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Sister Madonna Buder, Oldest Woman to Finish an Ironman

She does it again! How special and inspiring it was in Penticton for the 30th and final Ironman Canada race to have a new world record set by the one and only Sister Madonna Buder aka the "Iron Nun". A great inspiration to those young and old…

At the 2012 Ironman Canada event, Buder became the oldest woman to ever finish an Ironman race when she crossed the finish line at 16:32:00. At the age of 82 she sets a new world record on the women’s side. She might even be the world recorder holder for the oldest person in general to finish the grueling 140.6 mile race as it seems Lew Hollander has the oldest man to finish and Ironman at 81.

Her splits for the day consisted of a 1 hour – 36 minutes and 9 second Swim (2.4 miles), a 7 hour – 54 minutes and 15 second Bike (112 miles) which converts to roughly an average speed of 13.10 mph on the hilly bike course. She ends her night with a 6 hour – 41 minutes and 21 second Run (26.2 miles) for and overall time of 16:32:00.

Sister Madonna Buder also known as the "Iron Nun" is a Roman Catholic nun from Spokane, Washington. She started running at the age of 48 and competed in her first Ironman when she was 55. She has completed over 330 triathlons including countless Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events (30+). In 2005 at the Ironman World Championship race at age 75, she became the oldest woman ever to complete the race, finishing 1 hour before the 17-hour midnight cut-off time. In 2006 in Kona at age 76, she again became the oldest woman ever to complete the race, this time barely finishing under the 17 hour mark with a time 16:59:03.

In 2008, Sister Madonna participated in the Ironman Canada race held in Penticton, British Columbia. All day and at the end spectators cheered and encouraged her but this time she was unable to finish the race under the 17 hour cut-off, finishing in a time of 17:02:47.

In the Ironman community, a failure like that is painful but triggers that knee jerk reaction to try again and conquer the course another day. Fast forward a year… On August 30, 2009, Sister Madonna was back in Penticton and this time successfully completed Ironman Canada in a time of 16:54:30. The accomplishment broke her own record of being the oldest female to complete in an Ironman triathlon at the age of 79. At the time, Sister Madonna said that she would be back next year to be the first 80 year old woman to finish an Ironman.

In 2010, at the age of 80, Buder again was trying to challenge her self and set a new record but didn’t get to complete her race in Penticton at Ironman Canada due to some wetsuit issues which might have contributed to not making the bike cut-off.

Arcadia Lake Trail

September 28, 2012 / Susan

Mark and I attended the meeting last night on the proposed trail around Arcadia Lake in Edmond, OK. We are very excited about the prospect of the trail which will be around 20 miles in length and paved. As cyclists we would use the trail frequently and take pride in having it in our community. So many people I talk to here would ride bikes or walk more if they had a separate and safe way to do so. The trail would certainly offer that â€“ and more.

Although the trail will be quite the boon for local cyclists, runners, families, seniors and most any nature lover, the people that are less than thrilled about it are some of the nearby home and property owners and those that ride horses at the lake.

The Arcadia Lake Coalition working to bring the trail to fruition, has been proactive by meeting with stakeholders and has accommodated and amended the proposed trail when possible.

It seems one of the big issues has nothing to do with the proposed trail, but rather is a current problem with the area surrounding the lake â€“ namely, trash. Not the type of trash that people leave, but trash that was dumped by the lake when it flooded and has never been cleaned up.

I understand their frustration at having to live with that and also their expectation that it be cleaned up by the city of Oklahoma City or Edmond, but it is a separate problem from the proposed trail and should be handled as such in my opinion.

Another main concern of the home/property owners, who are by far the biggest part of the voiced opposition, is safety and security and the fear that the trail will attract people that engage in criminal activity.

There will be further meetings and discussion to work through any outstanding issues or concerns.

Trail completion is currently slated for November 2014.

Bike Riding Love

September 14, 2012 / Susan

Photo by Les Bikes/Facebook

I love this image… that’s just how I feel when I ride.

Rode for 40 minutes for Day 14 of 30 day Challenge in this glorious weather – cool and damp – felt like I was in Seattle. Reminded today what a difference biking in street clothes makes over biking in "cyclist" clothes – my typical attire. I’ve never seen such polite drivers – they gave us room to spare and followed at a distance. Day 13 of 30 ride was nearly 4 miles – not much time to bike this week. Did swim 1000 meters today does that count?

Have a great weekend!

My Day in Court

September 13, 2012 / Susan

After getting the ticket for â€œdisregard of a red signal lightâ€ back on May 25th, I commented to my husband Mark that I would give up the $119 fine, but I wanted something good to come from it.

Something good did â€“ meet the new ordinance for affirmative defense for cyclists passed by the Edmond City Council Monday, September 10, 2012:

I canâ€™t begin to convey how pleased I am that this was accomplished. It is a big help for cyclists and Iâ€™m thankful that my experience helped to bring it about.

Today I finally had my day in court. I found the Judge to be both fair and empathetic; finding me guilty of the offense, but waiving the fine and court costs. Most meaningful to me was that she stated several times that she admired my riding and that she wished our community could be accessed better on foot or by bike. She genuinely seemed sorry that she had to find me guilty because she understood the dilemma I was faced with.

The Affirmative Defense ordinance for bicyclists will go into effect next month. Although I got the ball rolling we would not have this ordinance if not for the efforts of the Edmond Bicycle Committee, particularly Jan Fees, Steve Murdoch (City Attorney), and of course the City Council.

This ordinance is an accommodation for cyclists which recognizes that not all traffic signals detect cyclists and gives us an affirmative defense should we receive a ticket â€“ if all conditions are met.

I would like to state here for the record that my incident met all of the criteria specified in this ordinance â€“ in other words I did not roll through a red light. Mark and I waited through two cycles before proceeding safely through the intersection.

There seems to be some belief out there that this ordinance gives cyclists the license to roll through stop signs or red lights. It does not and it is imperative that every cyclist obey traffic laws. If youâ€™ve spent much time here on my blog you know one of my pet peeves is cyclists who blow through stop signs or red traffic signals.

The fact is I recognized the red light and stopped and waited; unfortunately the red light didnâ€™t recognize me and change. As every cyclist knows, the infrastructure is geared towards motorists not bicyclists, and presents us with a myriad of challenges where we must do our best to act safely and responsibly.

Edmond is moving forward on becoming a bicycle friendly community, this is just one step toward that. The Bicycle Master Plan is a huge step as is the proposed Arcadia Lake Trail. For local cyclists, please support and acknowledge Edmondâ€™s attempts to better accommodate and encourage people to ride bikes.

Keep riding and stay safe.

Affirmative Defense Ordinance

September 10, 2012 / Susan

There’s a new ordinance in town!

An ordinance allowing for a cyclist to have an affirmative defense should they proceed through a red light that fails to recognize them was unanimously passed by the Edmond City Council tonight. This ordinance resulting from my ticket back in May goes into effect in 30 days.

Thanks to the Edmond Bike Committee and local cyclists for working with the City Attorney and others to get this done.

A big victory for local cyclists!

I canâ€™t speak for everyone, but my advocacy efforts on behalf of cyclists with the City of Edmond and the Edmond Bike Committee have been successful both times â€“ back in 2007 to get the 3 foot ordinance adopted and now the affirmative defense ordinance.

Edmond is obviously motivated to be a community that is safe and supportive of bicycling. In addition to the ordinances mentioned above Edmond is in the process of developing and implementing a bicycle master plan, as well as working with private sector partners to build a paved trail around Lake Arcadia.

The future looks brighter for those of us who ride bikes or would ride with better infrastructure and safer roads.

(Updated 9-10-12/10:00pm)

For the Love of Bikes

The Iron Nun

The Iron Nun, she’s 82 and just completed another Ironman race! Her first was when she was just 55, proof positive you’re never too old.

Thereâ€™s hope for me yet.

From TriJuice.com