87-YEAR-OLD IRONMAN STILL COMPETING

Hiromu Inada of Japan is 87 years old, and is the world’s oldest Ironman athlete. He took up the sport after retiring at the age of 69. Inada began swimming and running, and bought a bike. He competed in his first triathlon a year later. After the death of his wife soon afterwards, Ironman competitions became an obsession for Mr. Inada. In 2018 at the age of 85 years and 328 days, Inada went to Kailua-Kona in Hawaii and set a new mark for the oldest person to complete the world championship Ironman. Even though this October’s Ironman has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, Inada is maintaining his grueling training schedule for a return to Hawaii next year, so he can once again break the world record of completing the race at the oldest age. An Ironman competition consists of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a 26.22-mile (42.20 km) run.
* A 26-mile run, and he does the whole thing in socks and sandals.
* He likes the swim especially, because is gets rid of the old man smell right away.
* The secret, he says, is getting an energy boost from Werther’s candies.
* Ironman? When I hit 87, I’ll be more of a Jello-man.