I’M GOING TO BE CELEBRATING MY 85th BIRTHDAY WITH 85 TRIATHLONS
Daphne Belt, 84, a retired business owner, lives in Littlehampton, West Sussex
My 50th birthday was a wake-up call. Looking in the mirror, I saw a flabby couch potato who couldn’t climb the stairs without becoming breathless.
Back then, my hobbies were pretty sedentary – reading, and watching TV. I did no serious exercise. At five feet two inches tall, I weighed 11 stone.
I told my husband Stephen, who was 11 years younger than me: “Suddenly life feels like a spiral staircase, with me sliding down.”
But after we joined a gym together, I began improving my fitness. One day the manager remarked she’d never seen me using the treadmill.
I replied: “I don’t do running.” But she got me to jump on and run for the first time, ever.
It was an extraordinary feeling – like my lungs were inflating in a way they’d never done before.
Back then, Stephen and I ran an antiques business and as fate would have it, one of the staff was taking part in a triathlon. We went along to watch and it seemed fun. So, aged 50, I registered for my first triathlon, too.
It meant I’d have to swim 1,500m, ride 48km on my bike and wind down with a run of 10km.
Standing on the starting line, I noted a bit of a stir among the other competitors and realised I was older than the other women taking part. It simply made me all the more determined to prove myself. After that first triathlon, I was hooked and entered up to 10 every year.
Whenever I felt I couldn’t go on, I just pushed one leg in front of the other and overcame it. The exhilaration at the end was always worth the pain.
Aged 60, I launched running free keep-fit classes for women who were complete beginners, working with them for eight weeks on their fitness and self-esteem. Over the years, I’ve helped more than 100 women, which has been so rewarding.
In 2014, with another landmark birthday approaching, my 75th, I felt ready for a new challenge and I decided to complete 75 triathlons in 75 days. Each would be a 1,000m swim, 15km bike ride, and a 3km run.
People said: “Are you mad?”
But I finished my
75th and raised £6,200 for our local Chestnut Tree Children’s Hospice – more than I’d ever imagined.
It was excellent training for competing soon afterwards in the World Triathlon Championships in Canada, where I won my age group, therefore becoming a World Champion.
Today Stephen and I have been retired for the last five years, but we’re still both doing triathlons. My 85th birthday is on August 14 this year. So maybe you can guess how I’m celebrating that milestone? That’s right, with 85 triathlons! Mostly short ones, but including several full length ones, such as the 2024 World Triathlon Championship Finals in Spain.
This time I’ll raise money for Prostate Cancer UK.
Needless to say, as the years pass, it does get harder to keep pushing myself. But when the going gets tough, I remind myself of the countless older people not fortunate enough to be able to take part in sports, which helps me keep going.
Age really is but a number and I plan to carry on with my fitness training for as long as I enjoy it. I refuse to be defined by my age.
■■Daphne’s fundraising page can be found at justgiving.com/page/ Daphne-belt1699449545966