Canadians among men who conquered Ironman's 8-hour barrier in 2015

When Peter Reid won an Ironman triathlon in less than eight hours in 1999, he was the lone Canadian among a half-dozen men in the sub-eight club.

A time barrier that has held special significance in triathlon came under siege in 2015. Two Canadians joined several men in piercing the eight-hour barrier.

The race is a 3.86-kilometre swim in open water followed by an 180K bike ride and a 42K marathon in conditions dictated by geography and Mother Nature. Some races require almost 10 hours for men to win, so finishing in under eight hours turns heads in the triathlon community.

Victoria's Brent McMahon and Lionel Sanders of Harrow, Ont., are among the seven men Ironman Triathlon recognizes as 2015's sub-eighters, with Belgium's Marino Vanhoenacker achieving it twice.

The organization doesn't acknowledge three other men who raced the same distance in under eight hours at a rival-circuit Challenge race in Germany.

Eleven sub-eights in a year smashes the previous record of six in both 2011 and 2013, according to editor John Levison of the British-based triathlon website Tri247.com.

"2015 has definitely been an exceptional year for men's iron-distance racing," Levison told The Canadian Press in an e-mail. "Whether it is a Challenge or Ironman race, it is still a record year in terms of fast times."

According to Levison's statistics, 33 men have gone under eight hours 49 times in the 37-year history of the distance.

Sanders won Ironman Arizona on Nov. 15 in seven hours 58 minutes 22 seconds, despite stomach problems that had the 27-year-old stopping at portable toilets.

When McMahon went 7:56:55 in Ironman Brazil in May, he placed third among four men who raced under eight hours that day.

More men are dipping into the seven-hour zone. The feat still requires the right wind, temperature and course layout, plus an athlete nailing the swim, bike and run.

Beating eight hasn't lost elite status, according to Sanders.

"It's the Holy Grail," Sanders told The Canadian Press. "Sub-nine is really the more realistic Holy Grail for an elite athlete. Sub-eight, people don't even really talk about."

McMahon, a two-time Olympian in triathlon's shorter version, is the only Canadian to go under eight hours twice.

In his Ironman debut in 2014, he won at Arizona in a course record 7:55:48. McMahon said within two months of his victory in Tempe, he had two new sponsors.

"The eight-hour mark really gives you that checkmark that you're an exceptional athlete," McMahon said. "It legitimizes you as a top contender in any Ironman."