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WHERE IN THE WORLD IS BEN?
Ten years ago, Ben and his spouse, Barbara, had a deep conversation about the fact that all Ben did was work and hang out with Barbara. After this conversation (“Ben, please find something else to do”), Ben started his journey in triathlon. His first was the Inaugural half Ironman race in Dublin, Ireland (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13 mile run) in 2015.
After that, he was hooked on the sport, trying to go as fast as he could without reducing his eating and drinking hobbies.
On a dare from a triathlon friend in 2017, Ben entered a lottery to get a slot to compete in a full distance triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a marathon – yes, in the same day) in Southern Chile, called Patagonman. This race was a part of a race series of “Xtri” races or “Extreme triathlons.” The water is colder and darker, there are lots of hills and mountains on the bike, and the runs are rugged. These are some of the hardest triathlons in the world.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, Ben won his lottery slot. Since he paid $15 to get in the lottery, he decided to follow through on this investment and go to Chile to compete in this beast of a race for his 50th birthday in 2018. In honor of completing that race, Ben wrote a mini novel (15 pages) on his adventures there. You can read it here.
Having survived that race, on another bet, Ben entered the lottery for the most coveted extreme triathlon, Norseman. As luck would or would not have it, Ben got in to the race. This is a race where 6000 people apply for 200 slots. So, with those chances, another $15 investment, and several COVID year deferrals, Ben tackled this epic race. He wrote another mini novel (of course) about that race finishing in the bottom 10, but uninjured and mostly happy. Click here to read his story.
In 2023, Ben tackled the absolute hardest triathlon he has heard of, out in Park City, Utah, called “Starvation”. In addition to other hardships, this race had a 4200’ bike climb at mile 86 of the bike at an average 8% grade. His race report is still in draft form, recovering from the trail marathon effort at an average altitude of 9000’.
On June 15, 2024, Ben will Compete in his Fourth Extreme Triathlon, called Celtman.
True to form, as of the date of this newsletter, they are predicting snow for the race. The race includes a swim in a Loch (temperature in low 50s, with Jellyfish!), 121 miles of biking up and down 7000’, and then a trail marathon requiring a safety runner, waterproof clothes, and Scottish munros.
Following the race, Ben will stay in Scotland sampling as many distilleries as he can find. He will return to the office in July.
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