Local triathlete finishes first IRONMAN to celebrate 60th year

WHEN Robert Dekker turned 50, he felt the urge to jump out of a plane. So as his 60th year approached, it was no surprise the adrenaline itch returned.

Not an adrenaline junkie by nature, there is something about a milestone birthday that pushes Dekker to do something big.

After watching family and friends compete in the Geelong IRONMAN 70.3, he decided he wanted in.

More than 20 months of training later and just three weeks into his 60th year, Dekker crossed his first IRONMAN finish line on 22 March.

“My 50th year I thought maybe I should start celebrating the end of a decade and I’ve never liked the idea of jumping out of an airplane, but I could absolutely just feel it coming,” Dekker said.

“So, in my 50th year I twice jumped.

“It pretty quickly came to me that this one [my 60th year] was going to be something to do with swimming in deep water.

“That’s where it stemmed from, and I thought, well swimming is all well and good, and I knew how to do it, but not very well.

“Then I thought I can ride a bike. I’ve always been a cyclist and back in NZ I was doing club riding, and then I thought well, running can’t be too hard because it’s just one foot in front of the other, so I should be able to figure that out.”

After nearly two years of preparation, Dekker said the final week before race day felt surreal.

A sense of “it’s finally here”, and a focus on staying present, kept him moving forward.

“I didn’t want to be one of these people that was going hell for leather and never got to enjoy it,” Dekker said.

“The swim was just like a mill pond out there – it was just epic.

“Being out on the bike and being out on the run and doing the event, I was enjoying the scenery, and just saying, ‘Hey, you know, I’ve taken 21-22 months to get here, I think at least should sort of try and enjoy the day.”

With 10km left on the run, an ongoing knee issue began punishing Dekker, but an unlikely companion helped get him home.

Running alongside another competitor, whom he had never met, Dekker said the community feeling on course was carrying everyone to the end.

“There was a girl in the last 10km, we ended up running together – running and walking as we both had injuries,” Dekker said.

“We were just going through it all and encouraging each other to get to the finish line, and we finished together.”

While running together they encountered another unlikely pair, two men who had joined together as “brothers in pain”.

What started as a celebration has become a genuine love for triathlon. Dekker has already started thinking about what courses he would like to complete next.

No matter what the next race looks like though, he knows he has a fantastic team in his corner.