Hard work has always paid off for Neal Henderson. Before graduating from Napa High in 1951, he had the longest Register delivery route. Toting the newspapers in saddlebags on his bicycle, he twice won a toy race car for being the best paperboy.

He picked prunes and cut grapes to pay for school clothes and worked at a gas station to pay for what he said was the fastest car in Napa — a metallic-green 1935 Ford with a Mercury engine, leopard-skin upholstery and twin spotlights.

After lettering in basketball and swimming at Napa High, he helped the then-Napa Junior College basketball team win a conference title. He married his high school sweetheart, Carolyn, and apparently worked hard at that, too — they will celebrate their 55th anniversary on Jan. 23.

Henderson served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps for six years, and flew airplanes for Northwest Airlines for 34 years. In the midst of his piloting career, he served as chairman and CEO of a computer firm in Redmond, Wash., in the late 1970s. He got to know Bill Gates, but not well enough to invest in his fledgling Microsoft company.

Even if he had bought stock in Gates’ firm and been able to live a life of luxury, chances are that Henderson would have continued to work hard at something.

This past Nov. 1, two months after his 75th birthday, he qualified for the Ironman World Championship triathlon — set for Oct. 10, 2009 in Kona, Hawaii — by winning his 75-79 age division at the Florida Ironman in Panama City Beach, Fla.

He only had to beat one other guy in his division to make it. But few would argue how amazing it is for someone his age to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in 15 hours, 44 minutes and 29 seconds.

“I try not to tell anybody about it. It can be an affront to other people my age,” said Henderson, who now resides in Escondido. “A lot of people could do it. It’s not really tough. You just have to be consistent with your training and not have any major disability.”

He’d come close in previous attempts to qualify for the world’s most prestigious triathlon, but getting there was as big as any thrill he’d experienced in his long life.

“It was like, ‘Wow, I made it, finally.’ I was always the bridesmaid with a second or third before that,” he said.

His wife was thrilled, too, even though she’d never understood his constant need to push himself to the limit.

“She sent messages to all my friends,” he said. “She used to worry about me getting hurt. Not anymore. She knows I’m tough enough.”

Never short of energy

Henderson had enjoyed running all his life, especially during his years as a pilot. He would spend layovers in exotic locations such as Japan running with longtime co-pilot Jan Janssen.

It was Janssen — now a 67-year-old Floridian who has completed 11 Ironmans and 18 marathons — who persuaded Henderson to try triathlons.

Janssen was also thrilled to see his friend qualify for the Hawaii event, an Ironman he has yet to qualify for himself.

“He’s like a ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’ story,” Janssen said. “He has the combination of good genes — his mother lived to be 99 — and good habits. He’s also very meticulous about figuring out how to (race) within his limitations. He takes advice well from others who have done it a lot.”

Henderson said he thinks of a triathlon like a test.

“That’s what the British call it,” he said. “If you’re lazy and don’t study for it, you won’t pass. It makes me feel accountable and want to train.”

Mike Warrington, one of Henderson’s nephews, might have channeled some of his uncle’s energy while coaching up-tempo boys basketball teams at Napa High the last six years. He also showed signs of his uncle’s adventurous spirit when he stepped down to become an assistant coach for the San Francisco State men’s team.

Warrington — whose Dragons will take an 8-1 record into Friday’s game at Humboldt State before visiting Sonoma State on Saturday night — said Henderson has always been eager to try something new.

“When I was a kid, 25, 30 years ago, skateboarding was becoming a big deal in Southern California and I remember him buying or borrowing a skateboard, and he fell off the thing and broke both wrists,” Warrington said.

“He used to do a lot of snow skiing, too. He’s always been an energetic guy, not afraid of trying new things. He’s got a lot of energy and when he gets into something, he gets fired up about it.”

It was only 10 years ago when Henderson, five years into retirement, did his first triathlon. It was a half-Ironman — 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 of biking and 13.1 of running — in Arizona.

“They called it a ‘Tin Man,’ he recalled. “I got first place, but it seemed like it would never end. I got bored. I was glad when it was finally over. There were no big crowds. It wasn’t until the last six or eight years that you had big turnouts at triathlons. Now there are about 22 Ironmans all around the world and some of them sell out in an hour.”

Henderson wasted little time signing up for his first full Ironman, doing one in late 1998 in Germany — a far cry from Arizona for a triathlete.

“That was really fun, because Germans are into track and field way more than we are in the States. They make you feel like a rock star.”

Techno-fountain of youth

Henderson navigates triathlon courses much like he did flying airplanes, using gauges to check his heart rate and calorie consumption instead of altitude and weather.

“I’m a gadget freak,” he said. “On my bike I’ve got all the latest technology, like an SRM PowerMeter. I can come home and download information and see how I’m improving in my training.

“Training is a big part of the race for old guys like me. There’s always some kind of tension between how much training I should spend on swimming, how much on running and how much on cycling, because if you get fatigued you won’t improve. It’s a real balancing act to stretch the body to its limits.”

Janssen said Henderson was 67 when he joined him for a summit of the highest point in the lower 48 states, 14,505-foot Mt. Whitney.

“That’s 22 miles, 11 to the top and 11 back, from 8,300 feet to 14,000,” Janssen said.

“Neal had a plan to stop for 30 seconds every couple of minutes to get back his oxygen, and he made it. We saw a number of 35- or 40-year-olds who didn’t. He definitely has a can-do attitude. He climbed Mt. Rainier about 15 years ago.”

Janssen said Henderson will need to pace himself the same way in Hawaii.

“You have to program it out if you’re doing an Ironman, even if you’re a physical anomaly,” he said.

“He needs to go easy on the bike to have a chance at the run, then he needs to run-walk because if you go 12 or 13 miles and have cramps, you’ll still have 15 miles to go and might not finish.”

Janssen said Henderson does have a lazy side, though.

“He tends to procrastinate, and I rag on him about it,” Janssen said.

“He has the capability of being very high on the podium in Hawaii, in the top five if he trains properly. If it’s hot and windy, it’s a lot tougher. But he’s tough in the head — mild-mannered, but tough in the head. We did the Brazil Ironman together five years ago, when he was only 691⁄2.”

Henderson said doing triathlons also makes him feel younger because he feels like part of its relatively young community.

“You get to associate with younger people who are active, and meet a lot of nice people,” he said.

“I know the window’s closing — there’s only been one person 80 years or older who’s finished the Hawaii Ironman. It’s getting to the point for me where there’s no guarantee I’ll finish it. The Florida one is probably the easiest because it’s the flattest.

“Hawaii will be hotter and it has 4,000 feet of vertical climb. But I’m going to make a good effort to train for it.”