Athlete Profile - Peter LillyI met Peter at a Duathlon I organized. This very polite and proper gentleman (everyone with an English accent seems proper to me) is standing patiently waiting to register, and I take his entry form, glance at the age and have to look up again at him to confirm he's actually sixty-something years old. Being in Race Director mode, I think, "oh, great, this old guy's going to get hurt when he gets run over out in the woods by some younger (and much faster) entrant. And, of course, since he's this proper guy he'll probably sue the tattered pants off me."
Imagine my surprise when he comes into the first transition point after the trail run near the top of field of competitors, helmet goes on, mtn bike shoes on, and sprinting out of transition all in one fluid blur, leaving me standing there with my hands apart in sort of a half clap.
He's since registered in nearly every event I've organized and destroys his age group every time. So, I've taken to announcing him as, "Ironman, Peter Lilly!" He's very humble, and incredibly nice, so it's even more of a joy watching him in contrast as a fierce competitor, grimacing, gritting teeth, sweating and reaching new limits as he pushes himself like I wish I could push myself. The guy turns 65 this month. Here's his account of his life leading up to becoming the Xterra world champion in his age group (I know he'll do it this year).
1: How about some background;
I was born in a small Town on the outskirts of Manchester England, one of five children, it was wartime, we had ration books and food was limited and regulated by the Government, besides the basic food groups, which was bought fresh from local farmers markets and Butchers shops, we had a ration of orange juice, milk and cod liver oil, we had no sweets or cookies, having no television distractions most of our games involved running jumping climbing or bicycling, all physical, I was very thin, but very fit, from the age of eleven I delivered newspapers twice a day six days a week, and only once on Sundays, this incurred a lot of walking and getting up at five am in all types of weather, then when I started work aged sixteen I was riding a bike twenty miles, to my job, followed by another five, to evening class. In my later teens I took up bodybuilding at a local club, the trainer insisted that before we lifted any weights, we all had to run three miles, I remember the old guy saying, the body's main muscle is the heart and we build that, before anything else, how right he was, all this, plus playing soccer for a pub team, helped me to build, a body that is that is now suited to endurance sports, even after 65 yrs.
2: History as a Competitor
I have always been very competitive since as long as I can remember. The first race I ever ran was organized by the dignitaries of the town I grew up, in celebration of Queen Elizabeth 11 Coronation in 1952, I won a medal. I wish I still had it, however that was to be my first of many, from a variety of sporting activities, ranging from soccer to crown green bowling. In my thirty's I took up Scuba Diving and was a member of several Club's, the British Sub Aqua Club's certification process takes year's and a lot of training, I really committed myself to it and trained to Dive Leader. I traveled all over the UK and Europe diving and had quite a few close encounters, including one with a very large shark. In 1983 a job offer came up in the USA that changed my life completely, I accepted it and emigrated with my wife and three teens here to Charlotte.
3:The Job
I was recruited by Harper Corporation to manage part of their facility here in Charlotte, I jumped at the chance to move to the States, I was still in great shape, but the long hours at work followed by cookouts at weekends, eating big steaks with portion amounts the like of which, I'd never seen back in England, plus trying to cram everything into less and less time one had after work, resulted in a lifestyle that caused me to put on a lot of weight, from 190 to 230 pound, but all that was about to change, by chance I was walking the dog in Renaissance Park one day and a race was taking place, I think it was a Duathlon organized by Racescapes, 5k run 10k mtn bike, followed by a 3k run I was told. "Wow", that's tough I thought, then when the winner came into view, he just jogged over the line like it was nothing, not even sweating, his name was Jamey Yon, that was in 2001 I think.
4: Inspiration
I don't suppose Jamey realized that day, that the simple act of winning a race can inspire people to change their lifestyle, well that day he changed mine, I wanted to be like him and maybe inspire others. I joined a Mnt Bike Club, The Trailblazers and started riding and running, the weight just fell off. I was back doing what I love, riding my bike and running. The first race after that was the Greek Festival 5k in 2001, my time 30: 04, since that time I have improved every year, and my weight is down to 185 Pounds, overall I have now completed over 200 races of various kinds. I enjoy the endurance events, and lately my focus is Xterra, I qualified for the USA Championships held at Lake Tahoe, NV in 2007 finishing 8th in my age group. Also during Oct 2007 I did the World Xterra in Maui and finished 8th in my age group again, this time racing against some of the best off road Triathletes in the World.
5: My goals for 2008.
My favourite race is the Xterra East Coast Championship in Richmond. This takes place near the City Center alongside the James River. I really like the bike trail. Last year I drove there 3 days before the race and practiced on it, learning the techniques of some of the Pro riders, this helped improve my race time from the previous year by 41 min's and I took first place, receiving the East Coast Championship Jersey and Medal , This was a qualifying race for Worlds, that was one of my proudest moments and I hope to repeat it this year. That's what I like about Xterra the mile swim the 20 miles mountain bike and then 6.2 mile trail run, there are so many variables so many things that can go wrong , but when you get everything right it's such a great feeling. I guess that's what's known as being in the zone. I enjoy life and feel more alive than ever when I am in a race, I think it keeps you young and I hope I have many more years of racing ahead of me.
6: Training
The hardest part of racing is the training. The race is a culmination of what you did before and throughout the year. We are very fortunate in Charlotte to have good facilities and people who dedicate a lot of time to organizing race events and working on trails, also bike shops and businesses that are willing to sponsor events. The trails in NC are so varied, they allow one to prepare for just about any race. Not to mention the great weather. To compare, last year I went back to the UK To race in a ITU World Cup Race in Salford. They said it had rained every day for six week's, but we were in luck, the day of the race the sun came out, I mentioned to an acquaintance, that the organizers had told me they were hard pressed to find anybody for the over 60s age group in all England. His response was, “That's because nobody’s bloody daft enough.” And that pretty much sums up the mindset in the North of England, he was about 140 pounds overweight and smoked 30 cigarettes a day and drinks too much, but he was telling me, that I must be crazy to subject my body to this kind of punishment. He is 65yrs old and has since found out he has Cancer. I raised $300 for Leukemia Lymphoma Research, sponsored by the Banana Army, While I was in England, and I really enjoyed doing the International distance race in front of over five thousand spectators. The race was nationally Televised and I came 2nd in my group. Doing this in front of all my relatives and friends in the Old Country was one of the proudest sporting moments of my life. The guy who came 3rd, I learned later, was a triathlon coach, no pushover. And the man that beat me was Sir Rocco Forte, Multi-millionaire/ Hotelier, who had the help of a man-servant in the transition area, I was going to complain about this, but although I led most of the race, he passed me two miles into the 6.2 mile run, and I just could not stay with him. He had me beat, but I gave a 100% that day and fell exhausted at the finish, but I was doing something I enjoy and raising money for a Charitable cause, at the same time. It's not just about winning.
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