Forgive my going off-topic, but this news transcends track: Last night in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, an 80-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman were official finishers of the world’s toughest triathlon — the Ironman Granddaddy of them all. The Associated Press reported: “Robert McKeague, of Villa Park, Ill., became the oldest finisher in the history of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship on Saturday, when at 80 he completed the 140.6-mile odyssey in 16 hours, 21 minutes, 55 seconds. Jim Ward was the previous oldest competitor, at 77, in the 1994 race.”

“At 76,” says another report, “Sister Madonna Buder became the oldest woman to complete the world’s most historic triathlon, finishing in 15:54:16. The effort took a bit out of her. Minutes after the midnight deadline, Buder was passed out on a cement bench less than 100 yards from the finish line. coming home in 16:28:56.”
McKeague’s splits? He swam 2.4 miles in 1:54:50, biked 112 miles in 8:15:15 and ran 26.2 miles in 5:55:43.
Matthew Dale, a freelance writer for Competitor magazine, added:
“McKeague . . . was met with a raucous reception at the finish. When announcer Mike Reilly told McKeague it looked like he was fresh enough to run another mile, the charming McKeague said, “Are you kidding? No way.”
“A World War II veteran with five kids and nine grandchildren, McKeague plans to start slumming now that he’s met his goal of becoming the first 80-year-old finisher at Hawaii. Now, he says, he’ll only race half-Ironmans.”
Oh hell, Bob, take the rest of the week off.
Sister Madonna did this: 1:45:05 swim, 7:25:20 bike and 6:19:43 run.
Now back on-topic: Masters track can be thanked for the existence of the Hawaii Ironman World Championships, or triathlons at all. That’s because David Pain of San Diego, the founder of masters track in America (and kick-starter of the worldwide masters movement) devised the forerunner of the modern triathlon in 1972.
A brief history:
“The fathers of triathlon are regarded as being Jack Johnstone, a university swimmer who could run and cycle, too, and took part in one of the original triathlons in San Diego in 1974, Don Shanahan, and Dave Pain, whose “The Dave Pain Birthday Biathlon” – a 2.8 kilometres run and 200 to 300 metres swim provided the prototype for triathlon. All three men came together to stage the Mission Bay Triathlon, a 6-mile run, 5-mile cycling and 500-yard swim. The race attracted 46 competitors, including the man who finished 35rd, John Collins, a US navy officer then stationed in Hawaii.
“Collins enjoyed himself so much that he decided it would be a good idea to combine Hawaii’s Waikiki Roughwater Swim, Around-Oahu Bike Race and Honolulu Marathon as one event; that meant an exhausting schedule involving a 3.85 kilometres open water swim, a 179 kilometres cycle and a 42 kilometres run. The Ironman challenge was born.”
A longer, more personal history of the triathlon also cites Pain’s pivotal role.
Pain go long-overdue pleasure on October 24, 1998. The day after the Founders Day Triathlon was held on Mission Bay to commemorate the first triathlon almost a quarter-century before, David Pain was among the original inductees into Triathlete Magazine’s Triathlon Hall of Fame.
See? Masters trackfolk are good for something after all!