When Mackenzie Madison needs a break from her track or cross country training, she takes on a different sort of challenge – triathlons. The senior from Ankeny has competed in nearly 60 triathlons and uses the preparation for the events as time off from her career with the Cyclones.

“Instead of me running eight-plus miles every single day, it gives my body a break,” Madison said. “It gets me stronger in different parts.”

Madison’s cross-training typically takes about two hours a day, ranging from running to biking to swimming. Madison said her mornings are usually spent running and the evenings are for biking and swimming.

“Sometimes I can put up to four hours in a day,” she said. “But it’s all about endurance. It’s not ‘let’s go out and see how hard I can go.'”

Plenty of that endurance was shown off last weekend before large crowds gathered at Gray’s Lake in Des Moines for the Hy-Vee Triathlon. Madison finished sixth among all female competitors with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes, 11 seconds. After reaching the finish line, she was greeted by her father, Greg, who surprised her with the news of her placement. Madison originally didn’t think her times were good enough for a sixth-place overall finish, and she was more than pleased with her biking time of 1:04:09.

“I was just happy with my time because it was my fastest,” she said. “I didn’t really care about all that other stuff.”

Some of that “other stuff” included a $145 prize for finishing sixth place. Because of NCAA restrictions, Madison could not accept the winnings but instead used it to donate to a local charity.

“It went to a great cause,” she said. “It would have been nice to have kept it but I actually feel better about giving it to other people.”

Although the Hy-Vee Triathlon opened many people’s eyes to Madison, the senior has been impressing coaches in Ankeny for years. As a senior in high school, she placed 11th at the state meet in the Class 4-A 3,000 meters – but for some it’s been her attitude that brings back most memories.

“She was always appreciative and a hard-working person and I could always count on her to give her best,” said Ankeny track coach Dennis Adamson. “She was an athlete with a lot of character.”

Madison was also an athlete looking for an edge to improve her times in cross country and track during high school. Adamson said what he remembers most was how Madison would react to disappointment – by working harder – something he says has helped her succeed in triathlons.

“A triathlon athlete has to go through a lot of pain and a lot of long, hard training,” he said. “If you let setbacks, disappointments or injuries get you down, you’re not going to be able to achieve that level of competition.”

Numerous injuries have kept Madison away from competing in the Iowa Games – she even tried finishing her first race there after a biking accident caused her to go into shock. Now, the senior said she spends most of her weekends competing in road races or triathlons and even building them into vacations in spots like Colorado and Florida.

“Its just fun because I like to travel and compete,” Madison said.

Madison will continue to travel and compete during the summer, but she’ll return to Ames permanently in the fall and focus on finishing her career in college. Although she’s been doing triathlons since she was twelve, Madison said she won’t focus on that career until she’s finished up as a Cyclone.

“When I don’t have the opportunity to compete, I’ll do triathlons,” she said. “I’d like to see how far that could take me but right now I have only so much time to run.”

Results for Mackenzie Madison:

Swim: 25:55

Bike: 1:04:49

Run: 42:36

Finish/Overall: 2:17:11