Guelph resident and Fergus native Cody Beals made his Ironman debut and won the competition in Mont-Tremblant on Aug. 18, setting a new bike and overall course record.
“Nothing prepared me for the challenge and rush of a win on home soil,” he said in a tweet.
Beals beat second-place finisher, Lionel Sanders of Windsor, by 14 minutes.
He came out of the water stage second overall behind fellow Canadian Antoine Desroches, but on the bike he set a blistering pace, putting pressure on Lionel Sanders and setting the bike course record with a time of 2:49:22.
Then on the run he held his pace throughout and finished in 8 hours, 10 minutes and 36 seconds – breaking the previous course record by six minutes.
He is also the first Canadian male to win Ironman Mont-Tremblant. The triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run.
The 28-year-old athlete is a graduate of Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus and swam with the Fergus Flippers throughout his childhood.
