515 : The Ultra Podcast

S2E6 -- If it’s November . . . Postcards from Kona

• Larry Ryan • Season 2 • Episode 6

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COVID changes a lot of plans.  This episode was going to be a conversation with Dave and Sheryl Cobb to preview the Ultraman World Championships race.  Still we had a great conversation about previous races and they shared how they came to be the caretakers of Aloha, Ohana, Kokua on the big island.

Keeping with the Kona theme, I also speak with the 19 time participant, Gary Wang.  In fact, although he lives in California, he did our Zoom from Hawaii.

Steve King Stories features one of my previous guests, Petr Vabroušek--holder of the record for the fastest 515.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Shout outs and mentions in this episode:

Show Contributors:
Host : Larry Ryan
Contributing Raconteur : Steve King
Announcer : Mary Jo Dionne
Production : 5Five Enterprises
Music  :  Run by 331

For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/515TheUltraPodcast

Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Support the show

Show Contributors:
Host : Larry Ryan
Contributing Raconteur : Steve King
Announcer : Mary Jo Dionne
Production : 5Five Enterprises
Music  :  Run by 331

For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.com
Facebook: @515TheUltraPodcast
Insta : @515theultrapodcast
Youtube : @515TheUltraPodcast
Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Larry

So in this episode, I want to introduce you to the race directors of Kona and the man who has competed there 19 times. If you are an Ultraman or

Conversation with UMWC race directors Dave & Sheryl Cobb

Larry

you are considering taking on the challenge, you either know my next two guests or you want to. This couple's love grew at Ultraman and has been on display there every year since. He is a former Iron Man and Ultraman athlete and a member of the Ultraman Hall of Fame. She is known for sticking out her tongue and learning the race from the inside as Jane's right hand. Of course, this couple is joining me from the home of Ultraman and Kona, Hawaii, the race directors of the Ultraman World Championships. I welcome to 515, Dave and Cheryl Cobb.

SPEAKER_03

How's it?

SPEAKER_01

Hi Larry, thanks for having us.

Larry

Yeah, I'd love to have you. We gotta talk about this main race of the Ultraman brand. So originally this episode was going to introduce the two of you to the audience, and then it was intended to evolve into a World Championships race preview, like the one I did with Steve King and Brad for Ultraman Canada. This episode is being released on November the 19th, which is a week before your race would have run this year, as it does every year over the Thanksgiving weekend. However, you were forced once again to cancel your race this year due to COVID restrictions. Obviously, you made the decision some time ago based on the information that you had at that time. Um, how are things in Hawaii now as far as COVID?

SPEAKER_01

Well, ultimately we made the correct decision because at this point on the Big Island, outside gatherings are still limited to a total of 25 people. So that would not have accommodated all of our athletes and crews and staff and volunteers. So as hard as it is to think that we're still suffering under all these mandates, that's where we stand currently. They're supposed to be opening restrictions up a bit in the beginning of November, middle of November, but it would have just been way too late to know one way or the other if we would have been able to get our permitting and stuff. So we had to make the call early. And that also then allowed the athletes to have the opportunity to recoup some of their deposits and things. And it's it's just been such a hard two years with having to make this call twice now. And I don't know. It's um I'm tired of COVID. I wish it would go away, but I think we have to figure out how we're gonna live with it because I don't think it's gonna go anywhere.

Larry

I I think that's exactly the way uh society is gonna be approaching this coming coming up is how do we live with it? Um because like you said, it's not going anywhere. Do you do you see anything in the future as far as Hawaii races that what looks like it might be the the first one that does get to go ahead?

SPEAKER_03

I personally, you know, based on uh what goes on here, obviously Iron Man's uh Iron Man and Honu are the you know the big races and even Lava Man have to kind of take a cue from them because they have way, way more people than we'll, you know, we've ever had. And if you know, if it looks like they're gonna get permits and the race is gonna be able to go off, then you know, we have a you know a hope that ours would be able to go off too, being a much smaller event. For us, having so many, you know, having foreign athletes and people coming in from all over, it's just like Iron Man. You have the the consistent problem of travel restrictions from other countries and so forth that affect you know who can come here and so forth. And one of the things we've always looked at is like we may be able to have an event, but it's not gonna be much of an event if you only got like six athletes or 10 athletes or whatever.

Larry

Hey, hey, don't knock that. Don't knock that.

SPEAKER_03

That's going to be not, you know. You know, for us, when you got more staff than athletes, it's uh, you know, it's a little problematic.

Larry

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Well, so this past year in 2021, the Honu race went off. The Hawaii Iron Man 70.3 went off in June in June, which gave us great hope that we would be able to have our event. And we jumped right into helping plan with the Iron Man World Championships. And then that darn Delta variant showed up, and that just closed us back down, lock stock and barrel, you know. They just slammed the door shut on everything at that point and kind of crushed all our hopes. So I'm hoping that, you know, Lava Man is supposed to be the end of March. Hopefully that gets to go off. And then if Honu and June will get to go off again, then maybe maybe there won't be another variant that throws a kink in the plans and we can continue to plan ahead and put on an event in 2022.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

Larry

Yeah, that because yeah, everybody's everybody's waiting to get to your to your race. It's I know that for a fact.

SPEAKER_01

Uh waiting to have one.

Larry

Uh one of the things I want to make sure is that the the listener is able to get to know you guys a little bit. So, Dave, you have a history as an Iron Man athlete. Uh in what years were you participating in Iron Man and what events did you do?

SPEAKER_03

Uh well, I was uh in the early 90s up until 1994. Uh I was in the Air Force stationed over here in Hawaii, and I got involved in traffons uh because I'd been a um a cyclist and you know fairly good swimmer all through the years and used to run quite a bit. And you know, somebody says, Hey, you need to try this trahlon thing, and it's like okay. Uh so gave it a go. And it's the first one I did, I was hooked. And you know, so there were a lot of events in Hawaii at the time. Uh Trahlon was just getting started, and you know, you could pretty much look forward to having some fairly intense event just about all the time. And once I learned what Iron Man was, I came over. I had a roommate, a housemate in early 90s that uh his dad was uh or his uncle was one of the big senior vice presidents of Gatorade, and Gatorade was the title sponsor of Iron Man at the time. And uh my roommate Corey he says, Hey, you you have you ever seen you know Iron Man? I said, Well, I know what it is, but I've never you know been over to the big island. I was in Honolulu, so uh Corey's uncle got us VIP passes and got us into the hotel and you know all that stuff. So we came over here like we were big wigs and had a fabulous time. And we had a couple of military buddies of ours that were doing the event, so you know it was a little more personal to us, and then after that, I just said, you know, I'm I'm gonna do this thing. I I can do this, and it took me a couple of years, and then uh 1993, uh, I was just having you know, I was like on that power curve where just everything was going right. The training, you know, I was having really good uh uh results at all the races, I was cycling and running and so forth and so on. And um I was asked to be a member of the uh the official uh United States Air Force traffine team. And from that point on, it was off to the races. And I got a lot of support from my command for you know a little more flexibility at lunch if I wanted to run a little longer and that kind of thing. So '93 was my first event. Uh, I came over here and the and the Air Force won the uh military title that year. I think uh if my memory serves, we had five or six people go under 10 hours. So we had an awesome team, and the other military teams, uh, they had several guys go under. But uh, so anyway, I had a 1025 that year, and I thought I was you know pretty proud of myself. And uh so from that point on, I I uh eventually retired from the Air Force in '94. So that was kind of a wash year. Uh 95, I didn't really have my stuff together uh enough to look at doing Iron Man again. But in 96 and 97, I also was uh did Iron Man again as a civilian, so to speak, and uh and then I did uh Ultraman or Iron Man Switzerland in 2000. And uh that was the last Iron Man I did. I was pretty much over it at that point.

Larry

And and what would take you to Switzerland as a choice of Iron Man? So is it just a place you wanted to go to?

SPEAKER_03

No, uh actually uh when we used to live in Honolulu, uh uh we lived in a house that was pretty much known as the Trahlon House because anybody that came over from anywhere, and we had a lot of people, you got to remember back in the early 90s and so forth when people traveled a lot, and a lot of athletes would come through Honolulu prior to coming over to the big island because they would come over and train in Honolulu. Uh, I got to know uh Brigitte McMahon, uh, who stayed with us a couple of times, and then we got to know Oliver Bernard. And Oliver, uh, being one of the premier Swiss athletes at the time, got to know him pretty well. Then when I eventually moved over to the Big Island and Oliver was still doing Ultraman, he invited us as his guest uh to come over to Switzerland in 2000, and uh we took him up on it, and we had a pretty good time, even though the race conditions were horrible for me. It was cold and wet and rainy, and I don't do well in cold and wet and rainy.

Larry

But it was spoiled by Hawaii, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I was I was definitely spoiled, but I mean, you know, it was a good event, and uh we had a great time, and uh, so that's how that that worked out, and I've known Oliver ever since. And for the viewers who don't know, Oliver is one of the principal owners of own shoes, uh, the company owned running shoes. Uh so anyway, we've we've known him over the years and had a great time, and I'm I would left definitely look forward to going back to Switzerland, but not to do Iron Man.

Larry

And and Cheryl, what's what's your sporting background?

SPEAKER_01

Um, I don't have one, no, I'm just kidding. Uh I grew up in Southern California, did some water skiing, and you know, played some high school sports, and then I got a job when I was just out of high school working for a company where my boss did a lot of double centuries and century rides and things. And so he would pay me to crew him on the weekends. That's kind of how I got into the whole Ultras sort of thing, and yeah, that's so that's kind of how it started. Then I moved to Hawaii and I started coaching in Special Olympics, coaching paddling, and uh participating in Outright canoe paddling racing. And that's how I met Jane, and then she roped me into helping at Ultraman because she knew I was single and I would have nothing to do over a Thanksgiving weekend. And then um, it just kind of fit that um niche that I had from having done it before in California, and I loved doing it, it was always kind of fun, so that's sort of how I got roped into it.

Larry

So you two met at Ultraman. Um, which one of you tells this story better? Tell tell us about how you guys met at Ultraman.

SPEAKER_01

Well, we actually met before Ultraman. Um, David used to date one of my really good friends that I went to massage school with. And I would see him when he would come over for races for Iron Man and Keho Triathlon and stuff, because he would be with um my friend Renona. And so, but then they broke up and he was still coming over to help at races and to do races and things. So Renona had called him to come over, or I guess Cliff, our friend Cliff Rigsby from Oahu, had asked David to come over and crew for him at Ultraman in 1998. And David was going to be staying with Renona. And so I was gonna be crewing that year for a guy named Rick Kent. You might be familiar with him.

SPEAKER_07

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um I didn't really know Rick at all until he got here. And boy, is he a character. So basically, what happened was I had a quite interesting crewmate who had some mental health issues. And Rick and Cliff had met at the bike shop for their bike check-ins, their bike inspections, and just hit it off that they were, you know, really good, got along really well and stuff. And then day one, Cliff had a great swim and a great bike and took off and never saw David and Renona and those guys again. Rick came out of the water third from last. Um, he was definitely not a swimmer. He beat Cowman and the guy that did the breaststroke the entire way. Um so, but then he passed half the field on the bike. So that was pretty exciting.

Larry

Um, just for people that don't know Rick, he is that's his thing. He was an ultra cyclist, right? He he world class, world class, yes. Yeah, he he took part in Ram and he did very well there and and a number of different things as well. So this this is the guy who's made for the bike day two.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So on day two, Rick and Cliff and a couple other guys took off off the front on the bike, and they just had a great time. Um, they came off of Red Road together, and Rick and Cliff ended up in just this pretty epic battle all the way up the Hamakua coast. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Um, my crew partner at that point informed me that he had run out of Prozac and was kind of making a little bit of craziness in the van. So I did something that I don't always do when I crew, but I pulled over every time I saw Cliff's crew because I needed some people who could help me deal with the situation I had going on. So it was David and Renona, and um, and so they were super helpful just to keep my sanity that day. And then we got to Javi, sent Rick off to the showers. Cliff had Cliff had beat him that day, um, but sent Rick off to the showers, talked to Jane about the situation. She ended up sending that person home, and I ended up crewing for Rick by myself on day three, when which is not in the rules, but I had actually crewed the entire three days the year before because I had been told that there was a second person showing up who apparently never showed up because they were never really coming. So Gatavi and David was kind enough to um pop me a beer when I got to their crew van. And I was kind of like, hmm, this might be a match made in heaven. On day three, Rick and Cliff took off running. Cliff had some issues. Rick ran a ri had a really good run. Um he finished, I gave him a massage, then Renona and Cliff and David came in. I was helping Renona massage Cliff, and I realized I hadn't eaten a Cliff bar the entire day. And I was starving because I had crude by myself.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Um, so while I was massaging Cliff, David was feeding me macaroni salad. And again, I'm thinking beer and food. This could truly be a match made in heaven. So the rest is history.

SPEAKER_03

And champagne.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, and champagne.

Larry

That's an excellent story. Wow. Um, and that's one of the ways in which you've earned a living through the years, is it not? Is doing massage.

SPEAKER_01

Um, yes, I do massage. That's sort of my part-time job. And then I work for a company and we provide services for people with developmental disabilities. So I supervise workers who do one-on-one home and community-based care.

Larry

And that would be probably how you got connected with the Special Olympics as well, then.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. And actually, I've I've worked with people with developmental disabilities most of my life. My first job in my first, I guess you'd say real job in California. I worked for an orthopedic supply company, and we worked a lot with children who had cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, spina bifida.

Larry

Okay. Yeah. And and Dave, you've recently retired. What did you do between the the Air Force and retirement?

SPEAKER_03

The main thing I did, I mean, I I started working part-time at bike shops in Honolulu, uh, Island Trahlon and Bike, which I don't even know if they're still in business anymore. But uh, I used to work for them part-time, uh, even when I was in the Air Force, mainly because, you know, just like a lot of triathletes, we're equipment junkies, and one way to pay for your habit is to work in a bike shop and get the employee discount. But uh also the owner at the time of Island Traffine and Bike, uh, we had, gosh, must have been at least four Iron Man athletes working in the store. I mean, so the the experience level of the people I worked with there was just off the roof. Uh, so I you know absorbed a lot of that kind of thing. But so I worked along with that, and then once I retired, I just kind of ended up going full-time working in bike shops. And uh eventually I came over to the big island to manage uh uh BL bike and sports. And uh, you know, that didn't really work out like we had planned. And but anyway, that's basically what I was doing up until um, you know, this pandemic stuff started, and just like a lot of people, I got kind of laid off more or less. But um, if you look at the big scheme of things, uh I had alternate income from you know, retired military and so forth and so on. And if it was a choice between between me, you know, not having a job and other people who had no other income having a job, it's you know, it's it's uh okay in the end. So basically, uh I do uh now I just do uh uh accounting and bookkeeping for some private clients. So it just kind of keeps my hand in a little bit. Um uh I probably would have never retired if it hadn't been for COVID, uh, but you know, things work out in the end, I suppose. And so now I have plenty of free time to deal with Ultraman and other stuff.

Larry

Yeah, and and to continue your your volunteering, I suspect, as well, because I know both of you do do volunteering as well. Um when I interviewed Jane back in season one and episode four, uh, she told me an interesting story about being in the Iron Man World Championship Broadcast Center and and a few other tales from volunteering with the with the world championship. Um, I know you two both do that as well. Do you have any unique stories that you can share with the listener about the Iron Man World Championship from the from the inside?

SPEAKER_01

Let me think about that for a second. There's lots of stories. Um it's always just a fun crazy week. Uh, we have a good group. David and I both work in the aid stations division for Iron Man World Championships. Um, I'm the director of the bike aid stations, have been the director of the bike aid stations for the last few years. Coming in 2022, I'm gonna be doing run aid stations. Um, just switching it up a little bit. And Ingrid Hillhouse, who's my assistant director for Ultraman Worlds, is gonna take over the bike section. David takes care of some bike aid stations on the north end of the bike course from Kawaii High up to Javi.

SPEAKER_03

One of the favorite experiences I had was uh uh when I was working with BL and Not involved so much with the age stations like I am now. Of course, B and L was the official bike shop. So we were the ones that were always the panic mechanics on the pier. And then the you know, the vans that are out on the course all day long. And uh invariably I was in the sag wagon. Um, so I got to see the race from a unique perspective of people struggling. And you know, some you think will make it and some you know won't, but they're still out there pushing. And uh I think one of the last years I did the Sag Wagon was one of the first years they allowed hand cycle athletes or you know, PC athletes in the race. And I was one uh our van was the one that basically was out on the course with the last hand cyclists that first year. And I just knew she wasn't gonna make it, but you know, she was still, you know, pushing as hard as she could go, and we're watching our watches, and we just knew uh it wasn't gonna work out. And uh, I have to tell you, that was pretty much one of the most emotional things I've ever had uh happen at at Iron Man was having to pull her off that course. And you know, it really gives me a lot of respect for you know anybody that's back there in the back pushing and you know, maybe knowing in the back of their mind they may not make it, but you know, they're out there pushing away, and then you know, you see other people that just give up because they don't think they're gonna get the result that's expected of them. And it makes me wonder, you know, what's the priority here when you see people who will push until the last second that they can be out there and other people who just give up. So, you know, it gave me a unique perspective on the event. I've maintained that perspective ever since, I believe.

Larry

Yeah, it's it's not a it's not a good place for athletes to to be hanging out.

SPEAKER_03

Been there, done that.

SPEAKER_01

I I think my favorite part of Iron Man World Championships is a lot of what David's saying, we're out on the we're out on the bike course and the run course, because usually when we finish with bike course aid stations, we come in and support our run course aid stations. So you've seen that person who got to Javi five minutes before the turnaround cutoff. And then they make it back to town and make that cutoff, but then you see them on the run and they're, you know, barely making the cutoff down in OTEC at the energy lab. And then we get the chance to go down to the finish line and be there for that final hour watching the finishers come in and to see those people, you know, you're you're wondering, are they gonna make it? Did they make it? Did have how did the rest of their day go? And to get to see them come across that finish line, knowing how hard they pushed to make each of those cutoffs. And um, and then just to see, you know, they're in agony, but just the pure joy and sense of accomplishment and pride in themselves that they have when they make that um final cutoff and come across that finish line. It's it's pretty, it's a very chicken skin hour.

Larry

Yeah. And and you guys have been at that race long enough that you would have seen it from, I guess, back when you were racing it in the younger years, Dave, and then now up to now, where it's getting more professional, professional, professional people that are, you know, winning their way there rather than just coming in. Um what what do you two think of the way the Iron Man has changed in Hawaii over the years?

SPEAKER_03

Well, it's definitely more professional, but uh, you know, I don't I think one of the major changes in the sport in general is obviously the training methods, the equipment, the nutrition. I mean, when you look, I've got some stories I can tell you from way back when people were stashing stuff out in the lava field because there was no, you know, food or anything available, and you could pretty much do what you wanted. Uh, I mean, one of the stories that Cliff uh told me was he can remember when athletes used to have to weigh out at uh OTEC. Uh, and if they had lost a certain percentage of their body weight, they got pulled off the course. So, you know, a lot of these 1% fat guys, you know, they knew they were gonna lose weight. So they would go out the night before and put fishing weights in a little bag uh out on the course on the run thing before they made the the turnaround out at uh OTEC, and the they would pull off like they're gonna take a leak or something and put those fishing weights in their shorts so that when they got to the weigh end, they wouldn't have shown that they lost any weight. And of course, as soon as they get away from the weigh station, they you know, toss the fishing weights or throw the fishing weights in the garbage can. I mean, there's all sorts of wild stories about athletes putting bags of Big Macs and you know, goofy stuff like that. So the professionalism of the event and the athletes in general has gone up a thousand percent. I mean, nutrition alone has you know gone up. I mean, when when I did the event '93, uh I there was a guy on the side of the road that gave me our well, he had a little stand, so it's not outside aid, but uh the thing that saved me was just a couple of handfuls of potato chips. I mean, we didn't have you know all the stuff and uh, you know, that salt and fat and whatever in those potato chips really saved my bacon on that run. And now, of course, you know, uh it's it's a given thing. But I mean, people are really Akhmai are very aware of their nutrition and so forth pretty much. So there's a lot of professionalism in that aspect as well.

Larry

Cheryl, how about you?

SPEAKER_01

Definitely the caliber of athletes that come to the Iron Man World Championship has improved. Um, and obviously, because now everybody has to qualify, you know. Well, what's interesting is when they went to the wave starts last in 2019, the last time we had the race, that was really great because it really spread the field out. What would happen beforehand was because everybody had qualified, then everybody in those age groups were about the same speed. And so you'd end up with these big packs of people because that's where they're at. That's their ability. They're all at the same ability at the same time. Um, so this the wave group had uh age group starts has really spread things out a bit and made that better. But I think overall, there's just nothing like the experience of a lead drive uh at the finish line. The it's very professional. You know, I think the I think the quality of the event has gotten better. The products and things that are available to the athletes, like David's saying, like, you know, aid stations now are like mini restaurants. It's amazing the things that they put out for the athletes that they didn't put out 20 years ago. And it's it's just really nice to see it's still from from my perspective and my dealings with Iron Man and the organization, it's still a nice little tight little Ohana that puts the event on. And it's you know, there's 19 volunteer directors that put it on, and we work hard all year long with each other to get it organized. And it's so to me, it still has that small feel in that regard. It it's different when you walk out and see all the thousands of athletes. But I think I hope that each of them gets to have a bit of that small town feel too.

Larry

Yeah, yeah. Um, and how do you think the locals are feeling about them moving the world championship this year?

SPEAKER_01

Well, they're moving it just to do a one-off race, basically, for in May of 2022. Um, and I think that that's a great idea because they're planning on bringing Iron Man back in October for two days of racing here in Kona because they have such an abundance of athletes that have already qualified for 20 and 21, and then they'll have a whole season of 22 qualifiers, and Kona can't handle that many people at one time. Right. I mean, they can't, they couldn't do, we couldn't do those three events in two days either. So I think having it in St. George in May is a really smart idea to give the athletes a chance to give the pros a chance to earn a paycheck that they haven't been able to get for two years, and then to get athletes who may not be able to afford to come to Hawaii because that's a pretty pricey experience. They get a chance to still race at a more affordable time, you know, more affordable cost for transportation and travel. Um, they're still those people that their dream is to run down a lee drive and they'll get that opportunity come October. So I think our locals are excited. They're they're a little nervous about the two days of racing. Um, I am too, to be honest, just because a lot of volunteers to have to recruit. But I think it'll be great. I think it'll be um a good experience for the island. And I think people are excited to have the event come back because we've missed it a lot.

Larry

Now, with the two days of racing, is it going to be twice the number of athletes?

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

Larry

And can the island accommodate that number?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Um, it will be probably 25 to 2700 athletes each day. Um, and from what I understand, it's gonna be some the women and some age group men on Thursday, and then the pro men and the rest of the age group men on Saturday. It's not it's not just men and women because it's not a 50-50 split, unfortunately.

Larry

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I will I do think that that that split like that though will probably give the a lot of the women uh a much more competitive race. Uh and even amongst the age grouper women, I think it's gonna be super competitive.

Larry

Let's take a quick break here and we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_02

This is Barry Berg from Vancouver, BC, and race champion for Ultraman Canada 2021. You can hear all about my buildup to the race by listening to my conversation with Larry in season one, episode nine.

Larry

And now back to the show. Cheryl, can you tell me what is the difference between Ohana Loa and the Ultraman World Championships and what each person's involvement is in each of those entities?

SPEAKER_01

Sure. So Ohana Loa is owned by Jane, solely owned by Jane, and she uh runs that company. Basically, it is the company that owns the name and the brand Ultraman. So then each event that is part of the Ultraman branded events, so Florida, Arizona, Canada, and Ultraman World Championships, then has a licensing agreement with OhanaLoa to host the race and use that name. Uh, then each of those race directors belong to the board of Ohana Loa. So both David and I, Jen, Chuck, Brad are all part of the Ohana Loa board. And we hope to make decisions as to expansion, how we want to, you know, changes in rules that go across all of the all of the events and things like that. And just keeping keeping the brand legit and up to the standards of what Jane would like to see moving forward and keeping those core values of Aloha, Ohana, and Kokua in all the events that are happening. Then Ultraman World Championships is owned by David and I. Um, and we have Jane on our staff as race director emeritus. And so she helps out wherever we need her to help out. We've tried to take as much of the stress and the running around and permitting and all those kinds of things away, since that was the part she didn't really like, anyways. And we let her have the fun part of, you know, handing out lays and greeting the athletes at the finish line and just being part of, you know, continuing to be part of the face of the event, is as we call her ultra mama. And um, yeah, so that's her role with us now.

Larry

Uh I know that she she handed the the race over to you guys because you carry on those same core values of the Aloha Ohana Kukua. You have very similar visions as to what the Ultraman brand should look like. Um in Jim Gorley's book, The Race with In, there was some of that stuff of behind the scenes uh race directors, uh previous race directors, and some conflicts about how the brand should move forward. Um now how how do you feel about where where the brand is now and where do you see it like five or ten years from now?

SPEAKER_03

Oh you how come it how come it um there were some issues in the past, and you could put them up a lot of it to philosophical issues about what we felt uh about expansion. And I think in a lot of ways that that whole issue about expansion and this and that is that I don't think any of us ever envisioned ourselves as being you know analogous to World Traffine Corporation, where we're gonna have events all over the world and you know we're flying around in the jet and showing up in the limos and this and that. It was never ever meant to be anything like that in anybody uh thing. And this willy-nilly expansion just because we we could just never went over with me. It never went over with Cheryl, and there were others that felt that you know we needed to be some cookie cutter thing pumping out Ultraman races all over the place, and none of us wanted that, and unfortunately, unfortunately, it brought up some differences, and you know, those differences being a lot of things is like we did not want to be a you know a for-profit necessarily entity kind of thing, and you know, we just wanted to keep it like where you went to an event and you knew people, we didn't need thousands of people, you know, involved. I mean, it's it's just not that type of thing, it never was meant to be. And if that rubbed some people the wrong way, well, tough, you know. I mean, seriously. So I mean, but it really, you know, everybody had a lot of opinions and a lot of ideas, and some of them good, and some of them not so good. And and that goes for me and Cheryl as well. But uh when it when push came to shove, we just did not want races all over the bloody place, and you know, the people who didn't agree with that got out. So right.

Larry

So and and that's why I think Jane has you know passed it on with you guys. You're you're very similar in in the way that you approach that. So where do you see it in five to ten years from now then? Do you see any expansion? Do you see it staying the way it is now? Where where do you see it in the future?

SPEAKER_01

I think there will be some expansion. I think it will just be done in a little bit more steady and slow way. I think I think what happened with a few of the events was there was some pressure to put them on with people that we may not have felt completely comfortable with having be in charge. And and then unfortunately they didn't work out because there was, you know, just fundamental differences in what we saw as what those values mean. And so, yeah, so I think I think that we will expand. I'd like to see, you know, I think we'd like to see a race in Europe at some point. And we have some people who have voiced interest in doing it, but nobody's followed through on it yet. Um, but I think I think we will expand some more. I'd like to, you know, maybe see one back in Australia or New Zealand area. We'll see. Just have to find the right match to understand that the whole, like David said, the whole point of Ultraman is not about becoming a retirement package for any of us. It's really about that sharing the fundamental bond of the sport, that closeness, that uniqueness, um, knowing everybody's name and having those connections for life.

Larry

So I think along with that idea of you know keeping the core values in place for Ultraman, uh being so important to the current race directors, I can see where you guys will you'll make that slow growth. And that that kind of comes back to the to the founding members. Inducted into the Ultraman Hall of Fame. Dave, perhaps you could uh tell us a little bit about that inaugural class of the the Hall of Fame since you are a part of it.

SPEAKER_03

Well, for for me, it was a complete surprise. I mean, it was they they kept that secret very well and until it happened. I mean, but I've I have been involved with the race since 1995. Um, I did, I was on a crew for five years before I transitioned into you know being more of the staff. And I used to be out there by myself in in my in our F-150, you know, doing mechanics as best I could right by myself a lot of times. Um, but you know, so things have transitioned, but I've been involved, like I said, continuously since 1995. Um so it was an honor. And, you know, having known some of the same people since that time, uh you know, yeah, it was it was really awesome, and you know, to feel that I have a responsibility to carry, you know, this idea uh that Curtis and Jane and everybody had. And I don't want to see that idea, you know, trashed for the sake of commercialism. And it's it's so easy to do that these days. It really is. I mean, you know, you can jump on the bandwagon and go for the money, and you know, the next thing you know, you've lost control of an event that you've loved for 20 some years, and I don't want to see that happen. Um, yeah, so the Hall of Fame thing, uh uh, you know, it it really was an honor, and I'm glad to be up there. And and you know, it's nice to be recognized.

Larry

Yeah, and you were you were recognized as as a volunteer. That was kind of your induction. Um, can you tell us who else was inducted and and for what reasons uh for the for the hall of fame? Just I'm sure not everybody knows about the the hall of fame. Cheryl, you you can Cheryl, do you want to tell us who else was inducted in the Hall of Fame?

SPEAKER_01

So for our inaugural Hall of Fame inductees were the three founders, Conrad, Alex, and Curtis. Tyler, um, they were inducted for coming up with this insane event. And then, of course, we inducted Jane Bacchus, Ultramama, for taking the torch from them and carrying it on for all these years. And the reason we started this Hall of Fame in 2019 was it was our 35th anniversary event. So we figured it was time to honor those that had brought us to that point. And then we inducted David as a 25-year volunteer. And then we also inducted Kurt Madden and Artis Bo, the original male and female winners from 1983. Because who proved that this was actually a feasible event.

Larry

I have saved the question that most people want answered by you two for last. And that is other than Competing in completing a qualifying race in Canada, Florida, or Arizona, what is key to getting into your still invitation only race? Now we've talked a lot about the Ohana Aloha Kakua and what it means to Ultraman and how important it is to you guys. So those people that that get that qualifier and they want to put in their application for the world championship, what what are we gonna what are we gonna give them as a tip?

SPEAKER_01

Be a nice human.

Larry

And how do they express that on their application?

SPEAKER_01

Well, they don't necessarily have to express that on their application. We'll find it out when we meet them at a qualifying race. And one somebody from the board is always at a qualifying race to help the other races out and also just to make sure that everybody's sticking within those guidelines of Aloha Ohana and Kokua. But it's also to keep an eye on the athletes and the crews and to get to know them a little better and see what type of human they are. And if somebody is at a race and they're treating their crews like trash and they're being jerks or they're running stop signs and red lights and getting lots of penalties, they may finish the race and technically be qualified to come to world championships, but that's not the type of human that we're gonna invite.

Larry

And and I know that Jane Jane told me in the interview with her that that is the one thing to keep it as invitation only, so that you could always keep that control over what was happening at the race.

SPEAKER_01

John Collins, one of the founders of Iron Man, gave Jane that advice. And she has passed that on to us, and we will keep that as our advice as well.

SPEAKER_03

To hear Cheryl say that, I mean, or to hear us say that as race directors may sound uh a bit draconian, but I think that's one of the reasons we want to maintain control of this event is that, you know, in this day and age, if if we've got 30 or 40 people doing the event, um, we want, like I said, Ohana, we want people to feel comfortable around each other. We want the crews to feel comfortable and you know, not only support their athlete, but also feel comfortable supporting uh other athletes. And I'm sorry, we just got no place for this me, me, me attitude. Uh, you can go to other events and do all that you want, and you can stay at those events and whatever, but you won't be doing that event here with us.

SPEAKER_01

And another part of that is we're bringing you to this to the big island to do this event. And while the big island is not perfect, I mean, we have our share of crime and different things, it's a pretty magical place. And I think that if you come here and you don't open your eyes and your heart to the things that this place has to offer, you miss a lot of what the event is really about.

Larry

Well, I guess that means that you guys are also protecting it for all of the other athletes as well. That's that's the main thing of of you doing it that way, is that it remains a great place for everybody to come. Well, I I think you guys have summed it up perfectly. I've really enjoyed having this conversation with the two of you today and having you share some of your ohana and some of your great stories. So thank you very much for taking the time to speak to me today and good luck with the race next year when it will definitely happen and there won't be any more COVID.

SPEAKER_03

Uh yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, we look forward to 2022, and hopefully we'll get to chat with you again at some point. Absolutely. Thanks for having us today.

Larry

Happy Thanksgiving. You too.

Mary Jo

Now here's

Steve King Stories : Petr Vabrousek

Mary Jo

another deep.

Steve King

Hi everyone, I'm Steve King, and I'd like to talk to you about a gentleman who grew up with two brothers, and all three of them were into rowing, whether single skulls or in eights. This man did his first triathlon at 16 years of age, and that was the breaststroke. He's originally from Prague in the Czech Republic. He's a brand manager, he's a coach with the Titan Tri-Life uh group out of Slyn. He lives there now, actually, as well. There's a gentleman who's married uh with two children, his wife Vera, and their children Vera and Philip. He actually honeymooned on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1997, didn't do an Iron Man then, but did an Iron Man uh on the Big Island from 1999 through to 2013, 15 times he's done the world championships. He's done nearly 200 Iron Man race distances in his career, including challenge races, but uh 41 times he's won an event at the Iron Man distance. Imagine that. 13 times he's been the Czech national Iron Man champion. His fastest ever was in uh Challenge Almer in 1999, I believe, and that was 804.11. When you look at his personal best, they're quite phenomenal, to put it mildly. His personal best for a swim was 49.11, did that in Australia in 1999. His personal best on the bike was in Florida in 2011, uh, did four hours 12 minutes, his best ever run at the back end, of course. We're talking during the course of an uh Iron Man distance race. That was in Japan for the marathon, uh, did a 243 in 2010. He's done a half Iron Man in around four hours, uh uh Olympic distance or standard distance with a 146, did that in 1996. He has done uh marathon PR of 2316, that was in Prague in 2008, he's done a 7246 at the half marathon distance, did that in Prague also in 2010. He's been a winner and uh course record holder at the Antarctic Ice Marathon, did a 334 there. He's also won uh and held the record for the Antarctic 100k Ultra there, did 1121 there, did both of those in the same year as well. That was 2013. He's been a winner in the North Pole Marathon, did that in 2015. He's been second in the World Marathon Challenge in 2017. This man's incredible. He's done the marathon to stop. In fact, he's so good. The man's uh pretty intelligent, too, to put it mildly. He's got two university degrees in economics and marketing, and it shows how he's put those together because he's had the same sponsors for 20 years. So, of course, we were very happy when he uh went to Florida and did the Ultraman, his first one in 2018. Ended up winning that event, did a 249 swim, a 354 bike on day one for a 644. Then he did 748 on day two on the bike, had to run his heart out to uh get a 740 to finish uh in 22, uh 1331 to the incredible Brazilian Ivan Albano, who made an incredible race of it with a fantastic run. But uh of course, this man held on for the victory. And in fact, I think he also went to uh an Iron Man the next weekend and took on that challenge as well. But in 2018, after finishing in Florida, he went to the Big Island for the World Championships. He ended up uh coming third place overall there. Um but when you consider who else was there and took the championships, uh, Richard Thompson, the great Australian, who had won to UM Australia as well, and Rob Gray was second. And don't forget, Rob Gray had won the year before at the World Championship. So he was in great company taking that third place overall. He liked it so much, he was part of a group that decided to put on an Ultraman distance race in his home country, uh UM Czech, therefore. Uh they call it the UltraCheck 515. And in 2020, he ended up winning that race, 637 on day one, 714 day two, and a 704 run. And he ended up what is considered, therefore, a world best uh for an Ultraman distance event. 20 hours, 56 minutes, 15 seconds. The man I'm referring to, of course, Peder Pepchek. Czech Republic, well represented. What a great athlete.

Larry

Thanks, Steve. Of course, I had a full conversation with Pedder back in episode two of this season for anyone who wants to hear more details about some of his fantastic adventures. Well, I'm keeping it on the island for this next conversation with my Ohana guest for

Gary Wang - 19 time Ultraman Worlds competitor

Larry

this episode. My next guest has competed in 19 Ultraman events, all on the big island, and for this he holds the record. You could say that he dabbles in ultra running as well, having competed in over 200 ultra events, including numerous outings at Western states and races like the HERT 100. He is also an excellent photographer and holds a PhD in electrical engineering. My guest today is none other than Gary Wang. Hello and welcome to 515.

SPEAKER_05

Thank you for having me.

Larry

You live in Marin County, California, but you are joining me today like my last guest did from Hawaii. Uh we we know that you aren't there for the World Championships this year. Uh so is there another event going on that you've that's taken you over to Hawaii, or are you just in the habit of showing up there at this time of year?

SPEAKER_05

We we made a plan to come here um already, and I didn't really want to disappoint my friend and crew, so we decided to come anyway, just making this uh vacation.

Larry

Yeah, well, that's a great place to go vacation for sure. Well, let's start with your Ultraman races. Um though there's a number of topics I definitely want to get into with you today. From 2001 to 2019, you have raced every year at Hawaii. What what continues to draw you back there year after year, even this year in a non-race year?

SPEAKER_05

Well, um it's the people. Um the people around the Kona, the event, Kim Bacchus, Sherokov. Um those are my dear friends, and I love seeing them. And Kona is just a really, really awesome place. It's it's sort of very syrape to being here.

Larry

Yeah. That that natural feel of the islands. Is that what you're alluding to?

SPEAKER_05

The yes, yes.

Larry

So uh in my podcast description, I say the best part about uh attending a 515 event is the people that you meet and the friendships you leave with, and you've already touched on that a little bit. Who who are some of your best friends that you have now after all these years of going to Ultraman?

SPEAKER_05

Oh gosh, I mean, obviously the Rat Pack, right? Um Marty, Miro, um, Tony, um, the people I you know met the first few years, and we really become good friends. We don't talk that much often, but every time we see each other, it's it's instant, and we are we're back in a place where you know it's it's it's it's people share the same interest. Um, and and and it's nice.

Larry

I I guess that's kind of like uh going back to that high school reunion, maybe where you don't necessarily you haven't necessarily talked to people in a long time, but the stories and the connections that you've shared in the past just bring it all back together right away for you.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I think I think just just about anybody who who had done Ultraman will understand that you meet somebody who has done a race, even though you don't know the person, you share something pretty intimate. That connection um you share the experience carry over to everybody, um the whole Ohana. Um that's what makes this event really special.

Larry

Yeah. And for you, now that you've done so many of these races, do the races start to blend together at some point? Like, can you differentiate what events or what stories come from what year?

SPEAKER_05

Or is it just a big yeah, everything blends together. Um, I've been doing this sports gosh for almost three years. Um, it's hard to keep track everything, every detail. Um, but it's kind of nice. Everything blends together, you know, the whole experience.

Larry

So yeah. Um, I was interviewing Dave and Cheryl earlier in the week, and I just want to play you something that that Dave said about you. So I just need a second to set this up.

SPEAKER_03

I'll interject here. Gary is one of those guys that you know, he's always like said, Mr. Consistency, but the only thing he is definitely not consistent on is taking care of his bike. I mean, we've seen his bike show up over here with frayed cables all over the place and sticking out and stuff sticking out, and you know, this and this where you know, a lot of us nowadays, and especially, you know, you have uh these bikes that cost more than you know, several of the cars I'm I used to own, and you know, you're meticulous, you gotta have this and that, and all this, you know, cool stuff on it. And Gary shows up in a bike that looks like it was dragged out of a storage locker, you know, a couple of days ago, and he does really well. So, you know.

Larry

So what is your comment on that? Is that indicative of your personality or your approach to Ultraman these days?

SPEAKER_05

Well, um I try not to take it too seriously these days. Um obviously having a fast bike is nice, but having a you know having a bike that's fair well tuned is good enough for me. Um, you know, I I keep a bike on the island, which I train, and nowadays I just go rent a bike from bikeworks um for the race, and they keep the bike in top shape, and they have great, really, really good bike. So you don't have to lug around to the airport and all that, so it just makes things easy.

Larry

Yeah, that that can be one of the biggest hassles for for the racers is getting that bike safely from A to B and back from B to A again.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, yeah.

Larry

As I said, you've in in our opening, you've done over 200 Ultra races. Uh that includes 13 times at the Western States, uh, races like the Hurt 100, I am tough 100, uh Cascade Crest. I heard that you did recently. Um so on average in non-COVID years, how many ultras were you doing in a year?

SPEAKER_05

Well, in recent years, I have started to back off on number of race I do because you do get older, you don't recover as fast. But about 10, maybe 10 years, I would probably do 10 to 12 races a year, you know, ranging from 50k to 50 mile to 100k, 100 mile.

Larry

So and so do you have any favorites in those races that you've done? Is there something that you would call it?

SPEAKER_05

Well, obviously, Western States is the the granddaddy of elder running, and and it's dear to my heart because it's it's the people I I know I hang out with. Um we sort of kind of watch the the sports group explode in in sort of uh crazy fashion last uh 15 years.

Larry

So yeah, what was it like in the in the earlier days as far as the number of people that would come out and the the way the race was set up? I'm sure it just wasn't as professional as it is today. It's more of a people meet up and they go hit the trail. Like what was that?

SPEAKER_05

Well, I wouldn't say not professional. I mean, Western states are always very, very well organized. Um, even back in the 90s, um the A station is as good as today. Um, you know, the today's problem is just there's more people and more people from everywhere. Um, back in the 90s, I would say maybe over, you know, 80% of people would be from US. We'll say maybe even half of people from California. Um nowadays, you know, it's hard to find. Um, it's very international right now. If you go attend Western states, um you know you see people coming as far as from you know Europe, Australia. I mean, they come from everywhere. So it it changed the dynamic of the race a bit, but it's different, but it's it's differing in a different way.

Larry

For for people listening, they're they're gonna be hearing the same thing that I'm hearing, and there's there's some birds in the background. Well, it's not bird. No, what is that?

SPEAKER_05

Um it's it's a it's a frog called Cokie, it's a cokie frog, it's invasive um species that originated from Costa Rica, and it was really bad in Hilo, and you kind of sort of spread to this side island, and it's really loud. You can hear they sound like birds, so yeah, yeah.

Larry

From here it sounded like a bird chirping. Okay. Um, so which of the races that you've done do you think would qualify as the toughest race you've done?

SPEAKER_05

Oh, the toughest race. I would put a hurt on top of the list. Um, the reason being is the time, they don't give you a whole lot of time to finish the five loop at 100 mile, and it's not easy. And uh, you really have to be moving to finish the event.

Larry

And you might have already led into this one a little bit uh with the western states, but which one do you feel has the best atmosphere that you go to?

SPEAKER_05

Um I like old school race, you know. Old school meaning that it's it's community oriented, uh volunteer uh driven. Um Western states is is definitely falling to that category. But there's other races like uh where's Waldo, uh Hurt. It's it's very, very um, it's those races are run by old school race directors, so like you tend to keep the the way it was, and uh you know, not so much of a of a you know um production oriented, it's just it they really focus on the event, the runners, the safety, the small things that that makes important to erase.

Larry

When you were talking about the the ways the the old school ones are like volunteer driven and and things like that, I know the Cascade Crest one that you did, in order to apply for that, you actually have to do some volunteer trail maintenance.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, most most ultra requires um have a volunteer requirement where you you need to put in like an A hour trail work, um, sort of kind of encouraging people giving back to the community. You know, you go out around a trail in your local um neighborhood. Um yeah, go find um go find the people who in charge of the trail because there are work needs to be done, and those trail doesn't maintain itself. And if you are out there, you see things, and it's nice to make a trail nice for you and for everybody else.

Larry

Yeah, that's a good great way to give back. So, how much mileage do you have in your training these days? Not very much.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I'm I'm getting slower and I can put in a mile I used to. Um so I'm very conscious of taking days off and and if I have a little issue I'll back off. So not as much as people think I do.

Larry

So and how has that changed from your from your heyday then, say 10 years ago when you were running more races?

SPEAKER_05

Um back, you know, in the days where I can go say run a 50 mile race and do another one next weekend, um, you know, uh it's it's it's different. So um I can go out, you know, run 15 mile, you know, every day and not feel beat up. Um yeah, so yeah, the age doesn't make a huge difference in the amount of volume you can do.

Larry

So and and do you personally like have a physio on retainer? Like how how do you make sure you avoid your injuries?

SPEAKER_05

No, I don't have a physio. Um just listen to your body, I guess.

unknown

Yeah.

Larry

So when you're doing these longer races and those are like your highlight race of the year, say the western states or something like that, do you then use some of these other 50 kilometer or 100 kilometer races as a training day for that? Do you work that into your own?

SPEAKER_05

Of course, yeah, yeah. Yeah, if you have a if you focus on a hundred-mile race, typically you would sign up for a bunch of races before. Um, because it's kind of difficult to do a 30-mile training, you know. If you go sign up for 50k, there's an A staging and and yeah, so most of the races I do are training for hundreds.

Larry

So right now, I know that you also have another little side passion of taking photos, and you do that at some of the races as well. Um, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into this photography thing? Like what are your interests other than race photos? What do you what do you do with your photographs?

SPEAKER_05

Um, I'm I'm I mean, I always like taking photography, you know. Um you know, I did a lot of black and white stuff when I was in school. Um the digital camera, just making um taking photo, taking landscape photo a lot easier than it used to be. You don't really have to process the film and print it. You know, you basically just download from your card and you can look on the computer and you gotta photoshop. So it's very different, but it's very easy. And uh, you know, I I travel to places I go up to the mountain, so I see things and I like to like to capture it. And uh naturally, you know, sometimes I am volunteer for races, I'll just go take a picture of the people running.

Larry

So yeah. And what is your web presence for your for your photos if people want to check them up? What where's your website?

SPEAKER_05

It's Gary Wayne at smugmug.com.

Larry

Gary Wayne.smugg.com. Yep. Okay. So we'll have some we'll have our listeners go check those out for you. Now, is this sort of a uh a side hustle for you? Like are you doing?

SPEAKER_05

Oh, I I don't make any money. No money. So I mean it's it I don't need to, and it's it's more of a kind of giving back to the community type of things I do. And you know, people like to see their photo when they run.

Larry

So yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah. I I I didn't think that you you necessarily needed a a side hustle. Um, I see that you're a highly educated man. You spent 10 years at UC Santa Barbara and earned a couple of degrees. Um, you got a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a PhD. Um, and I also saw on your LinkedIn profile that you you you were part of a program there called the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara.

SPEAKER_05

Oh yeah, that's um that's a little college in UC Santa Barbara. It's a very um it's a college for um for science and arts, but it's in a very accelerated pace for the science. For art, obviously, you you know you you do it's very open, and so you they kind of encourage people to take higher level like graduate courses when you're undergrad. So I I got my physics degree through like college. I was just able to take a lot of graduate courses when I was undergrad, so um yeah, that was good.

Larry

And and then you were exposed to different classes or different people than the than the regular body of the UC Santa Barbara through that, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, you you are encouraged to engage in research with um with faculties and stuff like that. So um, so I got involved with um doing research for a professor when I was on the grad, getting a lot of experience, which is great.

Larry

And and eventually this led to you working in another ultra field. Uh you work with ultra-fast optoelectronics.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, um, so the whole, I mean, the the technology which I was learning back then is basically the foundation that drive the growth of the internet today. All the fiber optics uh technology that was developed, you know, 30, 20 years ago. Uh it's all become commodity today, that's widely used.

Larry

Um you were kind of in the on the ground floor as they were like coming up with the fiber optic um internet and transfer of data that way and and all that. That that's that's cool to be in on that.

SPEAKER_05

Um yeah, see I see entire growth of a fiber optic industry from the your dial dialogue mode and you know to uh to today, where if you think the the data you can get a home compared 30 years ago, it's it's you know order and magnitude difference.

Larry

So yeah. And and you help bring that to us. Thank you very much. We all appreciate that. We would be wouldn't be able to do this Zoom right now. Yep. My my last question about this, and I don't know if it would be related in any way whatsoever. Um just trying to geek out on a few science questions. Um, would there be any uses for it in helping to build a quantum computer?

SPEAKER_05

Um of course. You need you need bandwidth, right? Um for information on quantum, I mean. Um, so so I I I would think so. I'm not an expert on quantum computing, um, but I I I think people need the bandwidth to be able to push the computing through.

SPEAKER_07

All right, yeah.

Larry

Um, so with all of these things that you do, um, I can't imagine that you have much more available time, but I also saw that you volunteer at the marine mammal center. Yes. Can can you tell me about that?

SPEAKER_05

Um, marine mammal center is a nonprofit um hospital for marine mammal. Um, we are based in South Ledo, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Um, so basically, people report when somebody walks on the beach to see a sea lion or seal that's injured or you know, not in very good shape, they will call our number and we will send out people to see if they need to be rescued. And if they are rescued, they will be bringing to the hospital. This is basically a marine mammal hospital, like just like any hospital, you know, they are patients. Uh so we we have fast staff that taking care of the man, the animal, and I volunteered, they there's a huge group of volunteers that basically we because it's animal husbandry, so you need to know how to handle animals and feed them and clean and do all the stuff. And uh that's what I I I volunteer my time for. Once a week, I spend a day uh in the marine mammal center just help feeding and cleaning.

Larry

That's excellent. That's that must be rewarding work for you.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I think it's it's it's you know it's I I love lotion. It's it's uh it's my way of giving giving back.

Larry

What what sorts of uh animals have you have you treated?

SPEAKER_05

Um typically we get uh elephant seal and sea lion and fur seal. Um that's the that's the marine mammal that's around the San Francisco area. Uh sometimes we get sea otters. Um Marine Mammal Center also have a facility in Kona. It's called Picayola, which is a monk seal hospital. Um they take monk seal is an endangered species. There's only about 1200 of land left in Hawaiian Island. So um they rescue uh particularly the female monk seal that's um need to be uh treated uh every year, and then they rehab land and then they release them back to the wild. So um that's a a very, very valuable contribution to uh to the recovery of a monk seal in Hawaii Islands. Yeah.

Larry

Well, um that that's that just sounds like an amazing way to to spend a a day a week. That's yeah, I I appreciate that you would do that. You know, it's it's been really great uh having you on as my guest today, Gary. Um, you know, getting to hear about some of these incredible races that you do and uh a little bit about the old Ultraman crowd, the Rat Pack. Um I I want to thank you for taking the time. And uh this will be a great uh addendum piece to my interview with Dave and Cheryl. And this interview is coming out uh just before what would have been the Ultraman World Championships this year. So I'm glad to see you made it to Hawaii anyway, and that you're gonna catch up with those friends. And uh thank you very much for being on the show. You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

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Larry Ryan

Host
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Gary Wang

Guest