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Karen Beazley didn鈥檛 expect to become a triathlon athlete in her 50s. But not only is that the case 鈥� she鈥檚 a pretty good one, too.

In late July, at the 2012 Vitoria-Gasteiz ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships in Spain, she finished fifth in her age group.

鈥淭he experience of it is really amazing,鈥� says Karen, who teaches in the Faculty of Management鈥檚 School for Resource and Environmental Studies. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e done all the hard work and the training so that when you get to race day, you feel confident. 鈥業 can do this.鈥� You just know that you鈥檙e going to be swimming, biking and running all day.鈥�

Though Karen ran and swam in high school, she had put those pursuits aside for decades until she felt inspired to take up running again just prior to her 50th birthday. The impetus was, in part, the memory of her grandfather, a marathon runner who was killed in World War II, and who has a yearly 10k race in Hantsport named after him.

After qualifying for and competing in the Boston Marathon, Karen, whose research expertise is in wildlife conservation and planning, upped the ante: she wanted to add cycling and swimming to the mix and compete in triathlons.

So, in August of 2011 she completed a Full Ironman in Louisville, Kentucky,聽 placing 11th in her division. As practice for the Ironman, she competed in a half-ironman, finishing first in her division and qualifying for the World Championship Long-Distance triathlon in Spain.

鈥淚 like to see what I can do. Someone asked me once about running an Olympic distance triathlon, but I know I can do that. The fun is in pushing myself, seeing what鈥檚 possible, striving to do something I鈥檓 not sure I can do. And then, after I do it, I think, hey, what about doing it faster?

The Spain race was only her third triathlon, though its name is a bit deceiving: a 鈥渓ong-distance鈥� triathlon is actually shorter than, say, an Ironman race. But it鈥檚 still a rigorous experience and to even finish鈥攍et alone with her time of 08:06:49鈥攊s a big accomplishment.

Later this month, she leaves for France to compete in the World Championship Duathlon (biking and running), though she cautions that she hasn鈥檛 done nearly as much training for this one. But she鈥檚 looking ahead to improving her skills in the coming year, cycling in particular, with the goal of competing in an Ironman race in 2013 and hopefully qualifying for the World Championships.