Irongran: How keeping fit taught me that growing older needn't mean slowing down

by Edwina Brocklesby

'If I can start to run at 50 and become the oldest British woman to complete an Ironman, everyone should realise it's never too late 'At the age of 50, Eddie Brocklesby decided to run her first half marathon. Until that point, she'd done little running, and her exercise regime consisted of little more than chauffeuring her children to their own sports clubs. In common with so many people, any interest she'd shown in sport in her childhood had diminished as her adult life progressed, with spare time becoming ever more limited in the face of work and family commitments.After that event, and following the loss of her husband of thirty years to cancer, she completed a marathon. Now, 75 years old, the past twenty years has seen Eddie take part in marathons, triathlons and Ironman races across the globe and she has accrued many medals and awards.In Irongran , Eddie looks back on her life and explains just how she's managed to develop the energy to match the enthusiasm she's always had for an active lifestyle. She shares the difficulties she's experienced in her sporting endeavours, and explains how she's managed to overcome them. Eddie is passionate about the health and wellbeing of our ageing population and provides up to date research about why keeping active in later years is so important, along with guidance about how to remain full of life in your later years.

Genres: Biography

245 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2018

Reviews

[Sophie Patrikios · Rating 2 out of 5]

She’s awesome, the book just isn’t well written - to the point of being quite hard to slog through. I’ve read lots of athletes’ autobiographies and don’t expect them to be amazing writers, but this time she or her editor should have known when to hand it over to an expert. A ghost writer would have known what to spend time on and what to skim over, how to let her unique and often funny voice come through, and the best way to share the more technical aspects. She’s obviously wonderful, and her story is so good it deserves the best possible chance to reach as many people as possible. This book doesn’t do her justice.

[Kasia Kulma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geez, where to start? What a hugely inspirational role model Eddie is! A "typical" mum up to the age of 50 - this is when she discovered running and then cycling and then triathlon... The rest is history. How on earth did she do several full Ironman races (the last one at the age of 72!) is beyond me! And that's while setting up and running a charity promoting physical fitness for the over 50s. This is worth 5 stars and more! However, I think the book would benefit from having a ghostwriter - I struggled with the style at the beginning as it was very erratic and jumpy. Then, I wasn't sure about describing every single race in detail and then other less relevant events, as they all merge into one... So for the style and writing I would give (almost) 3 🙂

[Camio.Dontchaknow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there anything finer than a granny giving you a verbal kick up the jacksie to get up and moving, whilst she casually trains for and takes part in fun runs, marathons, Ironmans? You know, the usual granny stuff. What a woman! This book was a good read and didn't quite follow the route I expected it to. There was a lot about her life and family's life pre-marathoning. Which gave a good insight into her motivations and mentality. I can only hope I'm half the woman she is by the time I get to her age

[Aftab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read, was expecting something a bit different though

If you are okay to read a book a bit like a autobiography then his is fine. The book is a a walk through the history, past and life o f Edwina B, I was expecting a bit more on the challenges and struggles and how obstacles were overcome. It does touch on those but skims over them whereas that is the meat of what I was interested in.
Edwina is still an inspiration and I hope to live up to the same benchmark set.

[Jo Locke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiration at its best!

A book everyone should read. A wonderful insight into life and how much we can all gain from being active. Wow. Fantastic. Super job Edwina. Keep it going!

[mr w i williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiration to each and everyone......

An excellent read ,very motivating, an inspiration to all at even half her age. A very well written book.



.

[C F Grindrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspirational for me as an older triathlete and interesting backstory at the beginning. I loved it.