The Canadian contender will line up with the best on championship Sunday, ready to push his limits.
Lionel Sanders is a professional who embodies the IRONMAN ethos that anything is possible. The 28-year-old Canadian will line up as a bonafide prospect at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship on Australia;s Sunshine Coast next month.
Athletic as a teenager, Sanders got caught up in the excesses of life and struggled with drugs, alcohol, and depression. In late 2009, he found a glimmer of light, and began to run again. Nine months later he completed IRONMAN Louisville, and while he finished two hours behind elite champion Paul Ambrose, Sanders felt like a winner. And he was.
He then connected with Canadian coach Barrie Shepley and within two years, Sanders turned pro. By late 2014 he had finished fourth in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship (Mont Tremblant) in home territory. (Sanders was born in Ontario, Canada.) He had begun his steady climb to the top.
That year he won twice over the half distance, as well as earning his first victory at IRONMAN in Florida. Last year he enjoyed four wins at IRONMAN 70.3 events, a victory at IRONMAN Arizona, and 14th at the IRONMAN World Championship. He has been in stellar form this year winning all four of his IRONMAN 70.3 starts in Panama, Oceanside, St. George, and Texas.
Sanders is now focused firmly on the Sunshine Coast, although he is also slated to compete at Kona as well.
"I think IRONMAN 70.3 is more physiological in nature, whereas the IRONMAN hinges a lot more on nutrition, pacing, cooling strategies, etcetera," Sanders says. "Those things I have not yet mastered, so I think I am a lot closer to a good performance in (Sunshine Coast)."
Challenges on the table: "The time change. It's 14 hours ahead of where I'm living. The second will be the amount of traveling to get there. I can’t come too early, nor can I stay too long after, as it will negatively impact my Kona training. The third will be the ocean swim. As a weak swimmer who did not grow up near the ocean, it poses its own set of challenges."
Chances at the win: "I still feel like I have a lot of dues to pay. I have a lot of work still to do in the water and I don't think I've reached my limit on the bike and the run yet. To stand on the top I'm sure would be deeply satisfying, but it won't demarcate the end of the journey. I still need many more years to find out what the limit is, if there are any at all."
Approach:"I have to go into this one the same way I go into all the big races. And that is to execute the best strategy I possibly can and push myself to the absolute limit on the day."
Tip for the masses: "Always have a plan for race day and stick to it no matter what curve-balls come your way. As well, find out what motivates you. Really isolate what it is and constantly remind yourself of it because it is this motivation that when the going gets tough, will allow you to persevere and reach your full potential."