fell back. So I became the I jokingly said I was one of the world's best one-arm butterfliers because I was just in the pool just practicing and back doing one arm backstroke, one arm butterfly, and just trying to teach my shoulder how to lift my arm again. It took me a year, and I and I've never fully recovered from that. I'd say I'm about like 90% recovered. If I swim full on, I swim like a salmon I wiggle and stuff because one arm's stronger than the other. And um, yeah, so that was a bit of adversity. Um, and uh um I, you know, when I say that, I I know people have gone through way worse. There's a fellow named Devishish Paul, uh, Dev Paul, an old Air Force friend again. And uh that guy's just uh and he's back in the game now. He's he's had some just incredibly horrific things that have happened to him. Uh a couple of years ago, he couldn't even walk. And uh and he got run over by a bus at one time, it just his arm got crushed, and and uh, but he's back in the game. He's doing Iron Man and Half Iron Man, and he's just loving it and uh doing very well for himself in life. Uh just love hearing success stories like that, you know, just through adversity, right? And um, you know, we're not in a race anymore. We're just we're out there doing it. And uh um I've I've recently had another uh couple little episodes with nerve related things. Um and uh and it's I think we we had a brief discussion earlier. I I I broke my neck three years ago. Um, and uh of all things, I was just trying to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I I passed out on the way to the toilet and and uh slammed my head into a into a door. And um and uh yeah, that was that was a bit of a wake-up call there too, because I was I was down on the ground paralyzed for five minutes. Um and uh I mean, I just I recovered like anybody else that had broken their neck. Um took me six weeks and and I probably got a bit of a sore neck now than I than I used to have. Um and uh so you just gotta take care of yourself. I mean, I'm not getting any younger either, right?

Larry 1:04:39

But what what is it like in the in those five minutes when you're when you're lying on the floor? Um, you know, people have had like maybe a stinger before or something and they can't lift their arm, but what what was it like for you?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:51

Well, I know what it feels like to be paralyzed, and all I can say is I I um I uh have nothing but respect for the people that have to like uh mind-blowing respect for the people that are there doing their therapy, trying to get their legs working and their arms working again, because I've never in my and it's not even close. I've never the mental neuron firing that was going on there was shocking. You know, you're there and you're awake. Uh well, I came to is what happened. And um, my son thought I had died. He was down there, I was in a pool of blood and I was unresponsive. And and then he he didn't know I was uh was alive until I groaned because uh there's the whole pile to the story. But and then I and then I I said, just just let me try and and I said I can't move. And and they they my wife and daughter and son were just standing there, and I was uh and I was just I gotta and and I was trying to make things work and and um you know I can't say there's a lot of physical um workload there, but the mental trying to fire, make neurons fire that you know you should be able to move and they're not moving, and you just come on, move, move. And and uh so when I see pictures. of uh people that are you know they're that are paras or whatever and and or the working on a parallel bar system and and um trying to move their limbs i i can just it's i i can relate to it a little bit uh like i can't really relate to but i i've been there i've done it and and when i went to see the doc my wife was with me when we saw the mRI of two spikes that went into my uh spinal cord partially you know temporarily paralyzed me and um oh wow and so you could see it in the MRI um and uh I just looked at the doctor and I go so I guess I'm pretty lucky eh and he goes yup you're like a cat with nine lives well yeah you know um just whatever just yeah every day I wake up I just go yep still here man this is good let's carry on right yeah and and I understand that you kind of had it diagnosed or you figure it had something to do with the fact that as as a trained athlete you're got a low resting heart rate and maybe you just got up too quick when you went to the bathroom is that what it was or yeah so a little bit of what my pilot training came in. So yeah I mean when I was in the hospital there um when I was in the emergency room the nurses going you know this happens more often than you think and I go really I I mean I've never heard of anybody having these problems she goes oh it happens whatever and um and then we start talking about it and um it comes back to even my training in the Air Force as a pilot with uh G loadings and stuff with the blood going to and from your head. So you're in a prone position and you got a low heart rate um your blood pressure's down to nil and then you you sit up quickly and got to go to the bathroom. So like I've been doing that I've you know had little issues um if you want to call it that I've been going to the bathroom in the middle of the night since I was in my 20s. Some people don't get that until they're midlife or whatever. But so I've got it down to a T where I just go there come back get into bed and go back to sleep within minutes and and it it doesn't even doesn't even phase me. And I guess I just got up too quickly that one night and um and yeah I had a full dream as I was going down. I remember thinking why am I falling but it was a dream why am I falling in my dream? And then and then it was just like getting hit by a baseball bat it just it just went smack in my head went right back and and I was out and you know groaning but um yeah I'm going off I'm going off on a tangent there with it's all right I like that story um so what what are you up to these days?

Larry 1:08:25

You know people that are in these lifestyles they don't give them up they don't stop cold turkey um if you've been in multi sport for this many years what kind of what kind of activities are you doing these days?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:36

Do you have any events or adventures that you're got on the plans other than uh you know race across Canada and uh the Silk Road I haven't really uh run training um I've also uh I've had knee meniscus issues over the years and none of them from training none of them from racing or training it's all been um construction related uh uh results or or something traumatic uh terror sort of thing and um and but I've been able to run and uh all I've done for the last 20 years basically is just run our dog um through through the local uh trails um for uh the very the two dogs that we've had over the over the that time frame I haven't really done any run training um I I bike everywhere I hardly ever use a car in Vancouver um so I cycle commute everywhere that I go um and I swim regularly that that's my core thing is I swim with a group and uh and you know in the odd time I I ramp it up for an event like this that comes up um it's a lifestyle really truly it's not I'm not out there trying to I'm I'm never gonna be competitive to beat anybody in anything really I mean if I get into a race I I'm still I I'm sure I'm still uh you know if I want to take a month and and train up I'll you know I can do a 215 Olympic a couple of years ago I went 215 225 on like a week's training you know I just I I just sort of went okay let's go out do a little bit of time trial work so I went out and did a couple of real hard time trials and and just ramped up a little bit and I I can't remember what my time was it was around there and um I don't know if I'd do that now and I I I really don't have the desire to um to be honest it was just somebody offered me a free entry into a triathlon I thought yeah let's just go do it and have fun and um but but I'm guessing if you're if you're down at at the beach and you're out there swimming in the ocean and you see Barry Berg beside you you're you're gonna race a little bit. No you know what Barry Barry's pretty awesome and he like I can I cannot swim like uh I lose the second a year is what's been happening the last 20 years. So when I was 40 years old when I did Ultraman Canada I was uh I was a I could I could turn over on 110 um easily um doing hundred meter swims i i could do sets on 115 and i'd pull off 110s regularly now i'm i'm up at uh so what is that 20 years later i'm i'm more like about a 130 now and barry still berry's he's a good swimmer he do he's strong and i can't i can't keep up to so there's no race at all there is no race between Barry and I I just I you know I just throw a rope around him get a tow and and I was a you know I was a swimmer I I guess I am a swimmer and stuff I was a backstroker actually I was never really a very good freestyler but but I lose about a second a year it's it's almost perfectly you know every five years I'm I'm doing a five second slower turnover yeah it's the best I can get well listen Gerard I I want to thank you for taking the time out of your evening to record this with me and to to share your stories with with the listener and to to bring us in on some of these things that you've done in your past and I I think it was great for you to share your your motto with us because I think probably a lot of people who do ultra events can can share with that you know through adversity to the stars.

Larry 1:11:58

So thanks so much for coming and sharing your stories.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:01

That's a great trip down memory line and I love talking about some of the people and there is a lot of fun talking with you there Larry. Appreciate it. Thank you.