bike, but there were no bike racks.
Drafting, or riding closely behind
another cyclist to take advantage of
the slipstream, and personal support
cars with spare bikes and parts were
considered fair game. Today these
tactics are grounds for disqualification.
There was very little traffic
control and for the most part competitors
fended for themselves while
on the road.
Granola, fruit, soft drinks and
candy bars were staples; gels and
energy bars were not yet invented.
The common practice of the day
was to change clothes for each leg of
the race. Of course, this was before
triathlon shorts came into fashion
during the mid-80s.
Karl Sutter was the race director
the first year and then handed the
job to me. I took responsibility for
the 1980 and 1981 events. The following
year, Jim Ritch succeeded
me as race director, but after a twoyear
stint, relinquished the reins
to Jim Honneycutt. All four of us
were members of the YMCA, the
Wilmington Road Runners and the
Cape Fear Cyclists clubs. Without
the help of the club members, organizing
the triathlon would have been
difficult.
To keep from burning out the
volunteer race directors, the YMCA
assumed the organizational responsibilities.
For the next 20 years, staff
members Nancy Rife, Perry Maxwell
and Gray Lambeth would run the
show. Setup Events, a Kure Beachbased
event coordination business
founded by Bill Scott, teamed up
with the Y in the late 1990s.
During the decades, the route
has been altered to meet
the demand for different
time periods. Those first years the
distances almost matched the current
half-Ironman distance, which is a
1.1-mile swim followed with a 56-
mile bike ride and then a 13.1-mile
run. A full Ironman is a 2.2-mile
Fraser Perry raced in the first
Wilmington YMCA Triathlon and
almost every one since. This year is no
exception for this 81-year-old.
the
poster
boy
At the far south end of
Wrightsville Beach sits a home
carefully removed from the
beaten path — in this case, Water Street,
the far promontory of South Lumina
Avenue — by means of a long driveway
and a row of tall hedges. It is a beautiful
home, though a simple one, with unparalleled
access to Banks Channel. Its pier is
the island’s southernmost.
Octogenarian Fraser Perry lives here.
At 81 years old, Fraser is the oldest participant
in this year’s Wilmington YMCA
Triathlon.
He has competed in the annual triathlon
almost every year since the event’s inception
in 1979 — an impressive record by
anyone’s count. And given the greater spirit
of the competition — one of vigor, determination
and charity — Fraser, ever modest, is
poised to be this event’s poster boy.
“I love it because it’s great for physical
health, but it also serves the community,”
Fraser says, citing the fact that proceeds
from the event go to the YMCA’s “We
Build People” campaign, which expands
club membership to the underprivileged.
Fraser grew up in Wilmington, returning
home after four years at the University
of North Carolina Chapel Hill and service
in the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet during the
Korean War. He has lived with Rogene, his
wife and fellow triathlete, on Wrightsville
since 1969, capitalizing on its elements to
stay in shape. From his pier (or sometimes
to it), he will swim a mile and a quarter
before reporting to his brokerage office
on Wrightsville Avenue. His feet are well
worn from the asphalt of Lumina Avenue.
“I’m not a good athlete,” he says with a
smile, “I’m just a determined one.”
Determined indeed, Fraser will compete
in the 2011 Wilmington YMCA
Triathlon, contributing one more event Tshirt
to the box of triathlon swag he stores
in his attic.
Modesty aside, he’s anticipating a
victory.
“If you’re the only one in your age
group, you’re going to win,” he says, “But
then again, everyone who trains hard and
finishes is a winner.” —Nash Jenkins
33
WBM
Allison Potter
Fraser Perry,