The Grace to Race

The Iron Nun," a champion triathlete still competing at age 80, shares her inspiring firsthand account of achieving harmony between body, mind, and soul.

SISTER MADONNA BUDER, also known as "the Iron Nun,"  "the Flying Nun," and "the Mother Superior of Triathlon," is a Roman Catholic nun. She began running in 1978 at age 48. As of 2009, has completed 38 marathons and 325 triathlons. An inspiration to athletes and non-athletes, the religious and the secular, she has appeared in such publications as Runner’s World, U.S. News & World Report, Sports Illustrated, AARP Bulletin, USA Today, the Seattle Times, the Denver Post, Competitor Magazine, Triathlete Magazine, Ironman Magazine, More Magazine, and numerous others  She lives in Washington Sate.

KARIN EVANS has been a writer and editor at many major national publications, including Newsweek, Outside, and Health. Her writing has also appeared in such places as More Magazine, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Her book, The Lost Daughters of China (Tarcher, Penguin/Putnam, 2000) was a national bestseller. With Amy Tan, she co-authored the text for Mei-Mei: Portraits from a Chinese Orphanage (Photographs by Richard Bowen, Chronicle Books, 2005).