By Tim Gayle
Pat Fossum has been competing in duathlons and triathlons for 25 years, bringing back awards and honors from events all over the world.
What makes Fossum's story so unique is she started running at an age when most people would be giving it up.
"I started running and then my children encouraged me," said Fossum, the 75-year-old Montgomery resident. "They said you've got a bike,why don't you do a duathlon? And you can swim, so why don't you do a triathlon? They've since quit, but I kept on going." Fossum competed in the 2010 Duathlon Age Group National Championships on April 26 in Richmond, Va., finishing first in the 75-80 age group for females. You can put an asterisk by that championship if you'd like, since she was only competing with herself.
Her time of 2:57:30 in the course -- which includes a 5K run (3.1 miles), a 38K (23.6 miles) bike ride and a 5K run -- would be competitive in any age group for senior citizens. But since Fossum turned 75 last February, she was all alone in her category as the oldest female in the event.
"It's sort of a win-lose situation," she said. "You just have to accept it and go on. Some people being called the oldest at an event, they can't handle it. If I couldn't handle it, I wouldn't go on. If you've been doing this long, it's not an issue because you're not going to hide it."
You're not going to hide it because they put the age division you're competing in on your back, so all of the nearly 1,800 competitors in Richmond knew the 75-year-old duathlon competitor who was passing them on her bicycle.
"I get a lot of comments and most of them are really encouraging," she said. "The biggest compliment I hear is, 'When I grow up, I want to be just like you.' "
Fossum used to train near her home, riding her bicycle along Vaughn Road, but the heavily-used road isn't the best place to ride a bike.
"Not any more," she said. "Traffic is so unfriendly."
Now she trains near her Lake Martin home in quiet subdivisions or at Maxwell Air Force Base. She has remained in remarkably good health over the years, but admits that preparing for a competitive race at her age is a little different.
"I really have to watch it," she said. "I can't run two days in a row or I feel it. And feel it badly. You have to train smartly and you have to listen to your body.
"But don't listen too much," she added with a laugh, "or you'll put your feet up on the couch."
Fossum competed in the USA Triathlon in Tuscaloosa last year but prefers a duathlon, which doesn't include the swimming third of the triathlon.
"That's my weakest part," she said. "Sometimes, with the running, I think, 'That's a long way,' but I just keep going."
Fossum's victory in Richmond qualified her for the Duathlon World Championships on Sept. 3-5 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
"If you want to go to World, you have to go to Nationals," she said. "Sometimes, you can go to two or three places (to qualify for World Championships). This year, they only have one. Last year, I was going to go to Richmond and got sick so I couldn't go, but fortunately there was another one in Minnesota."
Fossum has competed in World Championships in several places in Europe as well as Newfoundland, Cancun and Australia (twice). She isn't sure whether she'll travel to Scotland in September.
"I think so," she said. "If I'm healthy, no injuries, I will." While those travels can be costly, Fossum has no sponsors.
Her daughter Lynn, who lives in Dallas, and her son Scott, who lives in Houston, are supportive of her duathlons as well as Jerry, her husband for the last 52 years.
"When people ask me do you have a sponsor, my reply to that is my husband Jerry," she said. "Fortunately, we've saved up over the years and that's our vacation."
At 75, you have to wonder how much longer she can take these "vacations" when people half her age are giving up the sport.
"I'll do it as long as I still enjoy it," she said. "I've been doing it so long and know so many people, it's like a big reunion. When that does not become fun for me any more, I'll quit."
Pat Fossum is a long time member of R3.
