Dan Walton again proved his mettle during a gruelling Ironman 70.3 Muskoka in Huntsville, consisting of a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike ride and 21.1 km run.
At half the distance of the full Ironman event Dan completed in Florida in 2023, the mechanic at Baffinland’s Mary River mine in Nunavut says the race through cottage country on July 5 turned out to be a lot tougher.
He said, “I did meticulous preparation and was really happy with the way it was going. I was the first there in the morning and did a walkthrough of all the transition areas to make sure I knew where I would be after each stage.
“I had a solid swim and everything was going like clockwork on the bike. I was over 20km in and just settling down when I felt a funny sensation in my right pedal. The pedal was new and I thought it might be defective, but it wasn’t – it had started to unwind and come loose.”
Having damaged the thread, repairs on the fly proved impossible until a passing rider lent him a hex key that finally helped him get the pedal operational. By then, the issue had cost him at least 20 minutes and no end of frustration.
“The thing you always dread most is having a flat, but now I would trade a flat for what happened any day! It was pretty heartbreaking. If I was a younger man, I think I would have thrown the bike down and said I’m not going on!”
But Dan’s steely determination – and the thought of his family waiting for him at the finish line – kept him in the race. However, having overcome equipment issues, Dan faced the run with the mercury climbing beyond 30 C.
He said, “It was so intensely hot with the heat coming off the concrete and the buildings, and the course was very hilly which also made it tough.
“I had set personal bests in training and run multiple half-marathons but in the end it was kind of wasted due to the heat. Eighty-five to 90 per cent of the competitors were doing a combination of walking and running – it was just survival.”
Dan ended up crossing the line in a very respectable 6:33:58, finishing 38th of 55 athletes in the 55-59 age group.
With his family and Union in his corner, the former RAF serviceman has no plans to hang up his racing suit just yet, despite his bad luck in Muskoka. His sights are already fixed on flying the Local 793 flag at his next big target, the Barrelman Niagara Falls Triathlon in 2028.
He said, “I’m so appreciative to this Union for its support, not just of my Ironman racing, but over the years since they came into Baffinland. They’ve helped me out in more ways than one and I’m so grateful for that.”
