Norm Coleman, of Chevy Chase — the first athlete profiled on The Examiner’s Personal Best page when it started last July — is still going strong with swimming, biking and running. Oh, and hiking 16,000-foot mountains.
He raced in the Lake Placid Ironman in New York last July, finishing 19th out of 32 in his age group (60-64) and completed the course in 15:17:32. The race consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.
He then headed to Ironman Wisconsin in September, where he placed 19th out of 26 in his age group with a time of 15:30:04. At the Timberman half-triathlon in New Hampshire in August, he finished seventh out of 14 in his age group with a time of 6:26:05.
He finished fourth in his age group in Washington’s Nation’s Triathlon in September with a time of 2:51:54 (“just missed podium,” he noted in an e-mail).
On his way to Minnesota for business this week, he wrote that he has had some annoying injuries this year, including a shoulder issue (“dumb overreaching”). But he managed to compete in the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile run and was fast enough to be seeded next year (age up to 65).
The 64-year-old’s major event was a trek in Bhutan to above 16,000 near Mount Chomolhari. And he has not done with hiking — Coleman is heading to the Himalayas in November, near Mount Kanchenjunga in India.
But there will always be a place for triathlons for Coleman.
“I guess the highlight — especially for the first-timers — is coming across the finish line with yelling crowds, and they take a picture and this great announcer calls out most of the names,” he said after Lake Placid last year. ‘So and so, You are an Ironman!’ Then you get your medal, finisher’s hat and shirt. The crowds do make the athletes feel like Lance Armstrong.”
