Growing up in an outdoorsy family.

I grew up in a physically active and outdoorsy family. As children we very often spent time in the Parc Régional du Pilat, just few kilometres away from where we lived. I have a vivid memory, from the 1970s, of my father, Jean-Michel, wanting to try his brand-new cross countries skis. The whole family drove in the mountains, my Dad hoped on his skis telling my younger brother and me just to follow his tracks – we were on our little downhills skis, with our boots unbuckled. He told us that he would turn back and we’d reunite. My Mom stayed around the car, playing with my youngest brother who was three. When day light started to fade, my brother and I were in the forest, far from the car. It started to become really dark… eventually we saw a shadow coming closer, it was my Dad, happily cross-country skiing. I will let you imagine the welcome he got when we all arrived at the car a couple of hours later, my mother was unsurprisingly angry and worried. This memory stands out as it only happened once!

France has a network of National and Regional hiking trails.
Following former trade routes or shepherd’s pathways, these hiking trails go through small villages, mountains and countryside.

In grade 6, my parents helped us organize a 3 day hiking adventure where we would sleep the first night in La Jasserie, a remote mountain auberge. For the second night, the plan was to camp on the property of a person  my father knew somebody who was living in Doizieux, a small village in the mountain. It was really my first adventure “in the woods” with a bunch of primary school friends. We got a bit lost at the approach of the mountain farm due to fog, but were able to find our way. The next day the sun was shining and we reached the final campsite, it felt great after a daylong hike. The following day, when we all returned home, not only were our parents very proud and relieved to see we’d all made it, but we were as well!

Moving our young family to Vancouver, BC
In 1997, my wife and I moved from France to Vancouver with our two young children, who were three and five. We visited BC in 1994 and were absolutely conquered by its beauty and the outdoor. Before leaving we made sure to finish our degrees, applied for landed migrant status and then packed our belongings and moved. Although we were not forced to leave our country (I have always told our kids we were “volunteer immigrants” meaning we didn’t experience a war or anything like that), it was a big adventure to arrive with two kids, no jobs and to have to make it work – long story short, the first 4 years challenged our tenacity.

my story

From the age of four, through doors opened initially by my mother who was a physical education teacher, I was involved in sports. I feel very lucky and sharing this way of life with as many as possible is a pure joy.

For the most part, from the age of four and onwards, I was involved in sports. My mother was a physical education teacher, and she opened the doors for me to get active, I spent much of my childhood in a gymnasium, playing with my brothers while our mother would finish a meeting with the other physical education teachers, coached volley ball, or gymnastic for adults in evenings sessions.

Master of Science in sport physiology

Fast forward a few years later, after high school. I followed my mother's footsteps and did my undergraduate degree in kinesiology at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of Dijon, France, with a specialty in athletes training. This was followed by a Master of Science in sport physiology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Saint-Etienne, France.

Parallel to education, I spent seven years pole vaulting. Well, one of my brothers actually started pole vaulting a couple of years before me… Two years after beginning to practice seriously, he was participating at the National Championship while I was playing soccer regionally. Pole vaulting intrigued me and with the competition between brothers, pole vaulter I became. Very soon I was part of a specific training program in high school, where we trained 5 days a week with competitions on the week end. I continued pole vaulting during my university years and yes, I made it to the Nationals. Track and field is quite straight forward, you train, you get ready, try your best… and then go back to training.

July 2015 - First Ironman in Whistler.
I decided to start training for an Ironman back in 2014 after I spent almost a year in New York, 10 days every month on a very tight budget, to try to put together an Off Broadway show. It didn’t work, and I decided it was time to go back to my roots – sports. I was sure that at least training would made me feel achieving tangible results. Finishing the 2015 Whistler Ironman was the cherry on the cake.

Certified Ironman Coach.

In 2016, I finished the Ironman Vineman in the Sonoma County achieving my PB, but still experiencing excruciating pain during the run. My ego being fulfilled after two Ironman done, I decided it was time to understand the process of training these specific endurance races and became a certified Ironman Coach in 2017.

In 2019, in order to prepare the Ironman in Whistler, I raced the BMO Vancouver marathon and achieved my PB in 3h 40 min 37, completed the Victoria 1/2 Ironman and finally the Whistler Ironman finishing 15th in my age group, learning the hard way to check before the race all the gear – got a flat 5km before the transition but managed to get to the running part.

August 2020 - Tackling trail running.

During the Covid pandemic, I ventured into trail running, using the Ironman training, the 26 km Tignes Trail, with its 1760 + and 1760 - tested my endurance and mental fitness.
I finished in 3h 53min 17 - 6th position of my age group.