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VFC's Kolby Buljevic completes IRONMAN Canada-Penticton this past Sunday // Photo Credit: Beau Chevalier
VFC’s IronMan: Kolby Buljevic
August 27, 2024

Not all superheroes wear capes, and not all the heroes at Vancouver FC wear football boots.

Meet Vancouver FC’s Kolby Buljevic.

The Burnaby native travelled to Penticton, B.C. to take part in the world famous IRONMAN Penticton-Canada race competition which took place last Sunday.

Kolby Buljevic at Willoughby Community Park running VFC’s social accounts on gameday // Photo Credit: Beau Chevalier

An Ironman Triathlon is a long-distance triathlon race organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a 3.9 km swim, a 180.2 km bike ride and a 42.2 km marathon completed in that order, a total of 226.3 km. It is commonly considered one of the most gruelling sporting events in the world.

Last Summer Kolby and some friends stumbled across a video of YouTuber Average Rob competing in the IRONMAN race and immediately became interested in competing. “I was just watching Youtube one day and came across a video of someone competing at an IRONMAN in Europe, I saw that they had hosted races in Victoria and there was an upcoming final race in Penticton, so it was now or never.”

“I was watching a YouTuber called Average Rob and he had never competed at an IRONMAN before, he had no experience competing in a triathlon, so it inspired me to try doing one for the first time.”

After graduating from SFU and finishing his football program Kolby was looking to do something challenging, “After not making it to the CFL I felt lost in between life and athletics and the chance to compete at an IRONMAN became an opportunity to push myself to my physical and mental boundaries”.

Kolby nearing Kilometre 140 of the cycling portion of the IRONMAN race // Photo Credit: Beau Chevalier

The 25-year old completed the race with a finish time of 12:38:30, competing at an average pace of 07:20 min/km, placing 54th out of 71 for the Mens 25-29 age group. Starting at 8:34am from Okanagan Lake Park in Penticton, the cycle took Buljevic through Oliver and down to Osoyoos, before looping back up to Penticton through Keremeos to start the running portion of the race. Kolby then started the run at 4:05pm before crossing the finish line at 9:13pm.

The race wasn’t all smooth sailing for Buljevic, who experienced an issue with his bike in the opening stages of the race. “Leading up to the race I was feeling really nervous, months of training leading up to it, and just wanting to get going. My bike had an issue within the first 10 minutes with my chain and I needed assistance to fix the bike. It was difficult to stay composed and not freak out after facing adversity so early in the race.”

“Honestly working gameday at VFC there is always things that we need to adapt last minute, being able to adapt on the fly has taught me to stay calm in those moments and helped me in that moment during the race” said Buljevic.

Buljevic joined Vancouver FC this past January and has quickly cemented himself as a favourite among staff and players, his infectious personality and hard working character have left an impression across members of the club.

To many in and around the club Buljevic has emerged as one of the many new faces of The Eagles in 2024. He was a major contributor in weekends spent away running events in Kelowna ahead of the inaugural CPLonTour Series Match. Kolby secured Hercules the Eagle for the 2024 Eagle Kit Launch, and brought Hercules to home games and deliver the match coin.

Throughout the season Kolby has balanced his work commitments alongside his rigorous training regiment, completing swim training near the Langley Events Centre at Sunrise Lake and running after hours on the lake front in Kelowna.

Kolby helped construct the Mini Pitch in Kelowna running free pick up soccer matches ahead of the CPLonTour Match // Photo Credit: Beau Chevalier

Working as the Marketing and Community Coordinator many will have seen Kolby at Willoughby Community Park on gameday, as a host on VFC’s social media, or at many of The Eagles numerous community events. The 25-year old joined Vancouver FC after graduating from Simon Fraser University as a student athlete with a Bachelor of Arts. Buljevic was an integral member of the Red Leafs Football team from 2017 through 2021.

Whilst on the football team Buljevic was a key figure on and off the field, winning the Ben Minaker Spirit Award for Leadership + Attitude, an award voted for by his teammates and coaches. His performances on the field at defensive back earned him a nod for 2021 GNAC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept 18th.).

Buljevic (#29) showing off some iron at a Simon Fraser University football game // Photo Credit: SFU Athletics

Growing up in Burnaby and attending St. Thomas More Collegiate High School, Kolby played soccer from a young age with Burnaby Selects and continued to participate in the sport as an adult in the VMSL club Columbus FC.

The achievement of the former Gridiron athlete now turned IRONMAN is timely as VFC is set to host their Marvel Super Hero™ match, ahead of the game the club is looking to recognize the heroes that are making good on VFC’s mission statement, “What if a pro club could do more good, for more people?”.

VFC’s Ironman will be in attendance at Vancouver FC’s Marvel Super Hero™ Match against York United which kicks off on Friday September 6th at 7PM from Willoughby Community Park. Join us at the match as VFC look to raise funds for the Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation. Tickets to the match can be purchased here.