Hello! I'm Jess!

As many of you may already know I have been training for an Ironman 70.3 for the last 8 months. I’ll be heading down to Salem Oregon to do this race on July 20th alongside a group of pals I made last summer. I had decided, after completing my first sprint triathlon, that I wanted to go to a triathlon summer camp to learn more about this sport I fell into. At the camp I met so many wonderful women and non-binary folks with different experience levels and by the end of the weekend we had decided to sign up for an Ironman 70.3…something I had never even considered trying. New friends and a big goal!

But none of this would’ve happened had it not been for my uncle Brian. He was the first person to put the triathlon bug in my head after he mentioned to our family in September 2023 that he wanted to complete a triathlon in the summer of 2024. I decided to race my first triathlon up at Tyhee Lake and many members of my family, including my uncle, did too.

My uncle, who is like a dad to me, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years ago. He’s always been a big sports guy, as a fan and a competitor. When he got the diagnosis he decided there were a bunch of things he wanted to do, like wrestling down in Las Vegas, The Prince George Iceman, and the Type Lake triathlon. He also completed a marathon on an elliptical to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society of BC. On top of his dedication to sport, he’s also incredibly creative and gives back to his community. He is Truly one of the most generous, kind-hearted people I know and I love him dearly. He has always been a huge supporter of me in my artistic and athletic pursuits and so I’ve decided that I want to dedicate this Ironman to him. I always like to have a “why” in whatever goals I decide to pursue and one of them is to honour him and the incredible person he is. He is a big part of how I ended up training for this big silly thing.

For the next month and a half I will be collecting donations for the Alzheimer’s Society of BC to aid in their funding. If this is something that you align with and you are in a position to do so, please consider making a small donation! The money raised stays within province to offer support services for families, education and research.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time!