Last Updated on October 20, 2020
Tony Handler epitomizes Growing Bolder’s mantra of:
Hope. Inspiration. Possibility.
The man who has beaten cancer over and over again is now ranked number two in the world for his age group (75-79) in the Ironman 70.3 distance. It would be an incredible feat for any athlete, but since Tony has to swim for 1.2 miles, bike for 56 miles and run for 13 miles at every event, it also proves that when you believe in yourself and refuse to give up, you can achieve amazing things.
Tony tells Growing Bolder,
In looking into further details of the ranking I found that in the world ranking there are only 35 people crazy enough to still be doing 70.3 races at this age, and that there are 17 of us with the same points for winning a 70.3 race and therefore also tied for 2nd place out of the the 35. I got my points by winning my age group in the Haines City 70.3 in May. Even though I was the oldest of the 1,918 competitors, I managed to beat 450 of them that were younger than me.”
Tony, who is on a training break to recover from a broken collarbone, isn’t done racing yet. He recently found out that he qualified to be on Team USA, representing the United States in the World Spring Triathlon Championship, and is looking forward to adding yet one more accomplishment to his long list of achievements.
Over the last 35 years, Tony has survived 10 bouts with six different kinds of cancer requiring 20 surgeries. He still receives a monthly chemo shot to keep his live cancer under control but says his message is — don’t give up.
Every time I cross the finish line, I’m beating Mr. Cancer. I’ve beaten him over and over and that’s how I’m Growing Bolder.”
Listen to our interview with Tony on Growing Bolder Radio here!