86 year old super grandma is a nun and also an ironman triathlon participant

"I started running when I was about 47 or 48 years old. A priest recommended this sport to me."

Most elderly people in their sixties, apart from taking a few laps after dinner and having some small hobbies, live a slow-paced retirement life and seem to have little to do with the present. They often talk about the past. However, the elderly lady below always lives in the future tense, as if there are still ten thousand achievements waiting for her to accomplish.

She became a nun at 23 and started running at 47. To date, she has completed 45 Ironman triathlons. In a world full of labels, Madonna Buder, known in the triathlon community as the 'Iron Nun,' refuses to be defined. For her, age is just a number; what truly matters is how you genuinely feel about yourself.

What is an Ironman triathlon?

An Ironman triathlon includes a 3.8-kilometer open water swim, a 180-kilometer road bike ride, and a 42.195-kilometer standard marathon. The intensity is nearly four times that of an Olympic-distance triathlon.

If you add up all of the Iron Nun's races, she has completed over 340 events!

At 82, she became famous in the Subaru Ironman Canada, setting a world record with a finishing time of 16:32:00, becoming the oldest person in the world to complete an Ironman triathlon.

"There was a time when I ran so much that I didn't even want to see a pair of running shoes. Suddenly, the triathlon came along, and for me, it was salvation."

As a newcomer to triathlons at the time, she didn't have a suitable training venue and could only train in a tennis court. Her first race bike was a cheap second-hand men's bike bought at a police auction.

Now, the Iron Nun has her own training regimen.

Every morning, she runs to the church.

She rides 40 miles to the lakeside.

Then she swims in the lake. Meanwhile, she maintains a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, supplemented with protein powder.

When asked if she had any advice for other triathlon enthusiasts, the Iron Nun said:"If they really want to excel in this sport, it won't be smooth sailing. Setbacks are inevitable. So I advise them to always go out and run, and always return to nature." 

"There were many times when I was worried about failing, about not reaching the goals I set for myself. Then I realized one thing: the only real failure is not having the courage to start!"The Iron Nun has suffered multiple fractures during her triathlon journey and has narrowly missed cutoff times, but her faith—in God and in herself—has given her an incredibly brave heart.

The only real failure is not having the courage to start!

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