Barbra Mathewson, 69, has swam, biked and ran her way across miles of terrain over the years, but as a competitor in this year’s Ironman 70.3 race, she has a different challenge.
“Some people don’t realize how tough it is when you get older,” said Matthewson, of Virginia Beach. “I certainly didn’t know when I was 50 how hard it would be to do at [69].”
This will be the first time the Ironman 70.3 has come to Williamsburg and it is set to bring thousands of competitors of all ages. Athletes will swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run through the Virginia Capital Trail.
Sunday won’t be Mathewson’s first Ironman race, though. She started doing them in her 50s as a way to challenge herself but after 10 races and 20 years, the challenges have changed.
In the past year Mathewson recovered from hip surgery while acting as a caretaker for her husband. But in October of 2018, her husband, and biggest fan, died.
“He went to all the big races with me,” she said. “He always encouraged me and I wanted to do this to honor him.”
During her last visit to the hospital, Mathewson and her husband discussed her competing in the Virginia Ironman 70.3 in the spring. Matthewson didn’t want to leave her husband in someone else’s care while she was away for the race, but he encouraged her to enter because the race could help her reach the world championships in Nice, France.
“He said ‘sign up and do it, we’ll figure it out,” she said.
Since then, Matthewson has maintained her active lifestyle of biking 100 miles, running 20 miles and swimming three miles each week.
Matthewson will be the oldest competing female in the race, and she said her age has started to catch up with her.
“I run a little less, have to take more breaks,” she said. “But I’m motivated by the nerves. [At races], people tell me the other women in my age group will beat me and I always say, ‘No, I’m going to win it.’ And then I do.”
7 summits to triathlons
While Mathewson is the oldest woman, she is not the oldest competitor overall in Sunday’s half-Ironman.
At 79, Robert Heins, of Plattsburgh, New York, is the oldest competitor in the 2,000-athlete Ironman 70.3 Virginia race. He is the only competitor in the 80 to 84 age group, because he turns 80 in July and athletes qualify for their age categories starting Jan. 1.
Heins retired about three years ago after operating his own dental practice in Plattsburgh for most of his life.
But Heins hasn’t always been a triathlete: While he was still working and in his 60s — before he considered triathlons — he was working on climbing the seven summits of the world, the highest peaks on each continent.
He completed five of the peaks, except Mount Everest in Asia and Denali in Alaska, but the project ended when he got frostbite climbing Vinson Massif in Antarctica.
“Someone said ‘Why are you killing yourself doing that — why don’t you kill yourself at sea level?'” Heins said.
So, at 67, Heins began training for triathlons. He has traveled around the country and competed in 17 full triathlons.
“You gotta be a little nuts,” Heins said.
Heins also spent two years in Vietnam during the war, and runs the Ironman races wearing his Vietnam veteran hat.
Heins and four other athletes from New York drove down to Williamsburg Wednesday and have since scoped out the course and continued training. While Heins hasn’t had much time to look around the area and enjoy many attractions, he said the people “have been very, very friendly.”
His wife Evelyn typically cheers him on, but will not be in Williamsburg for this particular race.
The next goal, besides getting to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France?
“Nobody at 80 had ever finished Lake Placid [Ironman race], which is my goal,” Heins said.
That race will be on July 28 in Lake Placid, New York.
Traffic information
There will be traffic advisories in place Sunday:
- Richmond Road from New Kent line to Forge Road will be down to one travel lane eastbound
- Cranston Mill Pond Road will be closed to through traffic (residents and cyclists only from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
- Jolly Pond Road at the bridge will be closed to through traffic (cyclists only)
- Brick Bat Road will only be accessible from the Centerville side for vehicular traffic; vehicles can exit, but not enter from the Route 5 side
James City County Police are in charge of assisting those who live on blocked off roads. Those with questions should contact police.
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