Going For the Record

Going For the Record

The magic "80" win has yet to be recorded and Robert McKeague is aiming for it on Saturday.

Robert McKeague hung with his five kids on the Vermont ski slopes that weekend, cutting edges and racing to the bottom of the hill. But there was a difference this time. The next day, he could barely get out of bed. He didn't want to spend future winter weekends on the bottom of the hill, watching the youngsters have all the fun.

 

“If I didn't do something,” said McKeague, who lives in Villa Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, “they were going to leave me behind.”

 

So at the relatively advanced age of 57, he took up jogging. Within two years he ran his first marathon. A year later he won his age group at the Chicago Marathon. Tired of running's monotony, he took to triathlon. By 1997, at age 72, McKeague qualified for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship and won his age group in 14 hours, 50 minutes.

 

He knocked off Ironman Hawaii a third time in 2000, finishing in 15:54 at age 75. He made a promise that October evening, too.

 

“I want to come back and do this at 80,” he said, “if  I'm capable.”

 

Last November in Panama City at Ironman Florida, McKeague punched his ticket for another Hawaii dream, winning his age group in 15 hours, 42 minutes. And come Saturday, in the deep waters along Kailua Bay and in the stark lava fields along the Queen K Highway, McKeague will try to set history. At 80, he hopes to become the oldest person to finish Ironman Hawaii.

 

The old record belongs to the late Jim Ward, who was 77 when he finished the race in 1994. How much would it mean to McKeague to set the record? Said his wife of 42 years, Marianne: “It's become an obsession. It's become fanatical.”

 

Growing up in Chicago, McKeague was not that athletic. At 5-foot-6, he didn't play any high school sports. He served in the Army in World War II, riding in a tank on reconnaissance missions near the end of the war. “Our job was mostly on the front line,” he said matter of factly. “Or beyond the lines.”

 

 Having lived through the Great Depression and watched his printer father be out of work much of those lean times, McKeague realized the value of education, earning a degree from Loyola University. He worked most of his career as an accountant.

 

McKeague showed a natural aptitude for running. On his second try at the distance, he ran a 3:18 marathon, lopping 32 minutes off his first 26.2-miler. Even today, after 80-plus years, he can still pound the pavement. In a recent 5K, McKeague pushed himself hard the first mile, running it in 7 minutes, 25 seconds. He ran a half marathon this year in 1 hour, 53 minutes, about an 8-minute, 35-seconds per mile pace. In the offseason, he typically trains six days a week, alternating between four-mile runs, 45-minute cycling session on a stationary bike while watching TV in his basement and 30-minute swims. He has gradually worked up to long, grinding workouts this year. In mid-September he went on a 9 1/2-hour, 102-mile bike ride, a 22-mile run and 3-mile swim.

 

“I think Dad puts us all to shame,” said Patricia Arroyo, one of McKeague's five children. “I'm 36 years old, less than half his age, and I can't begin to do anything like him.”

 

McKeague is blessed with good genes. His mother lived to be 102. He doesn't eat much red meat or sweets. He averages about seven hours of sleep a night. He's active mentally, too. He has studied Spanish for 15 years at a community college. He coaches a youth track team through his church. For years he grew grapes in the back yard and made his own wine. He's open to trying something new. After swimming for years, two years ago he learned to breathe on both sides.

 

“I am open to just about anything,” he said.

 

Much of his late-life success obviously is a case of walking through life with a positive attitude. “Part of it is bashing Father Time.”

 

Regardless of what unfolds Saturday, he says it will be his last Ironman-distance race. The man who hiked to 11,000 feet last year in Bolivia wants to achieve other things. He'd like to retrace his steps in Europe when he rode a tank. He'd like to sail on a cruise ship down Mexico, putting all that Spanish he's studied to use. He'd like to hike the Colorado Rockies.

 

But first, he wants to become the oldest person to finish Ironman Hawaii. There is pressure on him. Four of his kids, six grandkids and 16 relatives in all will be in Kona. “They're like, 'Well, should we buy a $42 ticket to the awards dinner?' I'm going to be in deep trouble if I don't finish. A lot of them have spent $42, and then I might not be there.”

 

He was cycling along the Queen K recently and stopped at a national forest park. A woman was there and she began talking about her father. She shared that he, too, participated in triathlons, but that he complained about getting older, about his times slowing down, saying he was likely going to give up the sport.

 

“Well, how old is he?” asked McKeague.

 

“Fifty-nine,” said the woman.

 

“I nearly laughed my head off,” said McKeague. “He's not old. He's about to be the baby in a new age group.”

 

And if the winds are kind and the temperature mild come Saturday, if all goes well, McKeague will set history, proving that 80 is nothing more than a number.

 

You may contact Matthew Dale at  mdale@ironmanlive.com