For Gerry Borus, there had been nudges towards the resumption of an athletic lifestyle. For starters, it was high time.
Preoccupied – as district business administrator for the Winnipeg School Division, as mother of two busy kids (son Devon and daughter Deidra) – Borus had been keeping a low profile. For more than 20 years, she wasn’t as active as she had been as a youngster. But change was imminent.
Motivation also came from Devon, a provincial-calibre speed skater and cyclist. Seeing him race gave Mom a jolt of motivation. “I was thinking, ‘I would like to get on a bike again.’”
Further encouragement? Hearing that a co-worker had entered a triathlon. “I went, ‘Oh, that sounds kind of cool,’” recalls Borus. “I was looking at her and I was looking at myself, thinking, ‘You know what? If she can do that, I can do that.’”
Suitably stoked, Borus looked up the coordinates of the Triple Threat Triathlon Club’s headquarters in Winnipeg, drove over, stepped through the doors and announced her presence.
“I knew nobody,” she says, chuckling. “I didn’t know a soul. That was the beauty of the whole thing. I walked in and said, ‘I’m here. What can you teach me?’”
Because, when it came to triathlons, her slate was blank.
Nearly 50 years old, Borus was a total novice. She had done only a little swimming. She didn’t run much because of a cranky left knee, the souvenir of a slow-pitch mishap. And she didn’t even own a bike.
That level of inexperience, however, did not rattle Borus. She’d already made up her mind. She knew what she wanted to do – embrace this sport of triathlon – and nothing was going to stop her.
Which is precisely how it played out.
Now 64 – with dozens of races, at all sorts of distances, under her belt – Borus remains an inspirational figure, not to mention an active participant, in Manitoba’s triathlon scene.
“It keeps me young,” she says. “You have to keep doing things you love to do, and I love to do triathlons. I’m proud of where I started and I’m proud of where I’m going.”
Where is she going? Ottawa in August – to take a crack at the Ironman there. And be assured, her number one fan, and husband, Larry Borus, will be cheering along every swim stroke, bike pedal and step on the run to the finish line.
Where did she start? University of Manitoba in May 2011, when a Try-A-Tri event set the hook.
“I remember standing there, thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’m about to do this,’” says Borus. “It was just a great experience, people cheering you on. I loved it.”
And the sport appealed to more than her competitive side. The triathlon community welcomed her, offering advice and encouragement, providing companionship during workouts.
“It’s so much better to be part of a team,” she says. “When you’re training with a group of like-minded people, it doesn’t matter your age. That’s what I like about the sport — it doesn’t matter that I’m 60 and they’re 30.”
For five years, Borus settled into the sport’s sprint division – swim 750 metres, cycle 20 kilometres, run five kilometres – and twice competed in her age-group at the ITU World Championships.
She turned her attention to the Olympic distance – swim 1.5 kilometres, cycle 40 kilometres, run 10 kilometres – for three years.
Also on her bucket list, perhaps not surprisingly? The Ironman – swim 3.9 kilometres, cycle 180 kilometres, run 42.2 kilometres – which, according to Borus, was within reach.
“Start from the bottom and work your way up,” she says. “If you think you can do an Ironman and you haven’t tried Try-A-Tri, sprint, and Olympic distances, it’s a bit difficult, no matter how good you are. You’ve got to get the experience. You’ve got to feel it.”
And feel it, Borus has, relishing the training, the races, the camaraderie – everything about the multi-sport world.
“I’ve never had a bad experience in triathlon – except for my accident.”
Yes, that. At the 2022 Ironman in Penticton, B.C., Borus wiped out during the cycling stage, resulting in a raft of upper-body injuries, a week-long hospital stay, and a long recovery.
“Bad, really bad,” she says. “It was tough to get through all that.”
Understandably, racing again wasn’t a certainty. Shoulder damage made swimming a challenge. And the spill stuck with her.
“Physically, mentally, it will always be in the back of my mind,” she says. “I didn’t know if I’d get back into the sport. But my peer group said, ‘You’ve got unfinished business. It’s time to get back.’”
So, 11 months later, Borus returned, tackling the Olympic distance of the Hecla, Man., triathlon. The emotional comeback drew applause from her well-wishers — which, in this case, was nearly everyone on site.
This past May, she threw herself into the half-Ironman in Victoria.
“That took a lot of courage,” she says. “If I was going to continue on with the sport, I had to do that specific thing to get me over the hump. And it worked. I knew I was going to finish it – because I wanted to finish it.”
Even better, Deidra had been there to cheer on her mother. This, says Borus, represented the “highlight” of the day.
“She had never really watched a full race of mine, and she actually handed me my medal,” says Borus. “She was crying, and it was a great moment for me, especially at my age. She knew what I’d been through. It was amazing.
“Was I happy with my time? No. However, in the end I was happy that I completed the journey again.”
Ticking yet another box, Borus considered having the success in Victoria stand as her swansong – the last stop of a wonderful 13-year career. “But a few of my girlfriends, they kind of looked at me and said, ‘This is your life. You’ve been doing this forever. Why, all of a sudden, are you going to stop?’” she recalls. “And I said, ‘You’re right – I enjoy this sport and I’m going to continue to do it as long as I can.’ So here I am.”
And Manitoba’s triathlon community could not be happier.
To every level of competitor, from greenhorn to greybeard, she is friendly, supportive and encouraging.
“That’s the mentality of triathlon. I want other people to have as much fun as I’m having. I’m always cheering people on. I’ve always got this smile on my face,” says Borus. “Your triathlon team may have some really strong performers, but then there’s people like me – an everyday, age-group triathlete.
“I just want to go out there and have fun.”
