Reunited Siblings Ready to Escape from Alcatraz
Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon
By Lynn DeBruin
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On July 18, 2005, Wagner, at 6-0, weighed in at 325 pounds and decided it was time to change his life.
David Wagner competing in last year's
5430 Long Course Triathlon
Photo courtesy of Mary Wagner
"I said I want to be under 220 by the time my birthday rolls around (March 31). So I figured out on the calendar I needed to average (losing) 3 pounds per week. I started working out, eating right," he said of giving up fast food, eating lean protein and working out twice a day, five or six days a week.
He also made it a goal to compete in a triathlon after seeing one on television.
"When I first started, I couldn't run a mile. But I built up from there," he said.
By June 2006, he was completing his first triathlon; then it was on to the 100-mile Lance Armstrong cancer ride and Boulder's 5430 series sprint the following summer. Last year, he entered the Ford Ironman triathlon in Arizona, finishing just under the cutoff while battling heat stroke but finishing nonetheless.
"I (keep) a picture of me on my fridge," he said of the guy with the 46-inch waist in jeans that now could cover his entire torso.
Thin air atop Gray’s Peak (14,270 feet) added to
the challenge for David Wagner, who used the
climb as part of his triathlon training
Photo by Lynn DeBruin
Now Wagner climbs 14ers and has biked up 14,000-foot Mount Evans Highway. He even went skydiving, something instructors refused to allow before because he was deemed too heavy.
"I've taken the ‘can't’ out of my life," said Wagner, a procurement specialist who hopes prospective employers also will see his drive as he tries to find new work after being let go earlier this year.
Thompson, 10 years older at age 43, says he's been "blown away" by what Wagner has been able to accomplish.
"I've always been in reasonable shape...and for me to do something like this just requires that I spend a little more time exercising," he said. "But David had a very different challenge to work through. Who knows what was going on in his head during those times, but for him to do what he's done is just plain impressive to me."