His name was actually on the list. It read in a seemingly bold type: “Wayne Mehl.” His friend and fellow trialthlete saw it first and let him know. “Wayne, you made it!” he said in an ecstatic tone. But Wayne,
His name was actually on the list.
It read in a seemingly bold type: “Wayne Mehl.”
His friend and fellow trialthlete saw it first and let him know.
“Wayne, you made it!” he said in an ecstatic tone.
But Wayne, a Kaua’i resident, just sat there, edging between feelings of joy and disbelief. He couldn’t fathom the truth: Wayne Mehl is invited to compete in the Ironman Triathlon World Championship on Sunday, Oct. 6, in Kona, Hawaii.
There is no Triathlon competition more prestigious. And yet Wayne, a competitor with only three years of Ironman experience, was now considered one of the world’s best Triathletes in his age group (ages 60-64).
All he could do in that moment was think about the day that changed his life three years before, when he received a call from his disheartened daughter in the Bay Area.
She said she needed an outlet from her stressful life as a veterinarian. She asked her father to begin running with her. Mehl, a former world record holder in the 50 yard backstroke and member of the Naval Submarine Service, decided he would join his daughter for support. They began training, and Mehl was pleased with the results.
“Working out again was a great way for me to stay healthy and continue to eat without gaining weight,” said Mehl. “It was also great being there for my daughter.”
Eventually, the two would test their limits, and began running in major competitions such as the Maui Marathon.
Pleased with her father’s success, Allison, Mehl’s other daughter, wanted to test his limits even further.
“Now that you have done a marathon with my sister, what are you going to do with me, dad?” Allison asked. She signed her father up for “Escape from Alcatraz,” a Triathlon that began with a tough swim from the former Bay Area prison to the San Francisco shore.
Mehl now learned what it was like being the ultimate athlete. He would finish in relatively good standing at the Bay Area Triathlon, and would swim, bike, and run his way to over three triathlons a year.
Since “Escape from Alcatraz,” Mehl has competed in the Phuket Triathlon in New Zealand (which he won once), the Austrailian Ironman, the Brazilian Ironman and the Malaysian Ironman, to name a few. In some of these competitions, only 1/3 of the Triathletes in his age group were able to finish.
But not Mehl.
He would cross the finish
