ATLX One-on-One: Ted Kennedy of CEO Challenges

By: Morgan Urtso

Ted Kennedy is the president of CEO Challenges, a Boulder-based division of Life Time Fitness that puts successful executives of large companies head-to-head in athletic competitions. Kennedy sat down with ATLX to talk about the past, present and future of CEO Challenges – and how to train like the fittest execs in the world.

ATLX

Tell me about CEO Challenges. What’s the main idea behind it? The driving force?

Ted Kennedy

We’re the only company in the world that puts on sports competitions for CEOs – we don’t do excursions or trips very often. Once in a while we’ll make an exception, but most of the time we pit CEOs against each other, quite often as a race within a race. And the reason for that is that these [CEOs] have incredible demands on their time and [are] trying to juggle running a company with family, with travel, with social responsibilities and then training when they can. So it’s fair. It’s a level playing field when they compete against other people who have the exact same limitations that they have.

ATLX

You know that’s a struggle that everyday athletes deal with, and some use it as an excuse – their work. So it’s cool to see a group of people get together and use it as a collective reason to do these kinds of things.

TK

Exactly. I know they all say, “Well, if only I had more time, I could do so much better.” But at the same time, they don’t have a lot of time. They’ve only got a few hours a week to train, and their priorities are running the business and looking after the family first. [They] fit in training when they can. But they still like to compete. Most of them were pretty good college athletes and they still, like the rest of us, enjoy the sensation of going toe-to-toe, head-to-head in competition.

ATLX

So tell me about the journey from that first Ironman project to the development of CEO Challenges.

TK

When I was with Ironman North America, I was the vice president of sales and marketing. I was going through the database, and saw that, a lot – like 10 percent of the field – listed their job as CEO or president. And that just sparked an idea to run a CEO competition … So at Ironman Lake Placid in 2001, we launched the CEO Ironman Challenge with 15 competitors. And it turned out to be a huge success with lots of good press. And each year, it’s become bigger and bigger and bigger. In 2005, I left Ironman to take the CEO Challenge concept worldwide with Ironman and then also to a bunch of other sports. And that’s what we’ve been doing since 2005.

ATLX

And what other sports does CEO Challenges provide?

TK

We’ve done racecar driving, golf, and we have a tennis event coming up this fall. We have a skiing event next winter hopefully, and we also own the rights to things like fly fishing, sailing, other sports that CEOs like to do. However, our main sports are triathlons and cycling and endurance. We ran some really successful events with AVP Beach Volleyball a while back.

ATLX

So there are a lot of different sports that make up CEO Challenges, and it’s really expanded from that first Ironman idea?

TK

Yes, that’s correct. I had a contract with Ironman to run the CEO Ironman Challenge events up until 2008, so that’s really what we did until then and then we branched out to other sports after that.

ATLX

How many participants do you get for these events?

TK

Between 80 and 100 a year for 12 to 15 events. Most events will have roughly eight to 10 participants. Our CEO Endurance World Championship takes up to 25 participants, so that’s usually a very successful one. Leadville 100 will have 15 participants and our Tuscany cycling event will have nine couples, so 18 people.

Check out the awesome details on the CEO Endurance World Championship

ATLX

And who can participate? Can just anyone sign up or what are the stipulations?

TK

No, they have to be a business owner or a C-level executive of a company that does at least $1 million in annual gross revenue. For the CEO Endurance World Championship, the company size has to be $10 million, plus they have to prove to us that they’re fit enough to take part. But for most of the other events, as long as you hit $1 million, fitness isn’t a main requirement if they want to join.

ATLX

So no athletic qualifications for most of the events?

TK

Only for the CEO Endurance World Championship, the others no.

ATLX

What makes this concept viable? Why does it attract these CEO participants?

TK

We’re very good at understanding their needs before they get to an event. Just knowing what they need for them to have a perfect race experience. It’s almost like a full-service concierge support, so when they sign up with us, they just show up and everything else is looked after. We check their bikes, we get them to a special line for registration, we get their bikes to the start and we get them back. We have dinners with the pros like Craig Alexander or Matty Reed, so they get to rub elbows with some of the best stars in the sport. And then they also get to meet and network with other CEOs, people who share two of their biggest passions in life: running a business and whatever their favorite sport is.

ATLX

What is the ultimate mission of CEO Challenges?

TK

The ultimate mission is to find out who is the fittest CEO in the world. We’ve been doing that for a while. We used to bring the best of the best from around the world to the Hawaii Ironman, but we found that CEOs simply don’t have anywhere near the amount of time they need to train for an Ironman. That’s why we came up with the CEO Endurance World Championship, which is six stages of competition over three days, but is quite manageable and still identifies who is the fittest CEO®.

ATLX

How would a busy CEO balance their work and training schedules to become the fittest CEO in the world?

TK

An hour a day is what most of them are able to spend, so they have to use their time wisely. The fellow that won the CEO Endurance World Championship last year – Dan King, the CEO of ReadyTalk – would ride his bike up and down a hill as far as he could for an hour whenever he had time. Or he would run at lunchtime or before work depending on the schedule. Then on the weekends, he’d do a little longer ride. That’s typically how most of them do it. The real secret as to how they’re able to juggle it all isn’t really a secret at all – they just get up really early. These guys get up at 5 o’clock, are training by 5:30, then at 7 o’clock they’re on their way to the office or in the office and their work day starts.

ATLX

That takes a lot of commitment and a lot of motivation. But I guess the men and women who run these companies have that that level of commitment in them.

TK

They’re really inspiring people [because] they’re able to juggle so much. And yet, you find that they’re very level-headed and very fun to be around. The pressure doesn’t seem to get to them like it does to the rest of us. They’re able to handle the incredible pressure of whatever they may have to do, yet they have a real passion for endurance events, so that’s what they do for fun.

ATLX

Do you see CEO Challenges as an incentive or a motivational tool for busy people to get out and be active?

TK

A lot of [CEOs] mention this to me. If they’re having trouble getting motivated to train, they’ll go on our website, find an event they want to do and sign up for it. Then that’s motivation for them to want to train. It’s incredible the difference you can get if you have a competition circled on your calendar that’s coming up and getting closer. All of the sudden, you’re finding all this time to train that you didn’t think you had because you don’t want to be embarrassed at the competition.

ATLX

We talk a lot at ATLX about training for a purpose, and that’s what this reminds me of. They have this purpose, this tangible thing that they’re training for, and it’s really a game changer.

TK

Yes! If you just say, “Oh, I’m just going go out for a run or go for a bike ride,” then you won’t put the same effort into it that you will if you know you have a race coming up in two or three weeks.

ATLX

They say you have to combine your work with something you’re really passionate about to really love and enjoy what you do. Is that something that CEO Challenges embodies?

TK

Yes, I think that’s why most of the participants seem really happy. A lot of them started their companies from scratch – it’s their life’s work. Even if they weren’t a CEO, they’d be doing it because it’s the industry that they love. But they also love training and competing in endurance events. And they find that one complements the other. The more that they train, the better they do at work. So there’s a great crossover between the two.

ATLX

And what kind of response have you seen?

TK

It’s been fantastic, we’ve been growing like crazy. We started out with the 15 CEOs back in 2001, and now we have 1,500 CEOs in our database. We’ve got great demand, we’re selling events out. The whole industry is really healthy, and we’re a reflection of that.

ATLX

It’s inspiring for people to look at these CEOs who have demanding work lives, and yet put in the time to train and commit to these events and be active and work out. It’s really inspiring to people who don’t have such demanding work lives. If they can do it, I should be able to.

TK

There’s no question that it’s very motivating, and you realize that you really don’t have any reason not to be active. If these guys can do it, the rest of us can do it for sure.

ATLX

I’m going to remember this tomorrow morning when I wake up at 6 o’clock and I’m supposed to go on a run – the CEOs have been up for an hour by now. Get out there!

TK

That’s a great way to look at it! And it’s great to get your workout done in the morning, so you can commit the rest of the day to other things.

ATLX

Yes, and when you work out in the morning, you’ll find you get more done in your day. You’re happier, you feel better, you eat healthier. Fitness has to play a part in the success these CEOs see at work, right?

TK

Yes, if I’m not able to work out on a regular basis, I notice a change in my mood. I can’t make decisions as well, the pressure feels really heavy. I’m sure you go through the same. It’s quite something. It is an addiction, but it’s a good thing to be addicted to!

ATLX

What about the future of CEO Challenges? What does that look like?

TK

Very, very exciting! We were purchased last year by Life Time Fitness and we have a $1.1 billion company with 23,000 employees behind us now. It’s such a big organization, and the resources at our disposal are going to lead to incredible opportunities in the future.

ATLX

And you’re still running CEO Challenges under Life Time Fitness?

TK

Yes, I’m the president of the CEO Challenges division of Life Time Fitness.

ATLX

And tell me about the nearer future – what’s on CEO Challenges’ plate right now?

TK

We’ve still got spots open for our CEO Endurance World Championship, which is September 6-9 at Blackberry Farm. Blackberry Farm is the number one rated resort in North America by Travel + Leisure magazine, so it’s in a pretty spectacular location in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. We’re looking for people who are fit enough to contest against some of the best CEO athletes in the world.

Check out CEO Challenges’ website here.

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