Mike Rushton made his fifth trip to the Big Island this week to compete in the Ironman World Championship. However, the triathlete from Oregon will consider anything he does in the race on Saturday “icing on the cake” after one of his two sons finished first in the Ironkids Keiki Dip-n-Dash on Tuesday.
Seth Rushton was no stranger to the annual kids race that is one of the premiere events for Ironman Week. He finished fourth last year before sprinting stride-for-stride with another competitor to take first place in the older kids race at Kailua Pier.
“It was fun, really competitive and I liked it,” Seth Rushton said. “The last part where me and the other kid were sprinting our hearts out trying to get it, that was my favorite part.”
Adam Rushton, who also competed in the race, echoed his bother’s comments about the race being fun, adding that the swim was his favorite part.
“I have been swimming for four years and I like it,” Adam Rushton said. “I compete a lot.”
The race started at 4 p.m. with a quarter mile run for younger kids and a mile run for older kids. The runs were then followed by two biathlons, one for younger kids and one for the older group. The biathlon included a 150-yard swim.
The Keiki Dip-n-Dash was then followed by the Parade of Nations (see article below).
The annual trip to Hawaii for the Ironman World Championship is considered “Daddy’s vacation out with his boys” by the Rushton clan, mostly because Mike’s wife, Kristen Rushton, is a high school soccer coach on the mainland and as Mike puts it, “this is not a good season for here to travel.”
Mike Rushton first got into triathlon training after what he considers his “lost decade.”
“In my 30s I started getting a little lazy,” he said. “I came from a biking background and my wife challenged me to do a triathlon with her. I did pretty good and I thought that if I actually train for this, I could do pretty good.”
Mike Rushton has competed for five consecutive years in the Ironman World Championship, something hard to do even for pro standards. His wife competed the race once.
The father of two admits, with a laugh, that only one of his four previous tries went pretty well.
“I don’t expect to do super well on Saturday,” Mike Rushton said. “This is the most competitive triathlon in the world so it is fun to come here and compete. I like the challenge. They are all hard and every single person here is the best in the world. It doesn’t matter if you finish first or 2,001, you feel like you accomplished something.”