It will be a year before three local athletes pursue their quest to be world champions.

But Roger and John Brockenbrough and Paula Bennett won't have much leisure time over the next 12 months. They will be training for the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships, which will require swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 and running 26.2.

These three, however, will be bona fide title contenders in Kona, Hawaii, Oct. 10, 2009. In Madison, Wis., last month, in the first qualifier for the 2009 world event, Roger Brockenbrough, 74, of Mt. Lebanon, his son, John, 50, of Murrysville, and Ms. Bennett, 43, of Fox Chapel, finished first in his/her age group.

Ms. Bennett, a mother of three, competed against 110 women ages 40-44. She earned a fifth berth in the world championships in Kona, Hawaii, with a time of 10 hours, 43 minutes and 22 seconds.

John Brockenbrough competed against 140 men in the 50-54 group and clocked in at 10:12:29. His father, the oldest competitor in the age 70-74 category, finished in 14:15:13.

John started competing in Ironman events before his father. His early experiences were positive, and he eventually persuaded his father to get involved.

"I kind of talked him into it," John said.

"He was always thinking about doing it when he was about 65 or 66. I told him, 'You don't want to be starting when you are 70.'

"He got started and has done real well in his age group."

Both Brockenbroughs have a goal of winning the world event in the same year.

Triathletes from all around the world descended on the Wisconsin qualifier. John Brockenbrough edged out athletes from Belgium and Canada.

"Hawaii is a fantastic experience, but it is really hard to do well," the younger Brockenbrough said.

"Everybody you are racing against has basically won an Ironman competition. The athletes come from everywhere. Their only goal is to qualify for Hawaii, and they might try for 15 years. That makes it hard. You have to beat the same guys over and over unless they just quit. So you have to keep getting better."

John does most of his bicycle training on his way to work each day. He uses his mountain bike on the roughly 12-mile, back-roads commute from Murrysville to New Kensington.

He and his dad also ride at the Washington Boulevard bike oval often, and in the mountains around Seven Springs.

His son's Ironman experiences gave Roger Brockenbrough an idea of what to expect when he started entering the competitions. Still, he was surprised at how long the swimming portion was. There was a sailboat docked 1.2 miles offshore and the swimmers had to go around it and return to shore.

"I can very distinctly remember walking to the pier and seeing the sailboat way out there," Roger Brockenbrough recalled.

"I looked at how small the boat looked from the pier and just thought to myself, 'What have I gotten myself into'?"

The Ironman started in 1978 after some Navy Seals argued about who was the best athlete.

The opening event can be intimidating for many first-time Ironman world competitors. All 1,800 triathletes enter the water at the same time.

Roger Brockenbrough said it is important not to fall to the back of the pack early on and get caught up in the tidal wave created by all the swimmers.

"It definitely takes a mental toughness," he said.

"There are guys that are very good swimmers out there. People are really close to each other and it's not unusual to have your goggles knocked off. After the first five minutes or so, things sort themselves out and you have to be tough out there."

Ms. Bennett has some competitions ahead.

She hopes to run in the Boston Marathon for the first time, and has scheduled one half-Ironman race for next season, and hopes to do three total.

A friend persuaded Ms. Bennett to try her first Ironman event in Florida five or six years ago.

"I always thought it was a really incredible achievement to be able to finish a triathlon," she said.

"Before my first race, I remember saying to my friend not to tell anybody that we were doing this because I was afraid I wasn't going to do well."

In her first event, Ms. Bennett finished third overall. Six months later, in Lake Placid, N.Y., she competed against a field that included professionals. She improved her time by an hour and was sixth.

"I had never trained or competed with pros and I thought they were a team at first," said Ms. Bennett, who competes for Team Goody Stayput.

"I was really naive at the time, but you must be doing something good to be passing the pros."

After qualifying for the Ironman world event three years in a row, Ms. Bennett decided to try to qualify for it every other year.