The 'IronGran': There's just no stopping this 78-year-old IRONMAN triathlete
(CNN)Edwina Brocklesby, 78, is a person that once you have met, you'll never forget -- and that's not because of her fluffy red locks or colorful nails.
Nicknamed the 'IronGran,' Brocklesby is the oldest British woman to have completed an IRONMAN: the world's toughest triathlon challenge comprising of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a full 26.2-mile marathon.
"I have done 10 Ironman so far and finished six of them," Edwina Brocklesby tells CNN Sport. "I would love to do another Ironman if possible."
Ideally, she says, it would be in Lanzarote, which has always been Brocklesby's favorite place to train.
"The water is crystal clear ... the routes of the bike just take you through all the beautiful parts of the island. The run is always fun. You're going past the bars late at night and, you know, another lap of the run and ... the disc jockey plays 'Don't Stop Me Now' every time I come through," she added.
Not that Brocklesby has any intentions to stop. Far from it -- she has just signed up to compete in the 2023 Race Across America (RAAM).
The RAAM is one of the longest annual endurance events in the world, where participants have nine days to ride from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States, or approximately 3,000 miles (4,800 km).
As they did in 2013 and 2019, Brocklesby will be one of the four Serpentine 'Golden Girls' to ride in a female relay team with an average age of 70.
"I'll bring the average age of the team up," Brocklesby jokes. "My friend has pointed out, to my horror, I'd be 80 and the oldest woman to have done RAAM."
The late bloomer
Remarkably, Brocklesby didn't practice any sports until she was 50 years old. But she has always liked a challenge, she says -- like running her first half marathon at the age of 52.
"I can remember going up to watch a friend doing the Nottingham Marathon that was round the university that my husband and I had been up," she recalls from the time she lived in Northampton several years ago.
"I came back to my husband and said, 'You know, I'd love to do a half marathon.' And he said, 'You couldn't even go three miles into Northampton!'" And I think, 'Yes, I can!' was the challenge that got me going."
After a few marathons -- and a couple of injuries as well -- Brocklesby started to become more aware of the benefits of running; not just physical, but also the social and spiritual benefits.
In her book, Irongran: How keeping fit taught me that getting older needn't mean slowing down, Brocklesby says that her running group of friends helped her to deal with the premature death of her husband.
'I had to learn how to swim'
By the time she reached 60, Brocklesby thought that learning how to swim could also be therapeutic.
"At school, I'd done a tiny bit of swimming, but never a full length of the swimming pool. So I had a lesson and started to swim! And actually did a whole length for the first time," she said.
Swimming, however, remains Brocklesby's greatest challenge. Road cycling is her favorite of the three disciplines that make up the triathlon.
Although, as she admits in her book, there were some early teething problems in climbing steep hills.
"I recall the embarrassment of having to walk my new Giant bike up the final bend of the Box Hill zig-zag," she wrote of the Surrey peak. "I was not used to road cycling and was really struggling on the steep ascent."
Brocklesby's pursuit of athletic development also inspired her to try and convince other people that age is just a number.
"It is quite a privilege to know that you're able to, and that's why I got Silverfit going," Brocklesby reveals.
Silverfit is a London charity that promotes healthier aging through physical activity and social connectivity. "People meet up, sometimes have refreshments, then they do an activity," Brocklesby says.
Silverfit now runs activities in 17 different venues across London with 46 different classes, including Pilates, Nordic Walking, walking football, Bollywood fitness and silver cheerleading.
"We started in Hyde Park and then very quickly moved out to Burgess Park," said Brocklesby, referring to a couple of London's green spaces.
She adds that she has always tried to set up new activities in areas of economic deprivation and diversity, "where actually you can make a greater difference for the population there."
Her involvement in charitable programs brought her to win different prizes, such as The Pride of Sport Award and the British Empire Medal (BEM) for Services to the Health and Wellbeing of Older People.
Brushes with royalty
Two years ago, Brocklesby was invited to the centenary celebrations of the National Council for Voluntary Organisation (NCVO) hosted by Queen Elizabeth II herself.
"I had absolutely no expectations that I would actually meet our Queen," Brocklesby reveals.
"We assembled in a large hall within the historic Windsor Castle. There we were greeted with champagne and the most incredible nibbles. A queue started to form from that room to go through an open archway into another large hall.
"Only as I joined the queue and moved up slowly to get within a few feet of the door did I realize the Queen was just on the other side, individually greeting each guest.
"I went through, her equerry announced, 'Dr. Brocklesby, Silverfit.' 'How lovely,' she said as she shook my hand, and I curtseyed before her."
Brushes with royalty aside, Brocklesby's life is now committed to sharing a more popular message.
"That you enjoy aging. You are encouraging other people that it's never too late to start getting a bit more active and to have fun. I think it's so important to make the experiences fun."
“IronGran”：这位 78 岁的 IRONMAN 铁人三项运动员无法阻止
(美国有线电视新闻网) 78 岁的埃德温娜·布洛克尔斯比 (Edwina Brocklesby) 是一个一旦你遇见就永远不会忘记的人——这不是因为她蓬松的红色头发或五颜六色的指甲。
Brocklesby 绰号“IronGran”，是完成 IRONMAN 的最年长英国女性：世界上最艰难的铁人三项挑战，包括 2.4 英里游泳、112 英里自行车骑行和 26.2 英里全程马拉松。
“到目前为止，我已经完成了 10 项铁人三项赛，并完成了其中的 6 项，”埃德温娜·布洛克尔斯比告诉 CNN Sport。 “如果可能的话，我很想再做一个铁人三项。”
她说，理想情况下，它会在兰萨罗特岛，那里一直是布洛克斯比最喜欢的训练地点。
“水清澈见底……自行车的路线只是带你穿过岛上所有美丽的地方。跑步总是很有趣。你会在深夜经过酒吧，你知道，又是一圈跑步和......每次我经过时，唱片骑师都会播放“现在不要阻止我”，”她补充道。
并不是说 Brocklesby 有任何阻止的意图。远非如此——她刚刚报名参加 2023 年全美竞赛 (RAAM)。
RAAM 是世界上最长的年度耐力赛事之一，参与者有 9 天的时间从美国西海岸骑行到美国东海岸，或大约 3,000 英里（4,800 公里）。
正如他们在 2013 年和 2019 年所做的那样，布罗克斯比将成为四位蛇形“黄金女孩”之一，参加女子接力队，平均年龄为 70 岁。
“我会提高团队的平均年龄，”布洛克斯比开玩笑说。 “我的朋友指出，令我恐惧的是，我已经 80 岁了，而且是做过 RAAM 的最年长的女性。”
大器晚成
值得注意的是，布洛克斯比直到 50 岁才参加任何运动。但她说，她一直喜欢挑战——比如在 52 岁时跑她的第一个半程马拉松。
“我记得我和我丈夫在大学附近去看一个朋友参加诺丁汉马拉松比赛，”她回忆起几年前她住在北安普敦的时候。
“我回到我丈夫身边说，'你知道，我很想参加半程马拉松比赛。'他说，'你甚至不能去北安普敦三英里！'”我想，'是的，我可以！是让我前进的挑战。”
经过几次马拉松——以及几次受伤——布洛克斯比开始更加意识到跑步的好处；不仅是身体上的，还有社会和精神上的好处。
Brocklesby 在她的书中 Irongran：如何保持健康告诉我变老并不意味着放慢速度，Brocklesby 说她的跑步朋友小组帮助她应对了丈夫的过早死亡。
“我必须学会游泳”
到 60 岁时，Brocklesby 认为学习游泳也有治疗作用。
“在学校，我只游了一小会儿，但从来没有游过整个游泳池。所以我上了一节课，开始游泳！实际上是第一次游了整个长度，”她说。
然而，游泳仍然是 Brocklesby 面临的最大挑战。在构成铁人三项的三个项目中，公路自行车是她的最爱。
虽然，正如她在她的书中承认的那样，在攀登陡峭的山坡时存在一些早期的问题。
她在谈到萨里山峰时写道：“我记得不得不带着我的新 Giant 自行车走上 Box Hill 之字形的最后一个弯道时的尴尬。” “我不习惯公路自行车，在陡峭的山坡上真的很挣扎。”
Brocklesby 对运动发展的追求也激励她尝试说服其他人年龄只是一个数字。
“很荣幸知道你有能力，这就是我让 Silverfit 去的原因，”布罗克尔斯比透露。
Silverfit 是伦敦的一家慈善机构，通过体育活动和社交联系促进更健康的老龄化。 “人们见面，有时吃点心，然后他们做活动，”布罗克斯比说。
Silverfit 现在在伦敦的 17 个不同场所开展活动，开设 46 个不同的课程，包括普拉提、北欧式健走、步行足球、宝莱坞健身和银色啦啦队。
“我们从海德公园开始，然后很快就搬到了伯吉斯公园，”布洛克斯比说，他指的是伦敦的几个绿地。
她补充说，她一直试图在经济匮乏和多元化的领域开展新的活动，“实际上你可以为那里的人口带来更大的改变。”
她参与慈善计划使她赢得了不同的奖项，例如体育骄傲奖和大英帝国奖章 (BEM) 为老年人的健康和福祉服务。
刷与皇室
两年前，布罗克斯比受邀参加由伊丽莎白二世女王亲自主持的全国志愿组织委员会 (NCVO) 百年庆典。
“我完全没有期望我会真正见到我们的女王，”布洛克斯比透露。
“我们在历史悠久的温莎城堡内的一个大厅里集合。在那里迎接我们的是香槟和最令人难以置信的小吃。从那个房间开始排起长队，穿过开放的拱门进入另一个大厅。
“只有当我加入队列并慢慢向上移动到离门几英尺的地方时，我才意识到女王就在另一边，分别向每位客人打招呼。
“我通过了，她的仆从宣布，'Brocklesby 博士，Silverfit。' “真可爱，”她握着我的手说，我在她面前行了个屈膝礼。”
撇开版税不谈，布洛克斯比的生活现在致力于分享更受欢迎的信息。
“你喜欢变老。你在鼓励其他人，开始变得更加活跃和享受乐趣永远不会太晚。我认为让体验变得有趣非常重要。”
