Beyond Triathlon

Female students today never knew a time without Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which protects students from sex-based discrimination and exclusion in education programs or activities. It benefits all women, especially female athletes. This dual memoir recounts the lives of Celeste Callahan and Dottie Dorion, who were athletes before Title IX was passed. Callahan and Dorion were runners and triathletes who constantly battled gender norms and stereotypes. The memoirs of the two athletes’ oral and written accounts are stitched together to detail their journey through sport against societal standards and pressures.

Celeste Callahan has experience as an English teacher and author, and holds a master’s in theology. She took up running in the mid–1970s, triathlon in the mid–1980s, and has served on a number of International Triathlon Union and USA Triathlon committees and as a member of the USA Triathlon executive board. She is the founder of the first all-female triathlon training nonprofit.

Dottie Dorionis an accomplished artist with a background in nursing, education, and sports. She worked for Title IX compliance in Northeast Florida. She started running in the early 1970s, took up triathlon in the early 1980s and was chairperson of the International Triathlon Union Women’s Committee.

Jane E. Hunt is an assistant professor at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia, with a research interest in women and individual participatory sports. A runner and triathlete, she is also founding president of a local triathlon club.

Celeste Callahan and Dottie Dorion with Jane E. Hunt
Foreword by Sarah Springman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 219
Bibliographic Info: 44 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8170-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4193-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword by Sarah Springman 1

Introduction: Unanswered Questions 5

1. Rope Swings and Grasshoppers 15

2. Stage Center 28

3. In the Middle of an Ivory Soap Commercial 40

4. The Odd Person Out 49

5. In Search of Wildflowers 61

6. A Giant Enchilada 79

7. Stepping Up 91

8. Masters in Motion 114

9. Redemption 134

10. Changing the Culture of Things 152

11. Crack Eggs, Not Bones 176

Conclusion: The Anticipation Contained in April 195

Books by and for Women Triathletes 201

Bibliography 203

Index 205