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Fitness is a Relative Thing: Family Members Inspire Each Other to Compete in Athletic

Posted on: Monday, 22 May 2006, 09:01 CDT

By James D. Mcwilliams, The State, Columbia, S.C.

May 22--Cameron Brandenburg, 7, had just finished a 100-meter swim, and now the dripping boy rushed to start a two-mile bike ride.

"Good job!" shouted his mother, Barbara Brandenburg, as she helped him get into his sneakers and bicycle helmet.

Meanwhile, his father, Jeff Brandenburg, was cheering on Cameron's brother, Clayton, 10, who already was racing around a grassy bike track and was about to start a half-mile run.

The boys were in a children's triathlon Sunday afternoon at the Katie and Irwin Kahn Jewish Community Center in Northeast Richland. Their parents had raced in adult fitness competitions earlier in the weekend.

Barbara Brandenburg had raced with 300 other competitors that morning in the sixth annual Lake Murray Triathlon at Dreher Island State Recreation Area. The 39-year-old placed second among women in her age group.

Jeff Brandenburg had raced more than 100 miles Saturday in a cycling event called the Assault on Mount Mitchell. It takes cyclists from Spartanburg to the top of the tallest mountain on the eastern seaboard.

Physical fitness is important for all ages and often is good to pursue as a family, said many participants in the weekend's athletic events.

"I'm a physician, so I see a lot of the problems in the adult population related to obesity," said Jeff Brandenburg. "It's critical we teach our youths about fitness, health and proper diet."

For many of the children, training for Sunday's junior triathlon was like playtime, they said.

"I just like competing," said Clayton, who won third place among boys his age. He was one of several children with parents as role models for fitness.

Drew Ellis, 9, won first place among boys his age, and his father is a triathlete.

In fact, Ron Ellis said he finished the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii a decade ago in about 12 hours and 30 minutes. That event includes a nearly 2½-mile swim through rough water, a more than 100-mile bike ride and a marathon (26.2 miles).

While some learn fitness from parents, others learn it from children. Rania Brown, 28, of Columbia said she tries to attend step-aerobics classes while her son, Lynard Gardner, 10, practices swimming.

"I let him be my motivation," said Brown, whose son competed Sunday.

Richard D. Mandell, 76, who finished the Lake Murray Triathlon on Sunday, started competing in triathlons about 15 years ago after family members encouraged him.

"I had done foot races for a long time and then started bicycling and wasn't very good at either," said Mandell, of Columbia. But he mentioned that he had been a good swimmer early in life, and his children insisted he become a triathlete, he said.

Now triathlons are an integral part of his life, said Mandell, who has written several books on sports history.

Mandell finished the Lake Murray event ahead of people decades younger than he is. "I'm a freak," Mandell said. "A lot of people I raced with in my 60s are dead, or in institutions or sucking their thumbs."

Mandell's decades of exercise probably have helped him stay athletic, said geriatrics physician David Greenhouse, whose 9-year-old daughter, Hannah, finished Sunday's junior triathlon.

"As we age, we tend to lose muscle, (but) if you stay active, you can be active your whole life," Greenhouse said.

Even the last-place finisher in the Lake Murray Triathlon gained benefits from participating. "I went from the couch to the triathlon," said Ken Hanson, 40, who started training in November. Training cut 20 pounds from his previously 320-pound frame and helped him finish the triathlon less than two hours after winner Radek Parnica, of the Czech Republic, who finished with a time of 1:09:30.

"People cheered me the whole way and encouraged me to finish," said Hanson, a computer technician. "It was very gratifying to cross the finish line."

Reach McWilliams at (803) 771-8308.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

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Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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