Brent Maguire is a sucker for punishment.
The longer, more grueling the race, the better he likes it.
Maguire's idea of a good time is to hop on board his mountain bike and ride it at race speed up and down steep billy goat trails for six hours non-stop. Not only does he like events like the Otway Challenge in Prince George or the Pedal by the Puddle enduro in Williams Lake, but he usually wins them. But even that's not enough to fuel his desire to test his body to its limits. This year he's looking for more. Maguire is among a group of hardcore athletes entered in the Endurance Challenge, and he's out to win it.
The Challenge includes the Prince George Iceman (held in February), the Otway Challenge (Aug. 28), the Mad Moose Marathon (Sept. 25) and Sunday's Prince George Citizen Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic distance triathlon.
Maguire, 25, has only one triathlon under his belt, and that happened 10 years ago when he was a high school student in his native Ontario.
"I've never done the tri here, I'm not a big swimmer, the swim is definitely the scary part for sure," said Maguire.
"I was already planning on doing the Mad Moose this year as my first marathon and I did the Otway Challenge last year [one of few to compete in the run and the bike events]. I do really well with longer events. The longer and slower the race, the better I do. That's why I'm working on speed this year."
In February, Maguire tackled the Iceman as a solo competitor after a three-week illness. The annual winter endurance race includes cross-country skiing, running, skating and swimming, and Maguire posted a spectacular time of 2:07:16, just 19 minutes off the winning pace of Pat Turner.
"I wasn't sure if I would be able to make the distance," he said. "I cramped up in the pool like everyone does, you definitely feel it by the end. I just did it for fun and to see if I could finish it, and I can't complain at all, it was good."
Maguire has already tested the waters of West Lake and got through the 1.5km distance without misadventure. But the water was chilly and wet suits will be the order of the day Sunday.
The good news about the Citizen triathlon is the race starts with the swim event -- two laps of a 0.75-kilometre course on the lake, followed by a 40km bike and a 10km run.
"Just mentally, once I finish the swim I'm going to feel like I'm 90 per cent of the way there," Maguire chuckled. "I've been out at West Lake and I've done the distance and didn't drown. Everything's looking up."
Maguire's bike skills are always top-notch. He teamed up with Derek Ingram of Prince George to finish second in the team event a few weeks ago at the Pedal by the Puddle enduro. He will have to be on his game to make a push for inaugural Endurance Challenge title in the Otway Challenge. That will involve 10km of tough trail running on single-track, followed by six hours of mountain biking on the same course. Only the run and the first four hours of the enduro count toward Endurance Challenge points, but Maguire will no doubt go the full six hours to see how many laps he can cover.
The triathlon/duathlon starts Sunday at 9 a.m. at the parking lot at West Lake provincial park. The Olympic distance triathlon and duathlon start at 9, followed by the sprint triathlon (0.75km swim, 20km bike, 5km run) at 9:30 a.m. The duathlon consists of two 5km runs and a 20km bike.
A total of 89 athletes are entered in the race.
