Posted: August 15, 2005

Triathlon: Eighteen CEOs Qualify for Ford Ironman World Championship

BOULDER, CO - A record 18 CEO Challenge competitors have qualified for the Ford Ironman World Championship, scheduled to take place in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on October 15, 2005. These 18 athletes will be competing for the title of World CEO Ironman Challenge champion in four categories - female, male over-50, 40 - 49, and under-40. All qualified at CEO Ironman Challenge events that took place in conjunction with Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June, Karnten Ironman Austria in July and Ford Ironman USA Lake Placid in July.

The Ironman is regarded as the toughest single day endurance event in the world, and therefore the fastest male and female CEO Challenge finishers will win the title of "Fittest CEO in the World®." (An Ironman event consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile marathon run).

The men's race in Kona is sure to be a battle to the finish, as there are nine competitors with qualifying times within 45 minutes of each other!

The champions from the three qualifying events will find out who is the fittest of them all. Frank Karbe, CFO of Exelixis of San Francisco won the CEO Challenge in Coeur d'Alene in a time of 9:46. He will be racing against the CEO Challenge champion from Austria, Peter Lazar of Bank Austria Creditanstalt Financial Services who won in 9:51, and Peter Scharer of Images In Foil, Inc of Laguna Beach, CA who won the Lake Placid CEO Challenge in 10:21.

Each of the three male age groups will also be hotly contested, with Ernie Parr of Parr Insurance and Larry Smith of Smith Chevrolet Cadillac expected to be neck and neck in the over-50 category (their qualifying times were only 4 minutes apart). The 40 - 49 age group qualifiers were all very fast, with seven of the eight finishing in under 11 hours! Finally, the under-40 category promises to be a battle of the fastest CEO Challenge competitors, with three of the four qualifying in under 10 hours.

Three women qualified for this year's CEO Ironman Challenge World Championship, with Leslie Myers of Foodsense, Inc of Burlington, VT having the fastest qualifying time in 10:43.

The CEO Ironman Challenge is managed by CEO Challenge LLC of Colorado, and is a 'competition within Ironman competitions' specifically designed for CEOs, Presidents, and Chief Officers of companies that have annual sales in excess of $5 million. Each of the qualifying races has up to five slots for the Ford Ironman World Championship.

More information on the CEO Ironman Challenge can be found at www.ceochallenges.com, or by contacting Ted Kennedy at 720-222-3043, or at Ted@ceochallenges.com. More information on the Ford Ironman World Championship can be found at www.ironmanlive.com.