Second up in the IRONMAN World Championship series is Michael Collins, 61, of Salem, Oregon. He’s among the thousands of athletes who will compete in Nice, France this weekend at the IRONMAN World Championship.
If his last name looks familiar, that’s because Michael is a descendant of triathlon royalty. His parents are John and Judy Collins, who created the first IRONMAN in 1978 in O’ahu.
His parents wouldn’t let him compete that first year, because he had a swim meet, but he did compete the very next year, at the age of 16! We talked about that first race, what it was like growing up in the Collins family, and what he thinks about the rotating World Championship format.
This is probably my favorite quote from the whole piece:
“We sat at Burger King for an hour watching the next seven people go by, including a guy with bullhorns on his helmet. That’s when I knew I was the last person in the race.”
