Cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon Michel Pellerin, MD, FRCSC, and his wife Lise Plante have always enjoyed sports. But it was a challenge from a fellow heart surgeon in 2010 to complete an Ironman that set the family on course to adopt triathlon as a way of life.

Michel took the challenge to heart, and focussed on how to accomplish it. He hired family friend Gilbert Ayoub as his tri-coach and a training plan was set in place.

And thus began an odyssey to consecutively swim 3.8K, bike 180.2K and run a marathon (42.2K): a 226.2K side-hustle to Michel’s full load as a husband, father and world-class cardiac surgeon at the Montreal Heart Institute.

Full throttle

Michel made his Ironman debut in Lake Placid in 2011, and since then he and his family have never looked back.

“When I watched my father cross the Ironman Lake Placid finish line. I knew I wanted to be on the other side of the tape by his side,” remembers his eldest son, Elliot. (See: A Mont-Tremblant man wins the last Ironman Mont-Tremblant).

Ironman inked the deal to come to Mont-Tremblant in 2012, and Michel took on the 70.3 as well as the full distance that year. Every year since has seen the Pellerin family presence grow at the Mont- Tremblant race series. The shared passion for swim-bike-run became a lifestyle. Together, the family has over fifty Ironman events to its credit, with over two dozen of those finish lines in Mont-Tremblant.

Training and racing are a way for the family to spend time together. “We push hard together during long training days,” Lise shares, “and we celebrate together afterwards.”

“Race day brings a sense of accomplishment,” Michel relates. Lawrence, the youngest Pellerin son, adds, “High-fives on the run course are always a race-day highlight.”

Michel’s commitment to health and fitness do not just inspire his family. A heart surgeon for almost three decades, he says his patients see it daily. “After each cardiac procedure I tell my patient I have reset their clock, and now it’s up to them what happens next,” Michel relates.

Pauline Alix, race director for the Ironman Mont-Tremblant series, tells us that the Pellerin’s exemplify what the sport means to her. “Ironman is a family affair. Whether by blood or by bond, we all work together to get to that finish line.”

A family coach

As the family passion for triathlon grew, in 2016 Elliot added tricoach to his resume, forming EOP Tri Coaching. His parents became his first guinea-pig clients.

While EOP are Elliot’s initials, his father insists it stands for Excellence in Optimization of Performance. A self-coached racing success, Elliot’s data-driven approach is based on the pillars of training consistency, progressive load, and specificity to race demands.

In their first full year under the EOP Tri Coaching banner, Michel and Elliot punched their tickets to the 2017 Ironman World Championships, a dream come true for both. Elliot has been a regular in Kona, Hawaii, every year since. His motto: “train so there are no regrets at the finish line.”

At Ironman Mont-Tremblant last year, Elliot was the first “age grouper” to cross the tape. On August 20th of this year, he is looking to defend his title from last year and beat his 9:02 course record from 2019.

A year-round playground

While the family shares a love for triathlon, the youngest sibling, Lawrence, has inspired the family to expand its sporting activities and to take advantage of all that Mont-Tremblant has to offer.

Lawrence leads the family in its winter skiing endeavours and, as Elliot says, “My brother plans to get us all on mountain bikes this fall.”

“Ironman Mont-Tremblant is an amazing event,” remarks Lise, “but its magic comes from the Laurentian Mountains paradise we call home.”

More from this author by clicking on her photo below.