Race Previews

It Is About The BIke...

Saturday, 16 April 2011 03:00

By Dan Empfield (For Slowtwitch.com)

Life Time Fitness is known for its high profile Minneapolis-based race, and its national series of the same name, featuring the Race to the Toyota Cup. All are staged over the very safe and traditional Olympic distance.

Not so Leadman Tri. Life Time Fitness owner Bahram Akradi (photo below) is one of a handful of top CEOs whose outlier athletic pursuits mirror their stratospheric positions in business. Martin Franklin, Jarden Corporation's chairman and chief executive (Coleman, K2, Oster, Marmot, Penn, Shakespeare, Rawlings, Volkl, and on and on) is a confirmed Ultramanner....

Bahram Akradi's tastes run more toward the events side of the biz. If Franklin's enthusiasm for multisport played some part in his company's purchase of Zoot, Akradi's penchant for difficult events influenced this latest, very non-standard, self-inspired, epic event. Leadman Tri features a 5km swim in Nevada's Lake Mead (Ironman's swim is 3.8km), a 223km bike (138mi), and a shortish run of 22km (14mi).

Akradi's calendar will feature two events in May: the grand opening of a Life Time Fitness health club in Las Vegas, and his own participation in Leadman Tri. Akradi is competing in the full, not the half Leadman (thankfully, there is a half taking place the same day, and that race