Natascha Badmann is my hero. Not because she has won six Hawaii Ironman titles. Others have done that.
Not because she didn't even start winning the race until she was nearly 30. Plenty of folks get into racing later in life and a few of them, Natashcha among them, have done quite well.
Not because she had a tough adolescence, complete with motherhood while still a teenager herself, yet overcame these early long odds to find herself in sport. Though not many, others have done that too.
Not because she has come back from terrible accidents to win again. Even that has been done.
No, what makes Natascha Badmann especially amazing, perhaps even singularly so, is that she's had the equivalent of two or three full lives and she's still having fun and racing incredibly fast - plus she smiles and says "hi" to her fans in the thick of competition!
Almost 46 years old, she still was within 10 minutes and change of the overall women's lead at Kona last month. That's about one quarter of one percent off the lead pace. Or a bit more than a mere mile behind the leader at the finish. A mile and change after a full day and 140.6 miles of racing against the best in the world, some of whom could have been her daughters! Even at nearly 46 years old (she turns 46 in two weeks), she still performed her usual magic on the bike, which is to say she pretty much toasted the field, again, on a very tough day for Kona cycling.
Folks in their 40s have done well at Kona, even folks who had previously done very well at Kona. Dave Scott comes to mind. But no one has been in the latter half of the fifth decade of life and done nearly as well. And no one has done it with her unique biography and vitality.
Natascha Badmann is special for another, more personal, reason. In July of 2010, before I even knew that I had another Ironman or two in me, we four Evanses made our annual exit from the heat of Saudi Arabia and vacationed in Switzerland. At the doorstep of the Alps, we made the town of Meiringen our home. Of course, not wanting to miss out on an excellent opportunity for photo-op alpine rides, I took my trusty 1986 Nobilette road bike along and regularly rode in the heaven that is this part of Europe. We stayed nearly three weeks in Meiringen, and on one of the last days there, a weekend day, I rose early to tackle an epic 180 km counter-clockwise ride which would take me up and over three of the higher alpine passes in the entire region. I'd done the ride once before nearly a decade earlier on a previous vacation in Switzerland, and not wanting to give an inch to my then impending 50s decided that having another go at this Mother of all Rides would be a fitting way to end our time there - and reestablish the M(F)ountain of Youth.
The ride started well, and within a few hours I was up and over the first two passes. Then, approaching the town of Andermatt, I had a flat and immediately used the only extra tube I'd brought along. Unfortunately, another flat soon followed and now, about 100 km from home and with another huge pass still to go up and over, I began looking, then praying, for an open bike shop. Except it was a Sunday. A family gave me a ride into the nearest town, but still no bike shop, or at least not one open.
Then suddenly, as if the waters had parted, into the parking lot next to me pulled a VW van, the outside of which advertised triathlon coaching. Trying to act subdued, I nonchalantly approached the driver, learned that he had some extra bike stuff in the back, told him of my troubles that day, and asked if he could fix me up with a tube or two. He looked over my by now pathetic repair kit and, while fixing me up with a new and much improved version, asked me if I knew Natascha Badmann. Well, folks, not only had I not been involved with the Ironman since '87, I hadn't really stayed abreast of what was happening in triathlon in the more than two intervening decades. Truthfully, I didn't know who she was, but I did let him know that I'd remembered seeing a gal and guy riding toward me uphill about two hours previously, and when I described them he let me know, "well, the woman is Natascha, and now you can say that you've seen a six-time Ironman champion on your ride. And I'm her husband and coach, Toni Hasler. Happy to meet you."
By now realizing how late I was going to be, and not with a phone to call ahead to family and let them know, I just shook his hand, said I was honored and appreciative, and biked off as quickly as my now-rested body could. I didn't get another flat that day, but I did do some thinking then and later about the wonderfulness of Natascha and Toni.
Fast forward four months, I get the Ironman bug all over again after my friend Scott Tucker completes Kona 2010 and throws out the idea of my getting back in Kona Shape, and suddenly I'm scrambling to find a qualifier to do in hopes of meeting him in Kona in October 2011. Fast forward another five months, now April 10, 2011 to be exact, my 50th birthday, and I'm getting off the bike and beginning the run at Ironman South Africa in Port Elizabeth and who comes into transition just as I'm leaving but none other than Natashcha Badmann. And there to her right, yelling her encouragement, is my Swiss Savior Toni, her coach/husband. Natascha was still recovering from injuries, had not yet found her form and would later drop out 6 km into the run. If you had asked me then if the 44 year-old woman I saw at T2 could ever again hope to compete with the likes of the top women (like Crissy Wellington, who was just then blitzing the course and establishing yet another world record for the Ironman distance) I would have thought you perhaps more than wishful.
And then I happened to peek at the results of Ironman South Africa 2012 this April and, apart from noticing the slower times in general and reading of the tough, blustery conditions that were their cause, I was more than a little surprised and impressed by noticing that Natascha Badmann had trounced the women's field, and with a very respectable time.
We all know that qualifiers are one thing, Kona quite another. Yet a part of me thought, hmm, if tough conditions bring out the best in certain folks, then with all of her Kona experience and love for tough conditions, if Kona has a tougher than normal year, Natascha could be in the running.
Which is exactly what she was, and with a terrifyingly fast Kona time of 9:26. Heck, even Miranda was in the 9:20s. Only Miranda is many, many birthdays from being 46.
I know that Natascha has had very many races, and that she has won a good portion of them. But it would be difficult to rank any of her victories above her recent 6th place at Kona. The phrase used to be "40 is the new 30." For those of us already in our 50s, in a few more years Natascha could well prove that "50 is the new 30." Here's to the Swiss Miss!
Not because she didn't even start winning the race until she was nearly 30. Plenty of folks get into racing later in life and a few of them, Natashcha among them, have done quite well.
Not because she had a tough adolescence, complete with motherhood while still a teenager herself, yet overcame these early long odds to find herself in sport. Though not many, others have done that too.
Not because she has come back from terrible accidents to win again. Even that has been done.
No, what makes Natascha Badmann especially amazing, perhaps even singularly so, is that she's had the equivalent of two or three full lives and she's still having fun and racing incredibly fast - plus she smiles and says "hi" to her fans in the thick of competition!
Almost 46 years old, she still was within 10 minutes and change of the overall women's lead at Kona last month. That's about one quarter of one percent off the lead pace. Or a bit more than a mere mile behind the leader at the finish. A mile and change after a full day and 140.6 miles of racing against the best in the world, some of whom could have been her daughters! Even at nearly 46 years old (she turns 46 in two weeks), she still performed her usual magic on the bike, which is to say she pretty much toasted the field, again, on a very tough day for Kona cycling.
Folks in their 40s have done well at Kona, even folks who had previously done very well at Kona. Dave Scott comes to mind. But no one has been in the latter half of the fifth decade of life and done nearly as well. And no one has done it with her unique biography and vitality.
Natascha Badmann is special for another, more personal, reason. In July of 2010, before I even knew that I had another Ironman or two in me, we four Evanses made our annual exit from the heat of Saudi Arabia and vacationed in Switzerland. At the doorstep of the Alps, we made the town of Meiringen our home. Of course, not wanting to miss out on an excellent opportunity for photo-op alpine rides, I took my trusty 1986 Nobilette road bike along and regularly rode in the heaven that is this part of Europe. We stayed nearly three weeks in Meiringen, and on one of the last days there, a weekend day, I rose early to tackle an epic 180 km counter-clockwise ride which would take me up and over three of the higher alpine passes in the entire region. I'd done the ride once before nearly a decade earlier on a previous vacation in Switzerland, and not wanting to give an inch to my then impending 50s decided that having another go at this Mother of all Rides would be a fitting way to end our time there - and reestablish the M(F)ountain of Youth.
The ride started well, and within a few hours I was up and over the first two passes. Then, approaching the town of Andermatt, I had a flat and immediately used the only extra tube I'd brought along. Unfortunately, another flat soon followed and now, about 100 km from home and with another huge pass still to go up and over, I began looking, then praying, for an open bike shop. Except it was a Sunday. A family gave me a ride into the nearest town, but still no bike shop, or at least not one open.
Then suddenly, as if the waters had parted, into the parking lot next to me pulled a VW van, the outside of which advertised triathlon coaching. Trying to act subdued, I nonchalantly approached the driver, learned that he had some extra bike stuff in the back, told him of my troubles that day, and asked if he could fix me up with a tube or two. He looked over my by now pathetic repair kit and, while fixing me up with a new and much improved version, asked me if I knew Natascha Badmann. Well, folks, not only had I not been involved with the Ironman since '87, I hadn't really stayed abreast of what was happening in triathlon in the more than two intervening decades. Truthfully, I didn't know who she was, but I did let him know that I'd remembered seeing a gal and guy riding toward me uphill about two hours previously, and when I described them he let me know, "well, the woman is Natascha, and now you can say that you've seen a six-time Ironman champion on your ride. And I'm her husband and coach, Toni Hasler. Happy to meet you."
By now realizing how late I was going to be, and not with a phone to call ahead to family and let them know, I just shook his hand, said I was honored and appreciative, and biked off as quickly as my now-rested body could. I didn't get another flat that day, but I did do some thinking then and later about the wonderfulness of Natascha and Toni.
Fast forward four months, I get the Ironman bug all over again after my friend Scott Tucker completes Kona 2010 and throws out the idea of my getting back in Kona Shape, and suddenly I'm scrambling to find a qualifier to do in hopes of meeting him in Kona in October 2011. Fast forward another five months, now April 10, 2011 to be exact, my 50th birthday, and I'm getting off the bike and beginning the run at Ironman South Africa in Port Elizabeth and who comes into transition just as I'm leaving but none other than Natashcha Badmann. And there to her right, yelling her encouragement, is my Swiss Savior Toni, her coach/husband. Natascha was still recovering from injuries, had not yet found her form and would later drop out 6 km into the run. If you had asked me then if the 44 year-old woman I saw at T2 could ever again hope to compete with the likes of the top women (like Crissy Wellington, who was just then blitzing the course and establishing yet another world record for the Ironman distance) I would have thought you perhaps more than wishful.
And then I happened to peek at the results of Ironman South Africa 2012 this April and, apart from noticing the slower times in general and reading of the tough, blustery conditions that were their cause, I was more than a little surprised and impressed by noticing that Natascha Badmann had trounced the women's field, and with a very respectable time.
We all know that qualifiers are one thing, Kona quite another. Yet a part of me thought, hmm, if tough conditions bring out the best in certain folks, then with all of her Kona experience and love for tough conditions, if Kona has a tougher than normal year, Natascha could be in the running.
Which is exactly what she was, and with a terrifyingly fast Kona time of 9:26. Heck, even Miranda was in the 9:20s. Only Miranda is many, many birthdays from being 46.
I know that Natascha has had very many races, and that she has won a good portion of them. But it would be difficult to rank any of her victories above her recent 6th place at Kona. The phrase used to be "40 is the new 30." For those of us already in our 50s, in a few more years Natascha could well prove that "50 is the new 30." Here's to the Swiss Miss!
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