The Biggest Loser - Winning by Losing - Matt from TBL Missing The cut-off time for Ironman

http://www.thatsfit.com/2009/10/13/biggest-loser-contestant-finishes-kona-ironman/

Thought you guys might be interested in this little blurb. As someone who's training for Ironman also I was a bit sad for him. He finished the race but missed the cut-off so is not an "official" finisher... (For most of you that don't know most ironmans have a 17 hour cut-off)

Honestly though, I've read about the race conditions that day and it was brutally hot out there. Kona is a very unforgiving race. The fact that he finished despite all of that is still a great accomplishment. 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run is nothing to sneeze at. Someone on another site mentioned he got pretty sick on the run and couldn't keep his nutrition down.

Still a great symbol of what one can do though if you set your mind to something!

3 minutes. agonizing.

More Info... Race Report from his coach.

http://coachvance.blogspot.com/2009/10/kona-coachs-race-report-part-2.html

Amazing story. Despite his unofficial finish I think we can all learn a little something about heart here. He's a winner in my book. :)

One last thing... found an interview:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2340438/%2B16462441934%20on%202009-10-13%20at%2011.30.mp3

3 minutes, I'd be heart broken, angry, and depressed. He seemed so I gave it my best, It'll happen next time. I admire that. I've been thinking about the Lake Stevens Half next year too. That might be a crazy pipe dream though, IDK .................

I was impressed with his attitude. If I had missed the deadline by 3 minutes I would have dropped right there under that arch and wept!

It was impressive how he demonstrated what he had learned at the ranch through his attitude. I liked how he talked about doing something that people didn't think he could do just by looking at him.