I first met Jasper Blake when it was suggested I get him out to speak at a learn-to-run clinic. My contact said, "he is funny, speaks well and the chix dig him." Even though getting a hold of Jasper was tougher than swatting a fruit fly in a gale, with a straw. I did manage to get him out to speak and the chix did dig him for sure. I think a guy or two dug him as well, which really cramped the whole 'let's focus on our form today,' speech I delivered.

Since then Jasper has only been visible gracing the cover of magazines or race brochures. I can attribute my success in finding the elusive athlete to guessing on several of his email addresses. During our communication, he replied to me with a different address each time, which is something straight out of the Book of Stealth, by Yassir Arafat.

Email to Jasper: "Jasper, I've sent you some emails, you getting them?"

"No."

"Can we do an interview?"

"Yes, send questions by email."

[cyberspace is the final frontier and I am afraid the email won't come back ever...click...send...wait...contact]

Jasper, the athlete:

CK: Jasper, you are a super talented athlete, you have excelled in several sports, including downhill skiing and tennis, you even competed in NCAA Div 1 on a full tennis scholarship at the University of Wisconsin. How is it that you discovered ironman of all sports?

JB: I'm not sure I'm super talented, but I really, really, really love playing and doing sports. So it has always been easy for me to devote ridiculous amounts of time and energy to them. I definitely feel lucky that I am coordinated enough to pick things up quite quickly and I can become so absorbed in a game that time just disappears. Ironman was an odd one. My first real coach Jeff Thompson was hard core into triathlon and did ironman racing when I worked with him skiing. He was also an incredible skier. I would say that he is the primary reason I got into it triathlon. We used to train a ton for skiing and a lot of it was running and biking. We used to do a fun duathlon at the end of each year and the winner would get one of Jeff's old unitard racing suits........a coveted prize for sure. I always think that if I'd been born in Russia someone would have thrown me in endurance sports much earlier. I was always much more suited for that type of thing.

CK: You are an ironman champion having won several ironman events including Subaru Ironman Canada, Canadian Championships, Subaru ½ Iron. You also finished 4th in the USA Men's Championships in Coeur D'Alene, what is next on your ironman to-do list?

JB: Ultimately I want to win Hawaii. That is why I got into this sport.....to see how good I could be against the best athletes in the world. I also know however, that to make a living, I have to keep winning events and the best one I can win is Ironman Canada (being Canadian and all). So, this year I plan on heading back to Penticton to try and win another one. Then it's off to Hawaii to see if I can't redeem myself after last year's stupidity. I am also planning on hitting on some Xterra events.

CK: Oh, what happened?

JB: I basically did everything I said that you shouldn't do in an Ironman. And sure enough it bit me in the ass. I was so at peace with the whole process and on my blog, I talked about the ideal state of mind and how I was in it. I had zero excuses to be frank. I was totally healthy, no injuries, peaceful, fit as I've ever been, great equipment, I was like Chuck Norris. Then on race day, I proceeded to do exactly the opposite of everything I had planned. I got caught up in the madness of it, went too hard at the start of the bike and blew myself to pieces after about 80km and that was that, nothing left, completely done. I was an idiot defined and after I told myself to read my own blog again. But that is racing and that is the way it goes sometimes, simple as that. It doesn't matter what happens in every second before an event, what matters is how you handle yourself during the event and I screwed up.....simple as that.

CK's note: How do you like that? A guy without excuses, brilliant!

The one plus to the day was that I got picked up by the radio station covering the event and spent the next 6 hours in spandex as a commentator....free lunch and everything.....and they say there's no such thing as a free lunch....I say that's BS!... I had one! I'm living proof. Chuck Norris gets free lunches all the time (and hot ones). On Stupidity

CK: Listening to you speak to a run group once, you were training for a hot weather ironman at the time. You told the audience that you would turn the heat up in your home really high to simulate the location of competition. Have you had much chance to spin or run in these new heat boxes that are available now?

JB: Not really. I still do my heat protocol in a similar way, but I up the anti. I usually turn on the fire place, crank the heat and get dressed up in all my winter riding gear (non breathable rain coat included) and ride the trainer. I follow a similar protocol as always, but do it mostly at home. I've found the only real way to have success in heat at least for me, is to go to the location and train and live in it...no air conditioning, just live it, breath it, become one with it and eventually learn to love it.

CK: Do you have any competitive mantras you repeat, when in the midst of a tough race?

JB: Be and Be Present. I don't try to make more of it than it is, I'm not at war or anything, but I certainly prefer winning over not, so I will drill myself into oblivion to try and do it if it's an important race.

Best run splits:

Ironman Canada - 2:48 Half Iron California - 1:14 National Long Course Championships

Half Iron - 1:14

Best Iron times:

Ironman Canada 2006 - 8:33

Ironman Canada 2002 - 8:42

Half Iron California 2002 - 3:52

CK: Before that one day comes down the road, when you look at retirement from competitive ironman, what is your one, ultimate goal - the absolute pinnacle of ironman for Jasper Blake?

JB: Winning Hawaii.

The Man:

CK: You grew up in snowy Kimberly BC, which is located near some of the best downhill slopes in the country. You developed into quite a skier attending the National Ski Academy in Collingwood, Ontario for high school. Now that you are a top level ironman competitor, do you get the opportunity to take in some skiing? (can you?)

JB: I don't ski much these days, but winter is something I crave every year and will definitely get back to it when I'm done competing. If you want to prepare properly at any sport it is a full time commitment and I want to give it the best shot possible. My brother has been living in Whistler for the past several years, so inevitably we end up there for a few days reliving the glory years, taking jumps and pretending we still know what to do. I still want to be a World Cup skier as well, that dream will never die.

CK: Can you tell readers about one of your sponsors, Living Harvest?

JB: Living Harvest is fantastic. They make hemp products. I usually get the eye roll and the comment "oh so you can get stoned as well"......but what people don't understand is that hemp is one of the greatest vegetarian based, protein foods on the planet. It might be the healthiest thing you can eat and Living Harvest has been a great supporter for several years. The founder also has a new company called Conscious Planet that has similar products and a whole philosophy of being attached to it. They are good people!

CK: Finlayson (Jasper's awesome son) is training now for hockey and has taken a ride the Stanley Cup, too. Are you a hockey fan?

JB: I'm a Canadian. I just love the sport, it's most fun to watch, most fun to play, and I would have loved to play in the NHL where you get to compete in front of thousands of people all the time....wicked fun!

CK: Which is your favorite team?

JB: Don't have one, depends on the year, depends on the stories, the battles, the overcoming, an individual athlete can make the difference for me, I'm totally fickle.

The Family Man and his Community:

CK: Recently I interviewed Olympic Gold Medalist, Simon Whitfield. In our discussion it was noted that both of you have very recently become fathers. I sensed trepidation in Simon's answer about allowing your children to play together. He said, "No way! PK (Simon's daughter) cannot get together with Jasper's wee lad. Forget it! Especially when they get older; I sense trouble." Perhaps it is just me reading things into his answer. What do you think?

JB: I assure you that the little man Finn, will be a dynamo with the ladies......or who knows, maybe with the fellas......it's a new world and he can do what he likes. Many of our closest friends recently had little girls and when we found out we were having a little boy. It was exciting; kind of, for the reason that it's probably easier as a dad when your son brings home his first girlfriend, as opposed to your daughter bringing home her first boyfriend. But be assured, I will teach him respect of all people and he will be a good wee lad. Who knows, perhaps these two will go on a date sometime in the future, at the very least I am sure they will play together in the sandbox.

The Myth:

CK: I conducted in-depth research to find out which day of the past 100 years has proven to be the most uneventful. I discovered October 9th 1973 was indeed the least eventful. The only significant thing reported to happen or not happen in this case, the NBA's Warriors-Cavaliers game was cancelled due to wet floors. I am not kidding. It is said, 'everything happens for a reason'. So if this is the case, then when nothing happens, does it not happen for a reason? Can you think of anything else that happened on that day? It was a long time ago.

JB: The world operates in a state of constant balance. If nothing happens then something cosmic must happen. Proof of this balance, is that fact I was born on that day. The reason it was not reported was because it had to be kept top secret. Spies were trying to infiltrate the Canadian government at the time and my Mother had to be rushed away in the darkness of the night to give birth to me. It was an alley, shrouded in darkness. The warlords had taken the city and there was no escape. My mother suffered giving birth to me. My father turned out to be the ruler of what people called "the dark side". Years later, I discovered that a princess I had a crush on was my twin sister and that a tall hairy wookie was part of the resistance. I learned then that I would never get an acting job again.

CK's note: [trivia question] Who starred in Corvette Summer, eh?

The Legend:

CK: Again, as mentioned earlier, you excelled at several sports. You are competing at a high level. You are a new father to a 'wee '. Your wife looks like she was brought in from High School to take pictures with newborn Finlayson. You are lucky man on many levels. Saying this, you do give it up, for instance your association with the MS Society. And can you tell me a little about MS and being an Athlete-Ambassador for The Right to Play organization?

JB: The MS stuff is important. I hope to do something with the sport and what I do to generate some funds. I'm no genius, but if raising some money can help the cause or individuals I will leave it at that. MS is a bizarre disease, they're figuring it out, but they still are mystified by many aspects. It sucks watching Pip (Mom) have to deal with it sometimes, little things like holding Finlayson which is a bit of a challenge for her - really gets me and her, but she will never show it. I think she would like to just be able to come over and baby sit and bake a pie or something like all motherly, but can't really do that. It doesn't really matter all that shit because she is good at just BEING there, which is most important. Right to Play I feel a bit odd representing, because I don't do nearly enough for them to garner the association, but perhaps in time. I did raise some money a few years ago but haven't really been able to commit at a level I would deem appropriate. They are truly a fabulous organization.

CK: How about the read-a-thon with the MS Society of Canada and your position as a leader during the event?

JB: This we haven't done in some time, mostly an eastern (eastern Canada) thing, but basically kids read books for pledges to raise money. My mom and I would go to schools and introduce the program to the kids.

CK: Recently you were involved in a mission of sorts to get up to I believe 18, 000 ft on Mt. Everest. You were carrying someone up to a base camp, with a crew. Can you encapsulate in words the emotional impact a trip like that had on you?

JB: We carried my Mom to base camp of Everest to help her achieve one of her lifelong goals. Hands down this was one of the greatest experiences of my life and one of the toughest. We had an incredible team and a common goal. My Mom was epic....it would have been an incredibly tough slog for her as well, but she never stopped smiling.....I was in awe of her before the trip and am even more so now, which I didn't believe was actually possible.

See Jasper run this summer (and swim and cycle too). Subaru Ironman Canada

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Contact Chris: chriskelsall@flocasts.org