I guess I’ve always wondered, why would anyone ever want to do a triathlon? Man, that’s a lot of stress on the body. I’m obviously a guy that enjoys sports and has played just about all of them, but this event seems like unnecessary torture.
Admittedly, I had never known much about the actual details of a triathlon, and had never known anybody personally, to my knowledge, who had ever competed in one. However, now I have a guy, which gives us a chance to look, as Paul Harvey would say, at the rest of the story.
Reverend Edwin (Eddie) Kirby is now entering his eleventh year as our pastor at First Methodist Church in Pascagoula. Brother Eddie is an exceptional leader for our congregation—I already have him on the Mount Rushmore of all-time preachers at FMC. To my great joy, he and I have become good friends.
Eddie is also a good athlete. He can hit a golf ball a mile, has a decent jump shot, and spends several days a week in the gym at Singing River Health System. Still, when he told me he was prepping for a triathlon (at age 50, no less), I was pretty much like “Are you crazy?” Turns out, Brother Edwin had already done 10 or so of these brutal tests.
First, let’s examine what a triathlon entails. The competition includes three consecutive segments of swimming, biking, and running. There are four classifications: sprint tri is a one-third mile swim, 17 mile bike, 5K run; Olympic tri is a two-thirds mile swim, 27 mile bike, 10K run. There are also half iron man and iron man triathlons, but the requirements are too painful for me to recite.
So, Eddie recently competed in his first Olympic triathlon, the Heart of Dixie Triathlon hosted by the historic Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The last leg, the 10 K, has a finish line on the horse track of the Fairgrounds.
“A friend of mine in a small group I was part of thought triathlons would do me some good, so he recommended it,” said Eddie. “That, however, was for the sprint triathlon training.
“He knew I ran and loved being in the water. After taking me on a bike ride, he was confident I could do one with some moderate training.
“The Olympic, of course, is a different story. My oldest son, Eddie, Jr., got involved, and started training for a sprint triathlon himself. After doing his first, he immediately decided he wanted to do an Olympic, and invited me to join him. With my son’s encouragement, I agreed.”
To prepare, Eddie started taking longer runs, longer bike rides, and longer swims. He also instituted a little more deliberate intake of electrolytes.
So, on July 29, Brother Eddie headed up to the Fair and jumped in there with the rest of the field for the Heart of Dixie Olympic Triathlon. How’d it go?
“The day was hot, hot, hot,” said Eddie. “I’m sure the fine people of Neshoba County plan the Fair at the end of July for a good reason, but it made for testy elements. The geography was very trying as well, very hilly.
“Insofar as I train on the flats of the Coast, competing in Philadelphia was an upgrade in difficulty. So much so that my quads cramped severely at the transition station between the bike and the run. I either overdosed electrolytes or rode uphill out of my saddle too long, or a combo of both .
“Took four miles of running for the quads to quit misbehaving. The good folks of Neshoba County were very supportive, having water all along the way, including every mile on the run. Thank goodness for that.”
Let’s see now. Eddie finished with a very respectable total time of 3:34:01, good for eleventh place in his division. Given our participant’s above description, that’s three and a half hours, in 95 degree heat, with your body aching most of the day. Would he do it again?
“Yes, I will do an Olympic triathlon again,” said Eddie. “Actually, I’m doing another sprint tri on August 30 at Flint Creek in Wiggins. Let’s roll.”
Talking to the Most Very Reverend Kirby about his triathlon experience was educational, a bit fascinating, and quite enlightening. Now, do I wish I’d done a triathlon when I was younger? Nah, not my bag. However, it’s a good challenge for those so inclined, and I’m glad my preacher man is in such good shape. Keep right on going, Brother Eddie—I’ll be right behind you, supporting you all the way.
Richard Lucas may be contacted at [email protected].
