If you sign up for a triathlon near you sometime soon, take a look around to see if you spot Zdeno Chara in the wild.
The 6-foot-9 former Boston Bruins captain has been retired from the NHL for nearly two years, but he hasn’t stopped being active, even at age 47.
And just this past week, Chara competed in his first full Ironman triathlon, finishing the Ironman Kalmar in Sweden.
“My athletic journey post-hockey naturally gravitated toward endurance sports,” Chara said in an interview with Runner’s World. “I’ve always enjoyed cycling and running so the transition to triathlon felt like a natural progression.”
The Ironman triathlon is one of the world’s hardest sporting competitions, consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.2 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.2 km) run completed in that order, for a total of 140.6 miles (226.3 km).
“It’s a delicate balance, especially as I’m still adapting to the demands of endurance sports after years of hockey-specific training.”
Chara played 24 seasons for four teams but was best known for his time in Boston. He had 209 goals, 471 assists and a plus-minus of +301 in 1,680 games. He also won the 2009 Norris Trophy and the 2011 Stanley Cup, beating out the Vancouver Canucks in a memorable seven-game final.
Up next for Chara is the world Ironman championships in late October in Kona, Hawaii.
“Being immersed in the endurance sports community has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my post-hockey athletic journey,” Chara said. “This new chapter has opened up a whole new world for me. The transition from professional hockey to endurance sports has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. I’m eagerly looking forward to many more finish lines to come.”
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