After battling cancer, local CrossFit athlete now one of fittest 54-year-olds in the world Only a few years removed from being diagnosed with breast cancer, Linda Elstun recently finished third in the world at the CrossFit Games

Bill Broderick | Battle Creek Enquirer

Four years ago and about to turn 50, Linda Elstun was in the best shape of her life and competing at the highest levels of her sport.

A short time later, she found a lump, was diagnosed with breast cancer and eventually had a double mastectomy. Her immediate health and her future in her sport were put into question.

Fast forward to earlier this month. Elstun had beaten cancer and was back at the top of her game, even better than she was before. The 54-year-old finished third in her age group at the CrossFit Games - basically crowning her as one of the fittest women of her age in the world.

'Most women my age think I'm nuts for doing what I do'

Elstun, a longtime Battle Creek resident who now lives in Galesburg, recently found herself on the podium at the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games, as featured on ESPN. Elstun was third in the women's 50-54 division at the event in Madison, Wisconsin.

"It's a worldwide competition. The top 20 women of my age competing at the highest level in CrossFit," Elstun said. "To be doing something like that at my age is unusual to some. There's not a lot of women my age that do what I do and most women my age think I'm nuts for doing what I do. But then I get to the CrossFit Games and there are 19 other women who are 'nuts' also and it becomes a great environment for competition.

"To finish third in the world among that group of amazing women is incredible. I'm still on cloud nine, this was the highlight of my life."

Her fight with cancer

Facing breast cancer, Elstun has a new perspective on life in the past several years. She believes being in CrossFit helped her through one of the toughest times in her life.

"I had qualified for the Games in 2014 and had my highest finish, took fourth," Elstun said. "Came home, just about the same time of year as we are in now, and soon after had a mammogram in October because it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and they found a lump.

"Did all the things I needed to do, did chemo, had the surgery, but through it all I kept training because I felt like it kept me human. It kept me from being just a cancer patient. In the end, I think I was able to deal with the cancer because I had CrossFit. I wasn't training like I do now, because I couldn't because of my health, but I was still working hard at trying to stay fit."

Her husband Mike DeForrest had a front row seat to Elsun's recent third-place finish earlier this month. He also was by her side when she was battling cancer four years ago and found it hard to understand why something like that could happen to his wife.

"That summer before the cancer, she had just missed the podium at the Games, she was at her peak, looking forward to another chance the following year and feeling good. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer," DeForrest said. "I was bitter. Here was someone who takes care of herself, works out, watches what she eats, has no family history and she still gets struck down with this. I was mad. I was asking God, why.

"But we eventually came around to thinking that we should be thankful that she was as fit as she was because I think it helped her get through it. It has taken a long time for her to get back to where she was before, but she has. And for her to come back all the way and be even better than before, that's just phenomenal."

The CrossFit Games feature athletes that compete in workouts that they learn about hours or days beforehand, consisting mostly of an assortment of standard aerobic, weightlifting and gymnastics movements. Starting in 2007 in California, the CrossFit Games have become a worldwide event as the winners are seen by those in their community as the 'Fittest on Earth'.

There is an 'Open' division at the CrossFit Games, with the finals of that competition seen annually on ESPN. There are also age divisions for athletes over 35, spanning to men and women over 60.

Through local and regional qualifiers, the 5-foot-6 Elstun has advanced to the worldwide CrossFit Games five times, with the first coming 2012. In the 2018 CrossFit Games, she came in as an underdog, qualifying with the 17th best score of the 20 women advancing to the finals.

But then she had the best competition in her career, completing the nine tasks over five days with the third-best overall score. Events can vary, including distance running, weightlifting exercises such as squats or deadlifts, climbing rope or even walking on your hands at 40 feet at a time.

Elstun said the workouts this year fit her style well and was probably a big reason she finished so high. One example being a workout consisting of a 300-meter run, climbing an 18-foot rope, picking up a 300-pound yoke on her shoulders and carrying that 44 feet and then doing all of that four more times.

"I was thinking I wasn't going to do that well this year, qualifying in 17th place. To jump that many places just didn't seem realistic," Elstun said. "But many of things we were asked to do, I was pretty good at, they were in my wheelhouse. So I just stayed focused, went hard and gave it everything I had."

Elstun also enjoys being an ambassador for the sport, as she works out with other CrossFit athletes from her club Custer CrossFit at Healthy Conspiracy, a gym in Battle Creek. And has also convinced her 80-year-old mother Selma Elstun to compete.

"I tell people, getting to compete at the CrossFit Games, there's nothing like it," Elstun said. "It's part of what drives my passion. I love training and getting to the Games is the highlight of what I do.

"But it's not all about making it to the games. Anyone can do CrossFit. We have classes here all the time, it's for all ages, and all levels. I got my mom involved and now she loves it."

She has always tried to stay in shape

A college gymnast when she was younger, Elstun has always tried to stay in shape. But with a full-time job, a family and three-hour workouts five days a week, her husband says it takes a special person to be able to do it all at such a high level.

"She is compelled to do this. Something about it just speaks to her," DeForrest said. "She is very driven, she loves what she is doing. And even through it all, fighting the cancer and all the hard work, she just saw it as, this is my barrier, this is my obstacle, this is what I need to overcome and her devotion to fitness has helped her do that."

Currently cancer free, Elstun is in a good place with her health and with her sport. But she is not going to 'slack off' in either category. She won't let cancer beat her and she knows there's another CrossFit Games just 12 months away, where she will be looking to defend her podium-level finish.

"I just think I was able to deal with the cancer better because I had worked so hard in CrossFit and I'm thankful to this sport for that," Elstun said. "But I feel uncomfortable saying I am a cancer survivor, because I don't know that yet. Getting past the cancer has made me feel grateful for what I have and the opportunities I have and I don't want to waste it. But I don't want to slack off because you never know what kind of survivor you are until it's over

"And it's not over and I'm still working on being a good survivor."

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0678. Follow him on Twitter:@billbroderick