8 minute read
An Unlikely Ironman
ALUM OVERCOMES PARALYZING ACCIDENT TO COMPETE IN KONA
BY LIZ KEMMERY ’04
“If he can do it, so can I,” Rodger Krause ’80 said half jokingly throughout the interview.
He said it lightly with a chuckle, but he also meant it. That simple sentence wasn’t just Rodger’s competitive nature talking, it was a reflection of his determination to survive and succeed after a biking accident changed his life in a split second.
And it’s what led him to an unlikely IRONMAN victory in Kona, Hawaii, at 61 years old.
Rodger always was competitive. A high school swimmer and golfer, he described himself as a versatile and well-rounded athlete. While attending Shippensburg, he played golf for the university. He loved the sport but found his success became stagnant. “I kept playing golf in college, but I wasn’t improving, and it was frustrating,” he said. “In the meantime, I started to run, swim, and bike.”
Bob Krause ’82, Rodger’s brother, was living in Baltimore at the time and began training for triathlons. Bob took Rodger on a bike ride, and Rodger fell in love with the feeling of the wind on his back.
“I thought, if Bob can do this, so can I.”
The agility, speed, and endurance hooked him. Rodger was made for triathlons. He began racing and made friends through the sport.
The editor-in-chief of Triathlete recently described the sport as a love/hate relationship, something that hit home for Rodger.
Kelly O’Mara wrote, “Some days I don’t want to do the workout or talk to any other triathletes. Some days it’s a drag. But there are more days when it’s amazing, and fun, and I love it and get to do all these sports. And, sometimes, when I’m nailing a workout and in the zone, there isn’t anything I’d rather be doing.”
It’s a mentality that Rodger couldn’t escape, even when a biking accident nearly took his life.
On an unseasonably warm and sunny December day in 1999, Rodger went for a ride. He hugged the white line on the right side of the road. But the joy of that leisurely ride changed in an instant.
“A car driving on the other side came right toward me,” he said. Rodger was forced to swerve out of the way. The near collision left Rodger in a ditch, barely able to move. He had flown over the handlebars into a tuck position.
Thankfully, a woman baking Christmas cookies in a nearby home saw the incident from her kitchen window and called 911. He was transported to the local hospital, then flown to Penn State Hershey Medical Center.
Rodger survived, but learned that he had a T-12 spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the belly button down. The accident stole his mobility and ignited a series of professional and personal changes in his life.
The gravity of the situation is not lost on Rodger, but now at 63 years old, he’s overcome it. The accident was a turning point, but not an end. In many ways, it was the beginning of something bigger.
After the accident, Rodger completed months of rehab to re-learn how to do daily tasks. He also began aqua therapy. Although he returned home wheelchair bound, he started swimming for exercise.
Rodger assumed his days of biking and running were over. But several years later, a local connection sparked a new chapter in his story.
At church, Rodger met the father of Chris Kaag, a former US Marine, adaptive athlete, and founder of IM ABLE. Kaag lived in the area and his organization worked to “remove obstacles that prevent people affected by cognitive or physical challenges from being physically active.”
Rodger connected with Kaag, and Kaag lent him a handcycle—a vehicle similar to a bike that is powered by arms instead of legs. “I was smitten. I caught the bug again,” Rodger said.
He worked at it continuously to improve. Once he excelled with the handcycle, Kaag introduced Rodger to a lightweight pushchair that allowed him to replicate running.
It was coming together. He was swimming, biking, and running. He began competing again through IM ABLE, first by swimming in a sprint triathlon, then in a run-bike-run event, and eventually earning first place in the Got the Nerve Sprint Triathlon in the adaptive athlete division.
In 2017, he ran into an old friend. Kevin Moore, Esq., ’89. “Although we were both raised in Reading, I am younger than Rodger and did not meet him until 1999, just a few months before his tragic accident,” Moore said. “He later trained me for my first triathlon from his wheelchair.”
Moore shared with Rodger that he recently completed the very scenic, but very hilly, IRONMAN Lake Placid—a full 140.6 miles consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run.
Rodger’s reaction? “If Kevin Moore can do it, I can do it!”
“Most adaptive triathletes don’t bother registering for Lake Placid. It’s widely known as the hardest IRONMAN in North America,” Moore said. “Rodger trained hard in 2017 for IRONMAN Lake Placid, mostly by himself. He didn’t even hesitate to ride his handcycle along the same stretch of road where he was left for dead.”
Despite the immense time investment to train, Rodger didn’t make the bike cutoff and was pulled from the course. “I got over it,” he said. “I saw I really had to improve.”
So he reached out to Mark Sortino, a US Naval Academy graduate who specializes in training para athletes. Rodger hired Sortino as his coach, and they got to work. He said Sortino introduced new ways to prepare and focused on different training zones.
In 2018, Rodger returned to Lake Placid. He knew it went better. He was the only adaptive athlete to complete the full course, and Moore said the crowd went wild at the finish. Hours later, he discovered he missed the cutoff by just 8 minutes.
“I knew I was getting faster, training harder, and my bike skills and time was improving,” he said.
So of course, Rodger doubled down on the challenge and set his eyes on Lubboc, Texas, the North American Handcycle Division Championship for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. It’s the Superbowl of triathlons, Moore said.
“I had to win,” Rodger said. His brother and Moore came to support him.
“Rodger and I have competed in triathlons together as a relay and as solo competitors. We have also attended races where only one of us was competing. In triathlon, which is a very solitary sport, it is really valuable to the athlete to have a cheering section.”
Moore said Rodger led the swim, had a great lead on the bike, and crushed the run with his pushchair. This time, in the brutal Texas heat on June 30, 2019, Rodger became the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Handcycle Division champion.
Next, Rodger headed to Kona with Bob and Moore once again supporting him. “The second oldest guy competing was twenty years younger than me,” he said.
He swam through the choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean, rode in scorching heat through the lava fields of the Big Island, and finished a marathon-distance run with his pushchair.
At 61 years old, Rodger completed the full IRONMAN World Championships at 13:48:44, edging out nearly 300 ablebodied triathletes.
“Rodger is humble and quietly confident in his abilities,” Moore said. “Nothing, I mean, NOTHING, intimidates him.”
Once the peak of COVID subsided and races returned, Rodger again competed in Lubboc and won. Although the 2021 IRONMAN World Championships was canceled, he is scheduled to compete this October at 64 years old.
“We all have those days we don’t feel like exercising, we’re not motivated, and we find something else to do,” Rodger said. “But there are other days when you’re on a bike, hitting those power meters, and it’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
After the accident, Rodger wasn’t sure what would happen. He said it took a while to figure things out and eventually get on the bike again. He credits his brother, Moore, Kaag, and Sortino for helping him through it.
Moore is amazed by Rodger’s achievements as he pushed through adversity to accomplish things others only dream about. However, you’d never know about those challenges. When Rodger is asked about all that he has overcome to get to where he is today, he simply shifts the conversation to his hopes for the next big race.
But he did offer this: “If you ever feel like you’re down, keep your chin up. Life is good. It’s not as bad as it might seem.”
Liz Kemmery ’04 is the director of communications and marketing at the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association. Prior to her role with PFMA, she served as director of creative services at Ship and was editor in chief of the university magazine.
(From left) Bob Krause '82, Rodger Krause '80, and Kevin Moore '89 in Kona, Hawaii, celebrating Rodger's successful completion of the IRONMAN World Championships.
