Bill Bradley (endurance athlete)

Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
Born	William John Bradley (1960-07-14) 14 July 1960 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Residence	Santa Rosa, California
Nationality	American
Other names	Epic Bill Bradley
Alma mater	San Marin High School Novato, California
Occupation	Extreme endurance athlete, motivational speaker
Known for	Completing arduous challenges to inspire others, especially older athletes
Website
http://www.epicbillbradley.com

William "Bill" Bradley (born 1960 in California) is an American extreme endurance athlete and motivational speaker. He is known for undertaking some of the world's most challenging endurance events in inhospitable terrain. Older than most extreme endurance athletes, whose average age is about 35,^[1] he uses his accomplishments to inspire other people to overcome obstacles and move out their comfort zones. His signature motto is "show up and suffer."^[2]

Early life and education

Bradley graduated from San Marin High School in Novato, California in 1978.^[3] During high school he played soccer and was a member of the track team. This included participation in a 10-man, 24-hour relay. He credits his experience on the track team, and that relay in particular, for making him aware of the two innate talents he possesses to overcome adversity. "You got to remember," he told Bob Padecky of The Press Democrat in 2008, "I'm ordinary, I really am. When I was at San Marin High School (Novato) I finished fifth in the county's 880 race. I have never won a race, but I finish. Like I said, I do two things really well; I show up and I suffer. I'm good at suffering."^[4]

Career

For twenty years before he became a professional extreme endurance athlete, Bradley owned and ran Bradley Video, a successful chain of game and video rental stores.^[2] He was one of the top independent retailers in the country and, In 2001, he was named Video Retailer of the Year.^[1] The turning point in his life came in 2005, when his business failed and went through a devastating divorce in the same year. He lost 17 stores, five buildings, two houses, an estimated $5 million in net worth, and his confidence and sense of self-worth. "Back then," he says, "I couldn't look at people in the eyes."

During that period, when things were at their worst, he remembers reading the book "Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner by the iconic endurance marathon runner Dean Karnazes and the book changed his outlook. Long-distance running had always appealed to him and he had been running marathons and triathlons regularly for more than a decade. Now, he found the determination to compete in the kind of events that give a whole new definition to the term "long distance."^[5] Nor did he limit his ambition. As ironman triathlete and writer Ann Brennan noted in a 2011 article, it was "not just ultra running but ultra everything."^[6] As Bradley says, "It doesn't matter what I do, If I like it, I'm going to do it to excess."^[5]

His career as an athlete has allowed him to rebuild his shattered confidence and he embraces the pain and suffering it engenders as a measure of his accomplishment.^[7]

Major events

2014

• January 27, Bradley attempted the Arrowhead 135 for the fifth time. The temperature was -24 degrees Fahrenheit as 142 competitors began the race. Of the 84 bikers who began, only 30 were able to finish. Of the 46 runners who started, only 17 were able to finish.^[8] Bradley was forced to withdraw after about 20 hours due to technical difficulties with his sled.

2013

Bradley at an event in January, 2012

• November 5, Bradley completed "The World's Most Extreme Triathlon" in Hawaii. In this event, which was his own creation, he swam ten miles of open ocean swim from Lanai to Maui, biked for 300 miles on a course which included climbing 10,023 feet up the Haleakala Volcano, and ran 120 miles around Maui. He began at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 29 and finished at 3:00 a.m. on November 5, a total of 166.5 hours.^[9]
• July 27, Bradley completed the Full Vineman Triathlon.^[10] Participants swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and ram 26.2 miles through Sonoma County, California's wine country.^[11]
• May 27 - June 1, Bradley set a new World Record for seven consecutive rim-to-rim runs through the Grand Canyon. The run began at 3:10 p.m. on May 21 from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and ended five days, 23 hours, and 30 minutes later on the North Rim. Bradley used the Bright Angel trail from the South Rim and the North Kaibab trail on the North Rim for each crossing. He completed at total of 164.5 miles and a cumulative 42,000 feet of altitude gain and descent.^[7][12]
• January 28–31, Bradley ran in the Arrowhead 135 from International Falls to Tower, Minnesota, pulling a 40-pound sled. Though the temperatures on the course stayed above zero, a very heavy snowfall beginning late on the first night of the event meant that only 49 of the starters were able to finish the race.^[13] 40 of the 89 registered bikers completed the course, as did two of the three skiers. However, only 7 of the 35 registered runners were able to finish.^[14] Bradley ended his attempt after 54 miles and the accumulation of about a foot of snow.^[15]

2012

• January 30 - February 1, Bradley competed in the Arrowhead 135 from Kerry Park in International Falls to the Fortune Bay Casino near Tower, Minnesota. According to the International Falls Journal, this year, 83 bikers, skiers, and runners finished the course within the 60 hour cutoff, a record for the event.^[16] The official race results show that 46 of 65 bikers finished, as did 28 of the 51 runners, and 7 of 8 skiers, for a total of 81.^[17] Bradley completed 98 miles in 44 hours before a severe case of trench foot forced him from the race.^[3]

2011

• October 2–7, Bradley competed in the Ultimate Lake Tahoe Triathlon. It included a 15 mile swim, 300 miles of biking over eight mountain passes, and a 100 mil run around Lake Tahoe. He completed the course, during a snowstorm, in 5 days and 16 hours.^[3]
• July, Bradley attempts to swim the English Channel for the fourth time. Due to rough waters and an extremely high tide, he was forced to abandon the attempt after six hours.^[3]
• January 31 - February 1, Bradley competes as a runner in the Arrowhead 135 marathon through northern Minnesota from International Falls (also known as Frostbite Falls) to Tower. 39 of the 59 registered cyclists completed the course, as did 20 of the 56 runners. None of the skiers completed the event.^[18] He made it to the 73 mile cutoff, dragging a 40-pound sled, eight hours faster than he did the previous year, but was unable to continue do to exhaustion and frostbite.^[3]

2010

• October 4, Bradley attempted to swim the English channel for the third time.^[19] After covering 17 miles in 11 hours and 45 minutes, he was forced to abandon the attempt, only four miles from the French coast, when the temperature dropped and hypothermia set in.^[3]
• September 30, Bradley attempted to swim the English channel for the second time. After four hour in the water and a distance of 8.5 miles, he again had to abandon the attempt due to severe illness.^[20]
• July 18–25, Bradley ran his "double Badwater" marathon from Badwater, Death Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney and back, a distance of 292 miles.^[21] With temperatures hitting a record 135 degrees, Bradley finished the run in 7 days and 22 hours, becoming only the 24th person to have accomplished this.^[3]
• April 29, Bradley ran 199 miles from Calistoga to Santa Cruz, stopping along the way to swim under the Golden Gate Bridge.^[7]
• February 1–3, Arrowhead 135, a race through Northern Minnesota on the rugged, scenic Arrowhead State Snowmobile Trail from International Falls to Tower.^[22] Participants can choose to bicycle, ski, or run the 135 mile distance. 38 of the 52 registered bikers finished the course, as did 19 of the 45 participants who chose to run, and 4 out of 5 skiers.^[23] Suffering from hypothermia in the extreme cold, Bradley completed 73 miles of the race before the cutoff time. Due to the hazardous conditions, race officials did not allow unsupported, unofficial finishes.^[24]

2009

• September 23, Bradley attempted to swim the 21-mile English Channel. He was pulled from the water after four hours when he became violently ill.^[25]
• July 13–15, Badwater Ultramarathon. The race begins in Badwater, Death Valley and ends at the finish line in Whitney Portal, California, a distance of 135 miles. though this year, due to a forest fire close to finish line, some contestants were forced to end their race at the Portal Road checkpoint station- a distance of 131 miles.^[26] Bradley finished the course in 59 hours, 11 minutes, and 5 second, running on behalf of his charity, Challenged Athletes Foundation. His time on the course was not affected by the fire. 86 competitors from 13 countries participated in the race ^[27] in temperatures that climbed to well over 120 degrees.^[28]
• June 17, Bradley began Race Across America as a solo cyclist. He completed the 3,000 mile race from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland in 16 days and 15 hours. This made him one of two "unofficial finishers,"^[29] an extraordinary feat usually only attempted by "elite" athletes. Bradley's determination and struggles during the race inspired an athlete named Douglas Sawyer to drive from his home in Tarrytown, New York to Annapolis, Maryland. He then followed the course backwards until he met up with Bradley to inspire him for the last seventy miles of the race.^[30]
• April 1–5, To raise awareness for organ donation, Bradley ran 250 miles from Santa Cruz, California to Santa Rosa, California. He completed the run in four days, 15 hours and one minute. During this time, he slept a total of about 13 hours.^[31]
• February 14, Bradley began the Susitna 100 race along the Iditarod Trail in Alaska. He completed the 100-mile course, pulling a 40-pound sled filled with food and other equipment, in 54 hours and 45 minutes.^[32]

2008

• November 28–30, Ultra Man World Championships in Hawaii. Bradley completed the 6.2 mile swim, 261.4 mile bike ride, and 52.4 mile run in 33 hours, 1 minute, and 34 seconds, earning a 30th place finish.^[33] 36 athletes from ten different countries competed in the race.^[34]
• October 3–4, Bradley competed in the Virginia Triple Iron Triathlon. In this race, held at Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, athletes swim for 7.2 miles, run for 78. 6 miles, and bike for 332 miles, a combined total of 421.8. Bradley finished in sixth place for the swim portion, third place for the bike portion, and 11th place for the run. Overall, he placed eighth and finished the course in 56 hours, 39 minutes, and 42.6 seconds.^[35] During this time, he slept for only two hours and fifteen minutes.^[36]
• August 30, Ultra Midwest 24 Bike Race in Port Byron, Illinois. Bradley rode 376.5 miles in 24 hours to earn 6th place.^[36] He stayed on the bike for 23 1/2 of the 24 hours, stopping only for one to two minutes to pick up water and food.^[37]
• July 14–16, 2008 Badwater Ultramarathon. The race begins in Badwater, Death Valley and ends at the finish line in Whitney Portal, California, a distance of 135 miles ^[38] Bradley finished the race in 56 hours, 2 minutes, and 15 seconds, running on behalf of the Challenged Athletes Foundation.^[39]
• June 11, With teammate Lowell (Skip) Morgan, Bradley began the Race Across America.^[40] Their team, Riders of the Storm, was one of forty 2-, 4-, and 8-person bicycling teams that began the 3,000-mile race from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland. Unlike other major cycling races, Race Across America is a one-stage event, meaning that the clock runs continuously from start to finish.^[41] Bradley and Lowell completed the race in 10 days and 16 hours.^[42]
• April 17–20, 199-Mile Race from Calistoga, California to Santa Cruz, California. Bradley completed the distance in 78 hours and 5 minutes. He left Calistoga at 10:30 am on Thursday, April 17 and finished in Santa Cruz at 4:35 p.m. on Sunday, April 20. During this period, he slept for only a total of five hours. Only one other solo runner had completed the entire distance in the last fifteen years.^[43]
• February 16–17, Bradley competed in the Susitna 100, a foot, bike, or ski race held on winter trails in the Susitna River valley, north of Anchorage, Alaska. Of the 79 people who registered for the race, only 32 finished. Of that number, only 10 did so on foot. In order to insure the survival of all of the competitors, the race organizers set time limits for the competitors at each checkpoint. Bradley needed to average 25 minutes a mile to make the fourth checkpoint, but found his speed had dropped to 31 minutes due to hypothermia. When he quit the race, he had been on Susitna for 34 hours and slept for only 90 minutes.^[44]

2007

• November 23–25, Ultra Man World Championships, Hawaii. Bradley competed in all three events, finishing 23rd overall. He completed the 6.2 mile swim. 261.4 bike ride, and 52.4 mile run in 32 hours, 32 minutes and 48 seconds.^[45] He did this despite the fact the crank that holds the bike pedal broke at the end of the second day and he was forced to pedal the last ten miles with one leg.^[46]

References