ZELIENOPLE — Sidelined temporarily by a rare muscle disorder, Tom Murray is back in the game.

For the longtime Zelienople resident, that means he's back in motion.

Murray, 68, finished the Ironman Lake Placid event July 25 in New York, placing fourth among the 17 competitors in the 65-to-69 age division.

There were 2,700 participants overall with 2,475 finishing the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.1-mile run.

"I was a little disappointed in my time (14 hours, 40 minutes), but I'm happy I finished," Murray said. "It took me a while to get back to this point."

Murray completed the swim in 1:41.52, the bike ride in 6:56.14 and the run in 5:43.04.

"My run time was an hour slower than where I wanted it to be," he said.

Murray completed the Ironman Lake Placid course, including the bike ride in the nearby Adirondack Mountains, in 12 hours in 2004. That was his ninth career Ironman competition and the last until his recent effort.

He contracted polymyalgia rheumatica, a disease that attacks the neck, shoulder and hip muscles. White blood cells attack the lining of those joints.

More likely to affect women, the disease generally occurs in one of every 200 individuals older than age 50. Its cause is unknown.

Its cure, even with medication, can take years.

"I wouldn't wish it on anybody," Murray said. "It's similar to lupus, but not as severe as lupus.

"Still, I couldn't compete for more than two years because of it. I was so sore and weak," he added. "If I got down on my knees on the floor, I couldn't get up without someone helping me."

Murray needed two years to resume walking regularly, let alone training.

"I couldn't even hold a toothbrush. Just getting back to normal living wasn't easy," he said.

This latest Ironman event was Murray's 10th — and perhaps his last. He plans to concentrate on triathlons after he competes in the Half-Ironman Championships in Clearwater, Fla., in November.

A full Ironman race involves 140.6 total miles. Half-Ironman events are a composite 70.3 miles.

"I can't commit to the type of training schedule needed for the Ironman races anymore," Murray said. "Every day for four months, I went out and did two of the three (running, biking, swimming).

"My typical week added up to 8,000 to 9,000 yards of swimming, 200 miles of biking and 45 miles of running."

Murray has competed in more than 300 triathlons and hopes to add two more before the year is over. The next will be Aug. 23 in Erie.

He also will take part in a bicycle ride across Pennsylvania Sept. 18 to 25.

For now, he has a two-week vacation awaiting in South Carolina.

"I'm sure I'll do some biking and running while I'm down there," he said. "It's in my blood."