Sister Madonna Buder was born in St. Louis, Missouri in July of 1930. At age 23 she entered the convent. She's known throughout the world as the "Iron Nun" but it wasn't until she was in her 50's that she actually started doing triathlons.
Today this 5 foot 7, 115 pound Ironman triathlete is 80 years old and calls Spokane, Washington home.
She followed up that performance with a 13:19:01 in Kona at the Ironman World Championship later that year. In 2005, she created the 75-79 age category for women setting a record for the oldest woman ever to finish the Hawaii Ironman. In 2011 she hopes to create a new age group in Kona, the 80-84 age group, which again would be a new world record.
Sister Madonna says she's never had a coach and doesn't have a set training schedule. Regardless of how many hours she puts in the pool, on the bike or on the track, she continues to enter and finish races. Her next race will be Ironman Arizona this November. I'll be there to cheer her on and maybe even do a little pre-race interview.
Below is Dave interview with Sister Madonna on KXLY4 on Tuesday, October 12th. Don't forget to visit Dave's web site HERE for more great triathlon interviews and videos.
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