Update to Motivation and Julie Moss Ironman

Update! Bob Bennitt spoke in Atlanta this week and I was able to catch the presentation.  

Short Bio: Babbitt completed his first Ironman back before the earth cooled, in February of 1980. How big was the Ironman back then? Only 108 idiots were entered that year and Babbitt completed the race on a $75 police auction bike that had been charred in a fire. He raced with panniers on said bike with a tent and a sleeping bag because he didn't know you were supposed to do the whole thing in one day, plus he had a support crew that provided him with the best in the world of nutrition- Big Mac, fries and a coke plus a snow cone. He also is the only athlete in Ironman history to complete the bike ride wearing regular shorts and a belt plus a wool cycling jersey.... in Hawaii.  

Since the Ironman, Babbitt has co-founded Competitor Publishing, a division of The Competitor Group, Inc., which now owns eleven regional fitness publications in 28 major municipalities around the nation with a total monthly circulation of 700,000. He also co-founded the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) which has raised millions of dollars to help disabled athletes stay in the game. He created the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series, which makes its Atlanta contest this Saturday, June 20th at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers. Bob became the 10th inductee of the Ironman Hall of Fame in 2001.  

Bob spoke to the effect that for the first few years, Ironman was just this crazy event that a few people were doing. ABC sports would show Dave Scott jogging across the finish at the end of the days racing.  

It wasn't until Julie Moss, needing so desperately to finish what she had began, being passed as she crawled the last 100 feet of the course was broadcast that Ironman and triathlon exploded. People sought inspiration in what could motivate somebody to keep going when their body had completely given out. That is the spirit of Ironman and possibly a key to human condition.