Bike, hike, and a cross country swim, Todd Crandell an Iron Man's Sobriety Win

Todd’s own 13-year struggle
with drugs and alcohol nearly
destroyed his life, devastated
relationships with family and
friends and shattered the promise
of a professional hockey career.
He quit using drugs and alcohol on
April 15, 1993, and has been sober
ever since. In the process of rebuilding his life,
Todd realized traditional recovery
programs weren’t enough. He
needed something more. He
chose the most grueling sport
imaginable, the Ironman Triathlon
(a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike
ride, and 26.2 mile full marathon
run). Todd ran his first triathlon in
1999 and has never stopped.
In 2001, his experience with
running triathlon events and
seeing how it inspired others on
their road to sobriety, led him to
form the nonprofit organization
Racing for Recovery®.
Todd has completed 24 fulllength
Ironman Triathlons across
the world. In 2008 he was the only
person in the world to complete
the Ultraman Hawaii Triathlon (a 3
day test of endurance consisting
of 6.2 miles of swimming and 90
miles of biking — day 1, 171.2
miles of biking — day 2 and 52.4
miles of running — day3) and
six days later complete Ironman
Western Australia. In 2009, Todd
completed Ultraman Canada, and
became one of 25 individuals in
the world to have completed both
Ultraman Triathlons.