July 2024 Athlete of the Month
By Del Moon, NSGA PR Specialist
Julie Summers, 56
Windsor Heights, Iowa
Photo courtesy Iowa Senior Games.
Until six years ago, Julie Summers had no idea she would become an athlete. It was never in her plans in her youth or as a busy professional and mother. Then, on a whim at age 50, her life changed, and today she is a triathlete with two National Senior Games medals.
Born and raised in West Des Moines, Julie explains that recreation was a part of her family life, but her parents emphasized education over athletics. “My dad swam all the time at the YMCA and was fairly athletic, and mom made sure we all learned how to swim,” she explains. “I did normal kid things like riding my bike and playing some basketball, but athletics was not emphasized. Going to college was the primary focal point.”
Julie poured into her studies and ultimately obtained her doctorate from Iowa State University, juggling a job and raising two girls through the process. She also made a conscious decision to keep them active. “My kids did every sport imaginable,” she recalls. “My youngest did triathlons and earned 19 letters in high school. Both of my kids swam in college, so I was the parent of athletes.”
When her daughters left home, Julie moved to Pella, one hour southeast of her hometown, to join the faculty at Central College as a management and marketing lecturer. She found she had time on her hands for the first time as an adult. “I started swimming 80 laps three times a week and rode my daughter’s old triathlon bike,” she says. “And then, on a whim, I decided to do a triathlon. One of the lifeguards at my pool said, ‘You’re here all the time – are you training for something?’ And I said, ‘Oh, no, I don’t know what I would train for. I’m just like, I have to do something.’”
Tackling the Tri
That something turned out to be training and entering the Iowa Senior Games triathlon. Julie went on to compete in the National Senior Games triathlon twice, earning a silver medal in 2022 and a bronze in 2023. Why did she go from having no competitive experience to taking on the triathlon, a demanding three-discipline sport?
“I am very accidental, I like trying different things,” she muses. “But I knew how to swim and I knew how to ride a bike. I had had a labrum tear which affected my running. I started doing more strength training and ended up losing a lot of weight. My girls think that I’m crazy for working out every day like I do at my age. They did it as part of an organized group activity, and I’m just kind of doing it on my own. I think that’s why they’re surprised.”
Julie Summers during the run portion of the triathlon at the 2023 National Senior Games presented by Humana.
Julie is also aware of the example she sets with her college students, many of whom are student athletes. “I think they’re pretty much shocked,” she says. “I don’t think they think about the breadth of sports and what it means. They don’t think about older people as participants, they just think about the kids and the pros.”
“I teach principles of marketing and management,” she adds. “I have a sports marketing class that will cover the big professional sports and some of the other ones that are a little bit less understood,” Julie adds. “There’s a lot of topics like the WNBA and the Olympics that I think are really important for students to be aware of these days. We also have Caitlin Clark coming from Iowa. It’s been just really interesting, and there’s a lot of angles to look at her experience.”
As a media watcher, Julie is also aware of the perceptions of aging versus the realities. “If you look at how the media portrays older people, that obviously can have an impact on what instills people to continue to do things in their life. As we see more people being able to do things like sports that should hopefully spark the nation to be a little bit healthier in their actions.”
Julie is excited about the 2025 National Senior Games coming to Des Moines, which was a happy coincidence since the host city had not been announced when she decided to pursue Senior Games. “People always think of Iowa being just corn and farms, but they won’t see much of that in Des Moines. It’s a great city, and the people are friendly. They will come out to support the Games.”
