For 20 years, Wendy Minor’s name has been synonymous with the Maui XTERRA World Championships, and for good reason.
She owns nine age group XTERRA World Championship titles, an incredible feat. But that’s not the entire story.
Known for her laid-back style, bright smile and “let’s have fun” attitude, Minor has crushed her competition over the years by utilizing what’s become her routine skill set — competing as an all-out, gutsy, bodacious warrior ready to tackle any challenge that comes her way.
In addition, her athletic resume boasts a jaw-dropping 28 Ironman triathlon finishes — 15 of which were at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. Along with that she has competed in three “doubles” — back-to-back events by racing the Ironman World Championships followed by the XTERRA World Championships one week later. She is also a proud finisher of the Hawaii Ultraman World Championships and the Lean Horse 100 — a 100-mile ultra marathon in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
And all of these amazing accomplishments belong to the Kamuela resident who is 73 years of age.
Last October, Minor was favored to claim her 10th age group world championship title at the premier off-road triathlon in Kapalua, which featuring a 1-mile rough water swim, a grueling 20-mile mountain bike, followed by a 6.5-mile trail run.
Along with being in the best shape of her life, the milestone would have certainly cemented her status amongst the XTERRA greats. Minor not only has the most age group wins of any female to date, but every year, she is also the oldest.
However, just two weeks prior to her championship “A” race, the unthinkable happened. Minor incurred a terrifying Strep B infection in her right knee, which spread from a superficial cut on her right shin.
“I had gone to a paddle out in Kawaihae Harbor for a friend who passed away and I noticed I had a little cut on my right shin, just above my ankle. So I went to the paddle out and 24 hours later I had a fever of a 102 degrees. I thought I had the flu because my leg looked fine. But 48 hours later, my knee swelled up and I went to the doctor,” Minor said. “He immediately sent me over to the emergency room at North Hawaii Community Hospital. I still was thinking that this wasn’t a big deal. The doctor there told me that I didn’t have the flu but an infection. They put me on IV (intravenous) antibiotics and I thought that I’d be going home soon.”
But that wasn’t the case.
Minor was admitted into the hospital after not responding well to the antibiotics. Then on the day of the Ironman World Championship, she ended up having surgery to remove the large infection from her knee.
“All I felt was a little tenderness in my knee and then boom! It swelled up into what looked like the size of a soccer ball,” she said. “So the orthopedic surgeon went in and cut the infection out, including the bursa located under my kneecaps. He said the infection was starting to go up toward my hip. And after cleaning everything out of my knee, they also packed it solid with antibiotics. Then I was on IV antibiotics for the next three weeks.”
Minor explained that the infection didn’t follow the normal pattern of what she typically heard about MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) infected patients. That’s because her infection was caused by the Strep B Bacteria.
“There were no red lines going up my leg. The cut looked pretty much the same but the bacteria got up into my bloodstream through that small cut,” Minor said. “The surgeon told me that for an infection like that it goes into the bloodstream. Then when it gets to a joint like my knee, he explained that it’s kind of like an intersection — it can either stop there and infect it, or it could’ve gone on, right past my knee and into my hip, or possibly infect the other leg. I could’ve also lost my life.”
Had Minor not been in the best shape of her life, doctors explained that she could have died from complications by the Strep B infection that began innocently from a tiny cut on her leg. It turned out to be a valuable learning experience in her life, and a caution to anyone to think twice before entering the ocean if they have an injury on their body, no matter how small.
The long road of rehab
Two weeks post-surgery, Minor remembers watching last year’s XTERRA World Championships on the live stream and briefly thinking to herself, “Wow, that would’ve been so much fun.”
“So going to XTERRA went so far into my rearview mirror because I was just so happy to be alive,” Minor said. “I had 25 staples in my knee because I had such a huge incision. Then I had to have home health care to clean out the pick lines for the IV antibiotics and all my other friends giving me the antibiotics twice per day. I was housebound and couldn’t go anywhere for weeks, just stuck. I, for sure, thought my XTERRA days were gone and that I won’t get to ever do one of those again.”
After removing the staples a month later, the orthopedic surgeon was shocked that Minor was recovering so fast.
“He suggested that I could possibly get on a (stationary) bike trainer but that I wouldn’t be able to run until next summer,” she said. “And I was like, what?! This is November and I can’t run until next summer?
“When I got home, I managed to get my bike on the trainer, but I knew how hard this was going to be. So I put it in the easiest gear and I was happy that it went around,” Minor added. “So I kept changing gears and I couldn’t believe that I was just sitting there and spinning away. This wasn’t what was supposed to be expected. So I kept zooming along and kept doing it every day, going longer and longer each time.”
Afraid of going back into the ocean, Minor eventually got back into swimming by utilizing the pool at her house. Within two months, she was back to riding her bike out on the roads near her home — months ahead of what normally would be expected. She then finally got the green light to start running again.
“I started back running in December, two months after my surgery and six months ahead of schedule, and it was really hard,” Minor said. “The running part has been the hardest for me to get back. It took me months before I felt like I could actually run. And I still don’t run that much because it’s still not right in there, I can just tell.”
Return to Racing
Minor’s first race back was the Lavaman Olympic Distance Triathlon this past April.
“I didn’t train that hard for it because I was taking everything so carefully,” she said. “I was just happy to be able to do all of it because I could. I was alive, so competing just wasn’t in my head. I remember laying in the hospital last October thinking that I may not be able to be competitive again.”
To her surprise, Minor’s finishing time of 3 hours, 30 minutes and 5 seconds was only four minutes slower from the previous year.
“And that’s when I got my competitive drive again,” she said. “I was surprised that with what little training I had and all that I had been through, my time wasn’t much different — four minutes? That’s really nothing. I think my run time was almost the same too.”
Feeling on a roll, she signed up for Carl “Gecko” Koomoa’s Team Mango Racing events — local triathlon races to help get her body back into shape.
“They are fun races, you don’t have to compete, just get out there and have fun,” Minor said. “And after doing a few, I began to think, oh, XTERRA? That’s the race I really want to do!”
Coincidentally, it was just the time when Grant Miller and Janet Higa-Miller, co-founders of Aloha Sports Kona, announced the inaugural XTERRA Hawaii Island.
“It was just perfect timing for me — I can qualify and get into XTERRA,”Minor said. “I know that I could’ve just called up the organizers of XTERRA and ask if I could get in because of what happened to me, and they would’ve let me, but I really felt that I need to qualify just like everyone else. I shouldn’t get any favors.”
Earning her slot at XTERRA Hawaii Island
At Sunday’s inaugural XTERRA Hawaii Island, which featured a half-mile swim, 10-mile bike and 3.1-mile run, Minor earned one of 25 slots available, qualifying her to compete in her 11th XTERRA World Championship race on Maui on Oct. 28, and brought her a step closer toward her quest for a 10th age group win.
Minor won the women’s 70-74 age group in a fantastic time of 2:58:11.
“So here I am, I want to go back to the XTERRA World Championships,” she said. “I know it’s going to be harder for me. I’m not in the shape that I was going into XTERRA last year. My knee is still not quite right and I’m a year older. And at my age, a year older is a big difference.”
Minor said that her goal on Sunday was to basically take it easy after hearing that they would be competing on a brutal and gnarly bike course.
“It’s rocky and nasty,” she said. “I don’t care how long it takes me, I just don’t want to get hurt.”
And perhaps this is why Minor’s story is far from over. While her quest for a whopping 10-age group XTERRA World Championship titles almost ended from a bacterial infection she suffered nearly a year ago, and her road to recovery has not only been a rocky journey, but one of her biggest trials of her racing career, Minor proved that no challenge is ever too great for the “Queen of XTERRA.”
Her undeniable spirit for off-road adventures is destined to continue for many more years to come. XTERRA is in her blood, it is her passion.
“The off-road is something where you have to be so focused, it calls on all of your skills. Like Ironman is more mind-numbing — you just go out there and grind away as you know eventually you’ll finish. But the night before the XTERRA World Championships, I don’t sleep. I try to visualize the bike course. I don’t want to fall,” she said. “You just don’t know what’s going to happen until you get there. But that’s the challenge and I just love it. I will keep doing what I love for as long as I can.”