Early start to a long journey
Published Thursday August 6th, 2009
Triathlon Young athlete willing to put in work to master sport's three disciplines
Editor's note: This is the 14th in a series of profiles on New Brunswick athletes competing in the 2009 Canada Summer Games, Aug. 15-29 on Prince Edward Island.
The shouts of race volunteers echo off a light fog skimming the still waters on Lily Lake.
Cyclists in multi-coloured bodysuits swing to the right as they enter the transition area beyond the W. Franklin Hatheway Pavilion.
For them, a five-kilometre run awaits.
Racer 908 makes his way down the slope leading to the conclusion of the Rockwood by the Bay Triathlon. His green and maroon Canada Games one-piece clings to his 6-foot frame as he crosses the line and a medal is placed around his neck.
Ian Forbes finishes first in the under-19 age class, 13th overall. He opens a bottle of water and directs a small smile toward his parents, Stacey and Alex, metres away.
Forbes looks little worse for wear. His breathing almost immediately returns to normal. Only the sweat that darkens the edges of his sandy-blonde hair betrays the 750-m swim, 26-km bike ride and a 5-km run he's completed in one hour, 24 minutes and 46 seconds.
Jon Tracy, his coach, greets him and asks about the race, one of the last Forbes will run prior to competing at the Canada Games, Aug. 15-29 in Prince Edward Island.
"Not too bad," Forbes says, exhaling with a laugh and shrugging his shoulders. "The course was really hilly."
Forbes appears nonchalant about the result. But he understands what he's done is not easy, that triathlon is a demanding sport, one that requires excellence in three disciplines.
The majority of racers don't begin seeing top results until well into their third decade. At Rockwood, nine of the top 10 finishers are 30 or older. Three of the top five are on the flip side of 40. At 16, Forbes is relatively new to the sport, originally attracted to it as a way to cross train for his first love, track and field.
"I really wanted to make the Games team in the 800-m or 1500-m but the age limit (for those events) is 22 and there are a lot of older guys," he says.
Forbes crooked path to triathlon began at Albert St. Middle School in Fredericton, where he ran cross-country and track. His top times and results as a Grade 8 student caught the attention of coaches from Fast Tracks, who recruited him to join the capital city athletics club.
That summer he began mountain biking as a member of the province's cycling association, Velo NB. Mountain bike racing led to road racing. But road racing seemed to be leading nowhere.
"There weren't that many races unless you wanted to travel to Quebec or Nova Scotia. I didn't have the time to do that so I thought, I'd done Kids of Steel, what about triathlon."
Forbes entered the Kids of Steel events, scaled down triathlons for younger athletes, as a 10-, 11- and 12-year-old. He competed for fun, never dreaming the events would one day lead him to representing New Brunswick as a triathlete.
Still, his desire to excel led him to join the Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team over a year ago. He's also a member of the Fredericton High swim team, where he competes in the 400-m freestyle.
The hard work has seen him trim about three minutes off the swim portion of the triathlon, allowing him to remain in the pack heading into the bike portion of races.
It also helped him qualify for Team New Brunswick in July. Nearly recovered from a injury that slowed him during the Canadian junior track and field championships last month (he placed 34th in the 800-m despite running on a sprained toe), Forbes is hoping to finish in the middle of the pack at the Canada Games.
His coach thinks a top-25 finish is possible for the young triathlete, considering his strength as a runner and the improvement in his swimming.
"His swimming has come a long way," said Tracy, who has worked with Forbes as a member of Triathlon NB for about six months.
"His strength is his running and it's a flat course (in P.E.I) so he could have a good time (in the run portion)....But he's quite young. These Games will give him the experience to potentially be really strong at the next Games."
At 16, Ian Forbes realizes his journey as a triathlete is just beginning, that his competitive drive will propel him to do the road work, the laps in the pool and the kilometres on the bike. He understands that triathlon is a demanding mistress, one who only yields results through hard work. He says he's willing to put in the years of service.
"It's a neat sport because right now there is not a lot of pressure....If I finish 10th out of 150, they're all older than me.
"As my mom always says, the reason there aren't that many kids my age doing it is because it's so hard."
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