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NIMBLEWEAR USA & Walt Rider: Heading to Ironman Kona in Hawaii

09 / 03 / 2013

 

Walt Rider, 60, will be competing in the Ironman World Championships triathlon in Hawaii on Saturday.

 

On a hot day in Texas on May 19, Lesley Brainard of Collierville hopped off her bicycle, changed into running shoes and started a marathon, the third phase of the Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas. Just 26.2 miles to run after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles.Brainard, a veteran athlete, is no stranger to competition, but this race meant a lot more to her than just about any previous competitive endeavor. On that day in The Woodlands, north of Houston, Brainard, 42, and her mother, 65, were trying to qualify for the Holy Grail of triathlons — Ironman Kona, which takes place Saturday in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii's big island.

 

The iconic race, which began in 1978, is arguably the world's toughest test of athletic skill and endurance — and certainly one of the most difficult to get into. With few exceptions, every competitor — the limit is about 2,000 — must qualify at one of 28 Ironman triathlons around the world. At every qualifying event, the elite of the sport are gunning for a spot at the start line in Kona. Unused qualifications have been known to sell on eBay for close to $20,000.

 

Once there, triathletes must cope with a course that has no shade, temperatures known to reach 95, humidity of about 90 percent and crosswinds on the bicycle course that can hit 60 mph.

 

Brainard and her mother, who lives in Florida, earned their spots in Kona and will join 60-year-old Walt Rider of Collierville at the fabled race.

 

"It's a huge accomplishment," says Roy Crossman, who runs with Brainard on weekends, when they often log 20 miles or more. Brainard agrees: "The ultimate goal of the triathlete is to qualify for Kona."

 

Rider qualified in Lubbock, Texas, at one of the few qualifying half Ironman events (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run) on June 24. Brainard had to finish first or second in the female 40-44 age group in her race to punch her ticket to Kona.

 

Both had close calls.

 

In Lubbock, Rider had to win his age group (60-64). When he made the turnaround halfway through the run, he was just 48 seconds ahead of a Frenchman who, he found out later, was closing fast. Rider put on a push and crossed the finish line with a cumulative time of 5:09:47, 36 seconds ahead of the French runner.

 

Brainard started the marathon in her event 3 minutes and 49 seconds behind the woman in second place. Brainard caught the other runner with about a quarter-mile to go and finished in second place with a cumulative time of 10:11:57, 23 seconds ahead of third place.

 

Germantown's Mark Newman, an elite runner and a veteran of the Kona adventure, considers Brainard and Rider to be ready for Kona. "I've seen them both race," Newman says. "They have put in the work."

 

The two are naturals to their chosen sport.

 

Brainard, who grew up in Illinois, earned a swimming scholarship to Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and was captain of the swim team. She also ran track and cross-country in high school, coached by her mother, Sandy Meneley, who now lives in Holmes Beach, Fla., south of Tampa.

 

Brainard earned a master's degree in athletic administration from the University of Illinois and now coaches her 16-year-old daughter, Alexa, in cross-country. She also coached her mother to help her prepare for the Ironman in Texas and for Kona.

 

After moving to the Memphis area with her husband, John, Brainard began teaching a triathlon training class at the Collierville YMCA. That job led her to a decision: "I thought that if I'm going to teach it, I need to do it."

 

The Memphis in May Triathlon in 2000 was Brainard's first. "I was hooked," she says. "I loved it."

 

It wasn't long before she tried her hand at an Ironman, traveling to Panama City, Fla., for the event. Although suffering from ankle and tendon problems, Brainard finished but landed in the hospital. She restricted herself to half Ironmans until her mother decided she wanted to qualify for Kona to celebrate her 65th birthday this year.

 

Brainard's coaching helped her mother win her age group to qualify for the big race. The coaching continued as both women prepared for Kona.

 

Says Meneley: "She gives me such hard workouts I sometimes think she forgets my age, but it's always good. If I can feel as good after Kona as I did after Texas, it will be great."

 

What amazes Meneley is that her daughter can find time to train. Brainard, with two teenagers and an 8-year-old, teaches adult swimming and water aerobics at a local school, runs a triathlon coaching business and works at the YMCA. Fitting long swims, bike rides and runs into that schedule, she says, "makes for a busy day."

 

The key to the training, she notes, "is to watch the intensity. You have to control yourself. It's hard not to overdo it."

 

Rider is also a busy person, running a business — Rider Performance Cycles — that manufactures carbon components. Like Brainard, he has a long history of competing.

 

Originally from Memphis — he ran track and cross-country at Central High School — Rider lived in New Hampshire after serving in the Army. He moved back to the Memphis area 15 years ago.

 

While in New England, he operated a couple of bike shops and coached high school runners. He also made money as a professional competitor in running-bicycling races and won two national championships in the duathlon, in which competitors run, bike and run.

 

Rider says exercise is not work for him. "If you make fitness a way of life, you look forward to running for an hour."

 

Back in Memphis, Rider continued to train and race with some coaching on the side, including about three years with Iron Kids, a free running program sponsored by Iron Kids Bread, a brand of the Sara Lee company.

 

Rider qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon a couple of times, finishing in 2:34 at age 39.

 

With his natural competitive nature, Rider established himself as one of the top runners of any age in the Memphis area. Earlier this year, he set a Tennessee record for 59-year-olds by finishing the Germantown Half Marathon in 1:26:48.

 

Kona has been on his radar for more than a decade, he says. He finally put it all together in the training — the most important factor being avoiding injury during the long, rigorous training with few off days.

 

Rider's wife, Mary, is a physical therapist, and he credits her with helping him stay injury free. "She keeps me in one piece," he says.

 

Rider is best at the running part of the triathlon, and he feels that gives him an advantage. "You swim and bike for show," he says, "and you run for dough."

 

Both say training in the heat and humidity of Memphis has helped them prepare for the tough conditions in Kona, whose run and bicycle courses are surrounded by black lava fields that increase the heat.

 

Cordova's Lucia Colbert, who has competed in Kona twice, says the wind could be a big factor. During one of her races, she endured a headwind while biking that was so strong she could barely move forward. "I was pushing as hard as I could," Colbert recalls, "and I was doing 7 miles an hour."

 

Friends of Rider and Brainard have high expectations for the two athletes. Says Crossman of Brainard, "She is a phenomenal athlete — and tough as nails."Rider also expresses confidence that he and Brainard will make it to the podium as top-five finishers in their age groups. "We're not going just to finish," he says. "We wouldn't work as hard as we have to not have a shot."

 

From: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/oct/08/hard-training-steely-determination-propel-to/