My wife Jean and I have been living in Erie, CO and training with Boulder groups for the last two years. Prior to that, I was living in Fridley, MN - a suburb of Minneapolis.

I have been the Director of Public Works for Superior, CO since July 2007 and held the same position for the City of Fridley, MN for 10 years before that. So my job has been to be the chief guy in charge of water supply, sanitary sewer collection, street repair/maintenance, and snow plowing for over 12 years. I just recently took a new job with the City of Fort Collins, CO to start a new chapter in my life.

I have three brothers, all living back in the Midwest. Two of my brothers have played Division 3 collegiate sports. My dad grew up in northern Minnesota and my mom is from Canada so we all played hockey since about the time we learned to walk. And since, I’ve always enjoyed trying new sports of just about any kind.

I’ve never been thin but after college I kind of let myself go as I dove into the working world, married life, etc. When I was about 31 I saw 260 on the scale and decided it was time to do something about it. I was the guy who was only able to run around the block once but kept at it. After a month I built up to about a mile and was feeling better. Then my wife decided she wanted to give it a try too and really took off as a runner. By the next spring, she was running 5k and 10k races. We constantly encouraged each other to keep going. Jean joined a running group at our local gym and after this group brought her through her first marathon, I joined up too and eventually did several half marathons.

During the next few years, I experimented with several sports including cross country skiing, martial arts, and mountain biking. I heard about a small off road triathlon in northern Wisconsin near my home town and decided to give it a try. The water was freezing, the trails were wicked tough, I got sunburned, and when I finished I thought I would die. I was solidly hooked on triathlon.

I trained with our running club and researched how to train for triathlon to do it on my own. I met lots of friends and training partners. I was always a middle of the pack guy and I was just having fun. I trained and finished Ironman Louisville using a free on-line training program and the help of a lot of friends who were also into triathlon.