Jason Pohl from Red Deer, Alberta ranked in the top four as well as best Canadian triathlon athlete at his most recent Ironman Competition this June 2021 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. (Jason Pohl)

By Alessia Proietti

Professional At Three Sports

Red Deer’s Ironman: Triathlon athlete qualifies for World Championship

Nov 1, 2021 | 12:18 PM

The fictional Iron Man superhero may be based off a real story. This 30-year-old Central Albertan shares an intellectual affinity in mathematics, paired with superhuman strength and speed. But his name isn’t Tony Stark nor is he from Boston, MA. Instead, his name is Jason Pohl and he’s born and raised in Red Deer, AB.

Pohl has been competing in Ironman Triathlon competitions for seven years. Considered one of the most challenging sporting events in a 24-hour span, it consists of a 3.8 km swim, 42.2 km marathon and a 180 km bike, with an average circuit time of eight hours.

“I got obsessed with human performance and what the body and mind are capable of doing,” Pohl told rdnewsNOW.

Not only has Pohl completed numerous amounts of these competitions, but he has landed in the top five more than once.

His most recent Ironman Triathlon in June 2021 as a professional athlete in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, ranked him in the top four and best Canadian participant, qualifying him for the World Ironman Championship, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

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His transformation into Ironman wasn’t as easy as putting on a power-armored suit.

Pohl grew up on his family’s cattle farm on the outskirts of Red Deer with the goal of playing professional hockey.

“A lot of the hockey buddies and I would do grass hockey on the farm and always dream and push each other to be the best we could be at hockey,” says Pohl. “It was just a great community to be associated with.”

That dream was looking like a reality as he rose up the ranks to elite, playing goaltender for the Red Deer Vipers. At the age of 16, however, a major surgery from a repeatedly collapsing left lung sat him on the sidelines.

A life without hockey would not be a life without athletics for Pohl, however. Motivated for a sport of the mind as much as the body, he decided to try one of endurance: Woody’s RV World Marathon.

“I completely destroyed myself. I was white as a ghost in a wheelchair after because I couldn’t walk,” says Pohl.

“After that, I wanted the most physically challenging sports that a human could do. I fell in love with the expression of starting from scratch and trying to master three sports,” adds Pohl.

Having a marathon under his belt, and leg training transferred from hockey to biking, swimming was truly learned from scratch. With the help of yoga instructor Aimee at Red Deer’s now-closed Bikram Yoga, Pohl learned how to swim at 22 years of age.

Graduating with his Bachelors of Commerce from the University of Alberta in 2014, it was also the first year he competed as an amateur in an Ironman. Although he collapsed after the race from irregular heartbeats and low potassium levels, he continuously improved, training with Coach Ryan Bolton in the Albertan and Coloradoan Rockies, while simultaneously building his financial practice in Calgary. Competing as a professional athlete in 2017, he transitioned to a full-time athlete the following year.

Participating in the world’s final Ironman competition before the pandemic in Mexico 2020, Pohl’s training continued in Canmore’s lakes and mountains year round.

“You have to be a bit of a psycho to become a professional at three sports,” says Pohl. “From a personal growth standpoint, it’s been an incredible journey.”

While COVID-19 postponed the athlete’s dream of becoming Ironman’s World Champion for another year, Pohl’s next competition will be this November in Mexico.