Olivia Kelher
An Ironman coach who was “blessed with the gift” of coaching Ivan Chittenden says she knows in her heart that the 64-year-old Canadian was “doing what he loved” when he competed in the Ironman event in Youghal , Co. Cork, died last Sunday.
11-time Ironman champion Lisa Bentley said that while she spent 12 years teaching Ivan the sport of triathlon and honing his marathon run, it was more about “walking beside him as a friend.”
“And to walk him through how he wanted to compete in his first triathlon, then his first half-Ironman, and finally his first Ironman. And he did it again and again, even running all six marathon majors in Tokyo, Berlin, London, Chicago, New York City and Boston.
he was my friend He was my family. These aren’t words. That’s a fact. I will miss him very much.
I know in my heart that he was doing what he loved when he left us. Ivan was in the best shape of his life. As he got older, he got faster and faster.”
Ms Bentley said she did a four-hour cycle with Ivan three weeks ago, during which he was his typically energetic.
“In typical Ivan fashion, he mastered the descents and left me behind! Part of me was like, “I want to keep up,” and the other part was like, “Well, I guess I do my job as a coach because he’s so fast.”
Ms. Bentley said that Ivan loved triathlon and over the course of their training years together, had become the “Elder Statesman” of their training group.
“He wasn’t the novice anymore, doing 45-minute runs and 1,000-meter swims. He was a confident athlete who regularly did three- to four-hour trail rides, ninety-minute runs, 8,000-10,000-foot swims, and weight training.
Ivan has lived more in the last twelve years than many of us live in life. He has left his comfort zone. He travelled. He’s been training. He raced.”
Lisa added that before Ivan left for Ironman 70.3 in Youghal last week, she spoke to him every day, either by phone, text message or email.
“He was now in the 65-69 age group, although by October he was 64. And I reminded him, “Hey, you better go to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship because there aren’t many 65-year-olds who are faster than you!”
Ivan lived well enough. He was happily married – so happy. He was allowed to travel the world. He achieved his goal of competing in triathlons, competing in multiple Ironman events, competing in multiple Boston marathons, and competing in the six World Marathon Majors. He was a gentleman.”
“Gamer. Introvert. Problem solver. Creator. Thinker. Lifelong food evangelist. Alcohol advocate.”