Q&A with Cherie Gruenfeld
GU ATHLETE: Cherie Gruenfeld
SPORT: Triathlon
BIRTHDATE: 1944
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Cathedral City, California
WEBSITE: www.cheriegruenfeld.com, www.eefoundation.org
Proudest athletic accomplishment?
1) 1999 Ironman World Championships - broke the course record, won the 55-59 age group, became first woman over 55 to ever go under 12 hours in any Ironman race.
2) 2007 Ironman World Championships - came back to win my age group after a year’s forced layoff.
Hobbies?
Who has time?
Favorite book?
Mine – Become an Ironman, published by Meyer & Meyer March ’08.
Song title that best fits your personality/spirit?
John Mellencamp’s ’82 hit – Hurts So Good.
How do you reward yourself when you reach a key goal?
I’ll never tell!
What’s the most creative way you’ve ever carried your gel?
I’ve always carried GU the same way. I put the packets in my bra top. When I start an Ironman race, I appear to have voluptuous hooters (although a bit lumpy).
As the race progresses, I become less voluptuous and, by the finish line, I’m fairly flat-chested again – but full of energy!
If you were not a pro athlete, what would you do professionally?
In my next lifetime when given that option, I’ll give it some serious thought.
When you were a kid, what did you dream of becoming when you grew up?
I grew up when girls had very few options. It was pre-Title IX, so no organized sports were available to me. Few women were visible in the business world and little was expected of me beyond getting a college education and becoming a good wife and mother. I didn’t know for sure what I wanted to do, and I certainly didn’t envision doing what I’m doing today. But I did know I wanted to do something important with my life – something far beyond what folks expected of me.
Ultimate goals?
To leave this life while I’m wearing workout clothes.
Personal causes you’re involved in?
In 2000 I started a program called Exceeding Expectations, encouraging at-risk kids to move their lives in a positive direction, using the sport of triathlon as the vehicle. The goal is not to develop the kids into elite athletes, but rather to offer them opportunities to participate in a lifestyle which is healthy, goal-oriented and very unlike that which they experience in their everyday lives. We strive to replace negative influences with positive role models and to instill in the kids a powerful new discipline of setting measurable goals and working hard to achieve them.
Three things people don’t know about you?
1) My husband, Lee, and I have a very special thing we say to each other as I’m leaving for the water on Ironman race day. It’s a family thing and I’m not telling what it is. So, this is one thing that people still won’t know about me.
2) My husband calls me “Rainman.” He knows that, like Rainman, if I’m headed down a path he should NOT try to divert me – or do so at his own peril.
3) I’m an absolute sucker for kids. I actually prefer kids to many adults – they often times make more sense.
