“And after another year or so, the aorst thing of all happened. I got competive.”

The fact that Norton Davey lives in “Leisure Village” is somewhat misleading. Davey has run in 46 marathons and competed in five grueling Ironman Triathlons in Kona, Hawaii. He has bicycled across the country, hiked to the base camp of Mt. Everest and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Next month the Oceanside resident will leave for Hawaii to compete in his sixth Ironman competition, and he may well win--especially if he’s the only entrant in his age category, 70 and over. The 70-year-old Davey, formerly a desk-bound executive, hopes to set an example for others like him, proving that age is no barrier to physical fitness. He was interviewed by Times staff writer Leslie Wolf and photographed by Don Bartletti .

I first became involved in physical fitness about 15 years ago. Before that, I had a very sedentary existence. I had a job as a financial officer at Continental Airlines, and I’d been flying a desk for 20 years. One day I had some unusual pains in the chest, so I went to the company medical director and he said, “When did you last do any exercise?” And I said, oh not for 30 years, I guess. He said, “You’d better get started.”

So I started running and three things happened. One is I found that it was good for me, I had no more pains of any kind, and secondly, I found I enjoyed it. And after another year or so, the worst thing of all happened. I got competitive. I started marathoning in 1979 or 1980, before I retired. I did eight marathons my first year, but it didn’t work out too well. I wasn’t injured, but I had repeated colds. I went to the doctor to find out why and he said I was using up all my resistance in the marathons.

My best time was the New York Marathon in 1980, which qualified me to run Boston. That was my greatest triumph, because the Boston Marathon is so prestigious. For age 60 and over, the qualifying time was 3 hours and 30 minutes. It was the best feeling in the world coming through the 25-mile mark in Central Park, knowing I had 13 minutes left to run the last mile. My time was 3 hours, 26 minutes and 51 seconds.

About a year after I retired I got my first real serious injury from running. I injured my ankle and it slowed me down, so I had to look around for something else to do. I decided I could try swimming. I hadn’t swum for years, and when I got in the pool I could hardly swim from one end to the other. But I found I enjoyed it. Then I got word of this Ironman thing. I hadn’t even done a preliminary one, what they call a “Tin Man,” but I applied in the fall of 1981 and I was accepted for it my first time. Six weeks before that race, I fell off my bike and broke my collarbone. So I had to swim the Ironman doing the breaststroke because I couldn’t get my arm up over my shoulder.

After the first one, I was very sore. The next morning I woke up and told my wife Betty, “Never again!” But by dinner time that night I was plotting my next strategy for the next Ironman. I’ve been back every year since, except for 1987, when I had a broken ankle.

I’ve always been active in outdoor stuff. We lived in Colorado for many years and I enjoyed the outdoors there, and it stuck with me through the years. I’ve packed up to the Mt. Everest base camp, at about 18,400 feet, then a year and a half ago I went to Africa and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. The first time I went I got to within 700 feet of the summit, but I just couldn’t get any higher. I don’t like to use the word quit, but I had to come down. I went back this past summer and finally made it, on my third attempt.

I’m not a religious trainer. I enjoy what I’m doing, but there’s no definite training regimen at all. I try to either swim, bike, run or walk for about five or six hours a day.

I have the greatest admiration for these young men who are doing three things: They’re working full time, they’re trying to hold a family together and training for a big event. I don’t know how they do it.

I’m so very fortunate that I don’t have to do that. I can work five or six hours and if I’m tired I can come home and just lie down and take a nap. Now, what guy who’s working full time can do that?

That’s the best thing in the world, just to lie down and totally relax. I wasn’t always this calm and comfortable. I understand I was a bear to work for when I was at Continental. But I have so much to be thankful for. Life is great!