I sent the postings on the triathlete senior to my daughter
just  to see what kind of a reaction I got...particularly on
the cancer in "chronic joggers." She took the posts
seriously...much to my surprise. I thought you might find
the resulting email interesting. (FRCC is Front Range
Community College)

Dorothy Milner wrote:
>
> Mom-
> I forwarded the message from Richard Keene to Dr. David Knapp, a
> triathlete and faculty member here at FRCC.  Here was his response:
>
> Dotti-
> You raise an interesting point.  In fact, Triathlete magazine has
> published some articles questioning what might be the long-term health
> effects of such an extreme sport (especially for women because it
> depletes the body's fat reserves to a sometimes dangerous level for
> women).  The problem is that the sport is only about 20 years old;
> therefore, most
> of the studies on triathletes are not longitudinal in nature.  I do know
> that many of the top triathletes do struggle with premature wrinkling
> due to so many hours outdoors (which can lead to the skin cancer
> problems referred to in the e-mail), and they naturally suffer from many
> of the same long-term injuries that most athletes deal with (blown-out
> knees, chronic shoulder problems, and foot injuries).  But I also know
> that the short-term studies are all positive, and I know quite a few
> triathletes who are going strong in their '60s, '70s, and '80s (believe
> it or not).  The bottom line is
> that triathletes are among the most fit individuals in the world --
> combining strength training and cardiovascular conditioning, so I think
> the sport's benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
>
> Anyway, that's probably more than you wanted, but don't get me started
> talking about a passion of mine.
>
> -Dr. David Knapp

--
Betty Ann
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"In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats." English
Proverb