Yesterday I finished the fourth and last triathlon of my first season as a triathlete.  I have been impressed by the number of people of various shapes, sizes, and ages who get and stay fit through competing.  How would I know how widespread triathletes' ages may be?  It is standard practice to write the age of each athlete on the back of her right leg.  In all four races, I noticed a lot of racers who were over the age of forty.  I saw the age on the backs of their legs as they passed me.

During the opening remarks of yesterday's triathlon, the organizer commented that women over 40 made up almost half of this 700-woman triathlon.  Both a quick look at the right legs around me and the loud cheering that ensued confirmed his statement.  Out of curiosity, I decided to look in the blogosphere to see if this was a widespread phenomenon.  While I didn't find any specific blogs for women over 40 during triathlons, I did find several references to women who placed in categoies for women 40 and up.

According to the Saugeen Triathlon Club, "The sprint tri was a 750M swim, 30K bike and a 7K run. Once again our members shone. Leading the way was Ann Lyddon. Fresh off an impressive performance at Olympic distance at the national championships in Kelowna, B.C., she continues the build on her triathlon success. The Guelph Lake II sprint proved to be just another stepping stone to the 2009 world championships in Australia. She managed the course in a time of  1:46:24, grabbing 4th place in the women’s 40 to 44 age group, 149th out of 579 overall. Great job Annie!"

 My First Triathlon (Gulp!) writes about her experience being 40+ and competing in her first triathlon, "The race started at 6:50, with the professional and elite racers….Cori and Linda took of at 7:07….. I had a half hour to sit around and let the butterflies in my stomach wreak havoc on my nerves…. Found a few Team Zers…. Which was great – I was the only one of the folks I found who was a first-timer, and none of them were going off in my swim wave…. Ah well, a chance to be alone with my thoughts when I stood around on the road to the boat ramp with all the other green-swim-cappers (the waves are determined by swim-cap colors – my wave wore green caps – age 40-44 with last names beginning from L to Z about 170 of us…..)   I stood in the middle and made small talk with some of the other loners….. trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach and splinter that I had just gotten on the bottom of my left foot….. uggh – not a good start…." Runjoey also writes about a women who is over forty, "It was another good day for Margo too and she once again won an age-group award finishing 3rd in the women's 45-49. She is also now 3rd in her age-group in the Trysports Endurance Seires Points standings. Way to go Margo!" There was no shortage of mention of women 40 and over in triathlons. 
While, I can't say for sure how many women over 40 are participating, there seem to be many.  Seemingly fitting as I'm writing this, forty-one year-old Olympic swimmer Dara Torres is on Oprah.