She’s not your typical iron woman. She’s 86. She’s a nun. She’s done more than 45 IRONMAN triathlons and, on August 13, she received a standing ovation at the awards ceremony for the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships in Omaha, Nebraska. She was the only person to compete in 85-and-over age group.
They call her the “Iron Nun”.
Sister Madonna Buder was born in Missouri, America in 1930 and is a Catholic Religious Sister. She is also a world-record holder. At age 82, she was the oldest person to ever complete an IRONMAN World Championship Triathlon. She has competed in extreme Ironman triathlon competitions that take around 17 hours to complete.
Bear in mind, this race comprises of a four-kilometre swim, 180-kilometre bike ride and 42-kilometre run. (WTF!)
“It wasn’t until I was 47-48, that I was introduced to running, actually by a priest,” Sister Budur told Nike in a behind-the-scenes promotional video. “There was a point that I actually never wanted to see a pair of running shoes, then triathlon came in. That was the salvation.”
Sister Buder completed her first IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii at the age of 55. This is the same competition she’s been competing in ever since.
“You carry your attitude with you,” Sister Buder says. “You either achieve or you self-destruct. If you think positively, you can even turn a negative into a positive. The only failure is not to try, because your effort in itself is a success.”