It was a humid, hot, windy and grueling race through lava fields, crowded water and harsh terrain, but Mae Palm finished seventh in her category at the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kailua-Kona Hawaii on Oct. 16.
The competition was tough, and so was the course.
Kailua-Kona hosts the Ironman World Championships because the course is so difficult, Palm said."It's very challenging," Palm said. "You are there with the cream of the crop."
This year the race was even tougher.
"We had headwinds coming and going, so we had to work a lot harder," she said.
And there were a few snarls. The race has 1,600 participants, who all need to swim in Kailua-Kona bay, but the beach can't hold all the athletes.
"It's a small beach area so you have to go into the water and tread water for awhile," Palm said.
The 2.4-mile swim, traditionally Palm's weakest event, went well this year. She finished it in 1:37:48.
"I did better this year in my swimming then I did in the past," she said.
She completed the 112-mile bike race in 8:07:15, and the run, her strongest event, in 5:07:26.
Her finish time for the triathlon was 15:07:12. She placed 1,455th overall.
"I'm not as pleased as I would have liked to have been," she said.
But Palm, 64, has a positive outlook on the race.
"I have to think positive and know that I finished and I didn't quit," she said. "You just feel 'whew, I did it'."
Palm has raced at the world championships before. In 2001, she was first in her age category, in 2002 second, and in 2003 she placed fourth.
"Last year's time was my best in the world championships," she said.
She trains year-round, swimming, biking and running three times a week each. She runs to keep fit, and to date has completed 105 marathons.
"It's all training. Your main strength other then physical strength is mental strength," she said.
"I would like to think I'm setting a good example to be healthy," Palm said.
Palm also had a brush with international fame while in Hawaii. NBC filmed Palm as part of their coverage of the Ironman. The spot will air on NBC Sports on Nov. 21.
"When I was doing the swim the cameramen were under the water and it freaked me right out," she said, adding she was unsure how much coverage there was going to be.
And with her brush with fame came Squamish's.
When the camera crew asked her where she was from she said "Squamish, British Columbia Canada."
