Weyport Masters Linda Ashmore has completed her first ever IronMan competition at the age of 68, finishing in first place in the 65-69 age group and earning a place in this year’s World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October.
Held in Bolton on 17 July, Linda finished in a time of 15 hours and 19 minutes, completing a 3.8km swim, 180km hilly bike ride and 42km run. She was the oldest person in the race and ranked 1438 out of a total of 2157 competitors, many of whom did not make it to the finish line.
Linda has only been training in earnest for a little over a year, and this was the first time she had completed a marathon-length run or attempted the whole course at once. Already an accomplished swimmer, Linda became the oldest woman in the world to swim the English Channel in 2007 at the age of 61.
Linda’s focus is now on competing at IronMan Wales in September to qualify for the 2016 World Championships when she will be in the 70-74 age group.