{"id":612058,"date":"2026-04-18T08:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T08:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/612058\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T08:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T08:51:16","slug":"racing-through-stage-four-cancer-patrice-brisindis-fight-for-kona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/612058\/","title":{"rendered":"Racing Through Stage Four Cancer: Patrice Brisindi\u2019s Fight for Kona"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Patrice Brisindi. Photos: Kevin Mackinnon<\/p>\n

In 2021 the doctors figured Patrice Brisindi had roughly five years to live \u2013 and that was only because of new drugs that increased the normal one-year life expectancy of those with this particular stage four, metatastic cancer to about five years. Well, for one in five patients, anyway.<\/p>\n

Brisindi is bucking the odds, but not for the first time. The 55-year-old from Montreal, Canada, competed in his first triathlon in 2006 and would qualify for Kona in 2011. He had a tough time on the Big Island that year, and after seeing the doctors on his return, they would eventually determine that he had breast cancer \u2013 rare in men, but becoming more common. Because men aren\u2019t as attuned to check for signs, by the time it\u2019s found, it\u2019s often deadly, Brisindi says. <\/p>\n

After surgery, and a year of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the doctors felt he had beaten the disease. He hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2021, I got a tumor in my neck and lung,\u201d Brisindi says. \u201cThey said it had come back \u2014 well, it was always there, but I thought it was gone. And now it had spread everywhere. They said it was stage four metastatic, incurable. Normally, they give you one year. But with new pills from Pfizer, they said let\u2019s try a combination of those pills and an injection every month. It\u2019s a cycle of four weeks \u2014 three weeks taking the pills and injection, then one week off \u2014 for the rest of my life. They said the average is five years. But they said, you know, keep training, stay in shape, eat well, and we think you\u2019ll go more than five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determined to beat the odds, Brisindi continues the monthly treatments, but also takes natural supplements and continues to train hard. The training helps him recover from the chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the next week, I have pain in all my muscles and joints, and nausea,\u201d he says. \u201cI have to deal with that. Training helps me reduce the side effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brisindi had to stop working as a bus driver in 2023 due to the effects of his therapy, but remains determined to get to Kona one more time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI decided this would be my last year for the full distance, because I have to deal with the treatment and I have to put in double the effort to get into good shape \u2014 similar to where I was before, but it\u2019s very hard and sometimes it\u2019s tough,\u201d he says. \u201cI push, I try, I work hard, but it demands a lot. So I\u2019m here to take the shot, and we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brisindi is also determined to show others that they can continue to strive for their dreams after being diagnosed with cancer. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be an example that no matter what \u2014 even if you\u2019re diagnosed with something incurable \u2014 life doesn\u2019t stop,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t have cancer in my mind. I wake up in the morning and think of the positive things and do what I used to do before. I keep the same routine. I don\u2019t sit on the couch and say, \u2018Oh my God, I have cancer.\u2019 No \u2014 just keep living and doing what we love most, our passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brisindi qualified for Kona in 2022, but had to withdraw from that race because he was too sick to compete. He was on the Big Island for the race, but was relegated to watching. On Saturday, here in The Woodlands, he\u2019ll look to try and earn another starting spot in Kona. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m in Kona, I feel like I\u2019m home,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful. There\u2019s something special there. Racing there is the biggest challenge for me, but at the same time, I feel at peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be watching to see if Brisindi can achieve that dream at IRONMAN Texas this weekend.<\/p>\n

Patrice Brisindi\u2019s Ceepo Viper<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"Brisindi is riding the 2026 version of the Viper<\/p>\n

\"\"The bike is equipped with SRAM Red 1X components with a 10-28 cassette and 50 tooth chainring<\/p>\n

\"\"He\u2019s riding a FFWD Falcon disc wheel and a FFWD RYOT 77 with DTswiss 240 ceramic hub. In terms of tires, he\u2019s going with Pirelli PZero Zero RS clinchers in 28 mm<\/p>\n

\"\"Brisindi is set up with lots of hydration and fueling options, including an aero set up on the frame, along with \u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2026 lots more on the front end attached to the Ron Aeron cockpit bundle. <\/p>\n

\"\"\u2026 including an Xlabs torpido on the top of the BTA bottle mount and Precision fuel gels bottle underneath<\/p>\n

\"\"There are also two bottles attached to the Fizik Aeris Long Distance R1 saddle<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"The Favero Assioma Duo power pedals are attached to 165 mm cranks
\n Tags:bike<\/a>IRONMAN<\/a>IRONMAN Texas<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patrice Brisindi. Photos: Kevin Mackinnon In 2021 the doctors figured Patrice Brisindi had roughly five years to live…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-612058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}