Former Weyburn resident Sharon Styles shared how she has become among the top competitors in her age category in Iron Man triathlon competitions, even at the world level, in a presentation she gave to Weyburn Rotary members on Thursday.
The daughter of Nancy and Glen Styles of Weyburn, she took part in the club鈥檚 Zoom meeting, and was able to share photos of the many locations she has travelled to for competitions in recent years. (Shown above are photos of her cycling at Pentiction, and cycling and running in Nice, France, in September 2019.)
The Styles family moved to Weyburn when she was two years old, so Sharon took all of her schooling here, first starting with track and field in Grade 7 without any team or coach to help her. Later in junior high, she was able to go over to the high school for coaching, and the late Len Williams was one of her first coaches.
鈥淗e was very encouraging to me, and I got to go to provincials,鈥� said Sharon, noting she also had Marcie Benson as her first cross-country running coach, along with Wanda Pegg, and Diane Hansen as her swimming coach.
After graduating from the Weyburn Comp in 1994, she attended the University of Saskatchewan, did some training in cross-country running there, and then moved to Alberta. In 2007, Sharon did her first triathlon event 鈥渁nd I was hooked鈥�.
Coaching became her full-time job, although that鈥檚 been reduced somewhat with the COVID-19 restrictions in place right now.
She explained there are different categories in triathlon competitions, including the professional level, elite level and age categories where she usually competes.
鈥淥ne of the really cool things is the opportunity to travel the world and see some really cool things, and meet some amazing people,鈥� Sharon said of her experiences as a competitor.
In 2014, she entered an international Iron Man competition in Edmonton, where she was able to compete against the best competitors in the world in her age category.
She won her age category that year, so she earned a spot to take part in the world Iron Man competition in 2015 in Chicago, where she placed fourth.
鈥淥ne of the cool things is you can go to places you might not normally go to,鈥� she said, noting her trip to Chicago was a great experience with some very interesting sights, including having a photo of her family in front of the big bean tourist spot, as well as visiting one of the largest natural history museums in the world, the 鈥淢iracle Mile鈥� and Wrigley Field to see some Major League Baseball.
At the 2017 International Triathlon Union Multisport World Championships in Penticton, she placed in fifth for amateur females overall and was third in her age group (40-44). The distances in this competition was a 3km swim, 120km bike race and a 30km run.
Later she earned a spot at the worlds in Kona, Hawaii, which 鈥渋s a pretty big deal鈥� in the world of Iron Man competitions.
She had a Canadian flag that she carried around with her, and had a number of people sign it. Her parents were with her for the Hawaiian competition, and they went there a week early so she could get acclimated to the humidity and heat.
The swim portion of the triathlon was out into the open ocean, said Sharon. 鈥淚t was really hot that day, really high humidity, but I finished, so I can now say I鈥檓 a Kona survivor.鈥�
She and her family saw the sights there, including Volcano National Park.
In 2018, she took in a competition in Puerto Rico, including at Old San Juan. The weather was really hot, the locale was very scenic and she was the first female of all age groups to finish.
鈥淭hey thought that was a big deal, which was really exciting,鈥� she said. The sights they took included the governor鈥檚 mansion, where they were not allowed to take any photos.
She later took in a competition in Galveston, Texas, and then in Nice France, in 2019. A huge storm interrupted the competition in Galveston, where she was able to finish (in sixth place, winning her age category), but three-quarters of the field were not able to.
The competition in Nice took place in September 2019, one of the last ones she was able to attend last year, taking place in the mountains of the Alps.
鈥淚t was brutally hard. The hills in Alberta don鈥檛 prepare you for this,鈥� said Sharon, adding she was amazed by the beauty of the country, and wished she was more of a poet so she could adequately express how beautiful it was.
The French fans lined the roads and would yell, 鈥淎llez! Allez!鈥� as they encouraged her to keep on.
She placed 12th in her age group, and said, 鈥淭he European women were just way stronger than us North American women. I was pretty happy with that finish. I did the best I could.鈥�
Afterward, they saw the world-famous beaches of Nice, and then travelled westward into Italy, where she saw ancient terraces where vineyards grew, all built without modern tools.
She was supposed to take in competitions this spring in Oceanside, California, and at Edmonton, but both of those were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by Rotary member Mal Barber about the mental aspect of doing Iron Man or triathlons, Sharon replied, 鈥淭he mental part is huge, learning how to push yourself is a big part of going faster. That鈥檚 something you get better at.鈥�
She added with a chuckle, 鈥淪ome of us are just better at suffering than others.鈥�
Asked what is the difference between Iron Man and triathlon, she said that Iron Man is basically the brand name for this type of competition.
