IRONMAN

Living in an exotic part of the world such as Hawaii affords you the luxury of being close to big things, things people would probably only talk about where you come from, and that is if they even heard of it. This weekend, I got to witness one of such things: the IRONMAN Triathlon, here in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.

What happened was that nearly 2000 people in a number of categories competed in an endurance test of swimming, cycling, and running. They started off early in the morning with a 2.4 mile swim across Kailua-Kona bay, immediately followed by a 112 mile (180 km) bike ride through the lava desert and back. To finish off, the triathletes had to run a 26 mile (42 km marathon. And all of this they had to do in 17 hours.

What was most amazing about this was going down to the finish line and seeing the runners come in one at a time, like bone-weary soldiers on a glorious homecoming. It was wonderful. Many of them practically dragged themselves in, but you should have seen them and heard the things said about them. Wheelchair-bound people, people with prosthetics, people with only one arm...and their ages were spread across 18 (the youngest guy in the race) to 73 (actually the highest I had heard the commentator say about someone, so there may have been older folk). Men and women, different sizes, postures, and shapes. Businessmen, scientists, professors, lawyers, doctors - the race had them all, and it was such an inspiration to see them come in the way they did, hear the cheering from the cloud, and hear the commentator welcome them and say, 'You are an IRONMAN!' Their determination and courage took on a solid form as they approached that finish line - you could see it, feel it, almost touch it.

This got me thinking about where I come from, and a certain culture that we have, or do not have (depending on how you look at it) with regards to exercising and keeping fit. As I heard the ages of the arriving triathletes being yelled out, I searched my mind for any person in my parents' generation (and they aren't that old) that would be able to participate in something like this. Of course, that's a lot to ask of someone who hasn't trained deliberately in preparation for this. But these triathletes have run many countless races before now in preparation. They already had a lifestyle of keeping fit even before the IRONMAN came along; this was just an extra, more grueling stretch. Yet I can't really think of any of the people I grew up admiring and respecting even being in a position to consider beginning to train for such a thing as a triathlon. Most of the 73-year olds I know either carry a walking stick (and I am not being facetious) or like to rub in the fact that they are old (and they respected for that, rightly so). And I kept thinking, Wouldn't it be great to be able to do something like this at 70? 

I am not saying that the older people back home should start participating in events like the IRONMAN. I'm just wondering how only a handful of them would be able to even come to close to it. Physical fitness and exercise really aren't much of a value where I come from. Generally speaking, we lack the discipline and perseverance. And needless to say, I think we are worse off for it. I am implicating myself as I write this, aren't I? Don't worry, I have it in mind to buy a new pair of running shoes and begin training for IRONMAN 2015.