My first triathlon was the original Seafair Triathlon in 1983, which was roughly the distance of what we now would call an Olympic distance triathlon. I was a fulltime bike messenger for Bucky’s in Seattle at the time. I had dabbled in the 10k running events that were popular at that time and could, without any speed training, jog a 42 minute 10k. I do, however, remember getting out of the swim with less than a minute left before the cutoff time having neglected to learn how to swim first. The rest of the bike and run was a blast of endorphin smiles, laughs, and playfulness.

Some clean and sober buddies had done triathlons with the Bellevue Athletic Club team, Ken “Butch” Davies (Olympic USTS series including Seafair in 1982) and Tim Dana (Ironman Hawaii in 1982). They both inspired me to pursue the drug and alcohol free self- actualizing experience of triathlon training and racing, which later led to the idea of being a bike messenger.

My first Ironman triathlon was Subaru-Ironman Canada in 1986. Twenty years later, I finished my tenth Ironman, Ironman Coeur D’Alene in 2006, after having been diagnosed with Meniere’s syndrome and a heart condition.