Ultra-Fit Then and Now
It is hard to go ferreting
through cupboards or drawers in our house without there being something to do
with triathlon behind every door. Between us, we have photos galore and mountains
of race result sheets tucked away in folders, then magazines and newspaper
cuttings that have stories about our many years in this sport without ever once
getting fed up with it.
This morning, what I was
actually looking for was a seam stripper to use in my latest sewing project,
when I found the Red cover of a Running Magazine storage folder and ended up
getting it out on the table and flicking through the pages neatly held inside.
In the middle I found a copy
of Ultra-Fit Magazine. There was a sticky note of the front sending the viewer
to Page 63. I don’t know the exact date because the cover is smartly marked as
Vol. 5 No.1 but it is about my first Hawaii Ironman and that means that it must
be 1994 and after the Hawaii Ironman World Championship event in October of
that year.
It is a wonderful souvenir
for me as a memory alone, but it is one of the best articles that I have ever
been featured in. It ran through two page colour spread and finishes over leaf
with another half page.
The photos are a story by
themselves, all my big heroes at the time are therein shots with the star
struck me beside them; Paula Newby Frazer, Dave Scott, Scott Tinley, Mark Allen
and Julie Moss, Ironman inventor John Collins and of course as always and ever
my dear husband Stephen. Thank you Ultra-fit for that super article from all
those years ago. At getting on for 81 years old, I am still just a big kid in a
lot of ways, and reading that again spread a great big smile from one old ear
to the other.
Having qualified for the race,
the article states that at that time, I was the only British woman over fifty
to have completed the Hawaii Ironman.
I was on such a jolly during that whole
race holiday that I didn’t know which way was up with the excitement of it all.
For a start I was sponsored by Matol KM for the whole stay, air fare, hotel and
meals including a Luau.
In addition to that Ian Douglas Sweet was making a
video film for Eurosport; it was called Hawaii
5-Five. The prospect of that meant that I was sponsored to a lot more triathlon
products, so much new kit that we had to buy and extra bag to pack it all in
for the return to home.
My finish time for my first Hawaii experience was
16.29.29 the cut off was 17 hours.
It was the
most marvellous experience of all the years in the sport, from the moment Ian
Douglas-Sweet greeted me by hanging a beautiful Lei over my head when he met us
at the airport in Kona. What better way
to start your Hawaiian vacation
than with a fragrant, fresh flower lei?
In Hawaiian tradition, lei is a symbol of hospitality, love,
respect, and aloha. Worn by both men and women, the Lei, is gently draped over the shoulders, hanging down in front and
back. I will never forget my first Hawaii Ironman.
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