Persistent Santa Fean competing in Ironman
Davenport, 68, overcomes injuries, keeps going with support of her husband
Love brought Carol Davenport to Santa Fe.
Love is also taking her to France, this weekend.
To get where she needs to be Saturday night, however, it’ll take nothing more than sheer determination and absolute will power. Or, as the 68-yearold said, a heaping helping of the personality trait that has made her one of the best triathletes in her age group in America.
“I wouldn’t classify myself as stubborn,” Davenport said with a laugh, some of which was directed toward her husband Donald’s reaction to the statement. “Persistent is a better word. I’m very persistent.”
Persistent. Stubborn. Determined. Whatever it is, it’s working. Davenport will take part in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice after qualifying for the event by winning a December regional race in California. In Santa Fe with the time difference from France, the race begins at 10:50 p.m. Friday. Right around the time some of us are rolling out of bed Saturday morning, she’ll hopefully be breaking the tape after the half-marathon to wrap things up.
The 70.3 Ironman is gleaned from the aggregate distance of the swim
(1.2 miles), bicycle (56 miles) and run (13.1 miles) portions of the race. The swimming leg comes first, out in the open water of the Mediterranean. The biking part climbs into the Alps. The running portion is, well, a half-marathon that takes whatever energy an athlete has left and flushes it down the drain.
Athletes half of Davenport’s age would be fortunate to finish. Considering where she came from, however, age is not a factor in what she does on
the course.
Davenport didn’t start participating in triathlons until her late 40s when she saw one on TV and thought it would be interesting. It was around that time that she and Donald decided to leave their roots in California to give life in Santa Fe a try.
In 2014, Davenport was tested in a way she’d never imagined. While on a training ride on the south end of town, she was nearly killed when she came upon a pile of rubble left on the side of the road by a construction crew. She hit it, flew off her bicycle and suffered more injuries than she’d ever had: Broken ribs and pelvis, shattered collar bone, broken scapula and fractured skull and orbital socket. The list goes on and on. She had four tough months of rehab and faced an even tougher time getting past the head injury.
“You hear a lot about head injuries but they’re no joke,” Davenport said. “You can’t figure out why you’re dizzy or why you’re feeling bad. I was depressed a lot, sad all time. I’d walk up and down the street with my husband and struggled every step of it.”
The second marriage for both she and Donald, the Davenports have proven to be a perfect fit for one another. The couple’s strength brought them to New Mexico, and their unbreakable bond is what helped Carol get past the physical hurdles of numerous injuries and challenges.
She also had a serious bicycle accident a couple of years ago, not to mention other ailments from accidents and normal wear and tear — like a fractured hip when she tripped and fell while running on the dam at Cochiti Lake.
“The moral of the story,” Davenport said, “is if you lead the life of an athlete and face a recovery that tests you, you need to surround yourself with the right kind of people.
“Not everyone will be sympathetic or supportive. Not everyone will agree with your goals or encourage you to persevere in times when others might give up,” she added.
For Davenport, her husband is the perfect partner. He never left her side and did what he had to in order to keep her training.
“You have to take care of your body, your mobility and your flexibility if you’re going to live the life of an athlete,” she said. “But you have to have the right person around to help get you there.”