For first time, two execs from same city have qualified

By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News

October 11, 2007

Denver executive Rich Kylberg downplays his chances to upset Comcast Colorado's Scott Binder for the title of fittest CEO at Saturday's Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

"I'd like to buy you some onion rings and a milkshake before the race, if you're interested," Kylberg recently e-mailed. "That, an anvil chained to your ankle, and a two-hour head start might give me a fair shot at you!"

After all, Kylberg, 46, chief executive of Denver-based Communicom Broadcasting, was the last to qualify for the event, while Binder, 45, is a three-time Hawaii Ironman veteran who placed 77th in the world in the mid-1980s and was featured on Wide World of Sports.

"Don't be confused - I was 22 years old then," Binder said, when Kylberg learned this fact.

The two are facing off against 11 CEOs from around the globe as part of a series sponsored by Boulder-based CEO Challenges headed by promoter Ted Kennedy.

"This is the first time two CEOs from the same city have qualified for the CEO Ironman World Championship," Kennedy said. They also are both Colorado natives - Binder from Fort Morgan, and Kylberg from Denver.

The executives will compete against each other for the CEO title within the larger Ironman field. Binder qualified by winning a CEO Challenge Ironman at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, this summer, while Kylberg recently won a CEO half-Ironman in Singapore against mostly Asian CEOs.

Kennedy's CEO Challenges sponsors competitions in a variety of sports: triathlon, marathon, race car driving, tennis, golf, skiing and fishing. Along the way, executives network and share common interests.

"These guys are overachievers who love to set lofty goals and to achieve their goals - that's a lot of fun to them," Kennedy said. "They also know they're leading by example. Everyone in their organization is looking up to them, and if the boss can do Ironman, (employees) say, surely I can get out and walk during the lunch hour."

Binder joked that Comcast's "burly technicians" don't exactly respect a guy who shaves his legs, even if it is to gain a competitive edge. But he also has gotten plenty of e-mails of support, including one from Amy Lynch, a Comcast general manager for the ski areas west of Denver. She wished him well on his "awesome challenge."

Then she quipped: "Just think of all that time you'll have to contemplate how we are going to achieve our 2008 budget."

A busy CEO has to be an overachiever and time-management expert to train for a competition that includes a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon.

Kylberg, whose company owns and operates radio stations in Detroit, New Orleans and Phoenix, finds a lot of parallels between what happens during his business day, and triathlons.

"There's occasional moments when you celebrate accomplishments," Kylberg said, "but there's also a tremendous amount of discipline, hard work and commitment and - basically - pain, suffering, anguish and agony that's kind of behind the scenes."

Kylberg is married to charity event planner Holly Kylberg, well-known in Denver's social scene. The two don't have children, but Kylberg has to balance his training and work with some social commitments.

That's led to less socializing, he said.

"You want to come over for chips and dip and watch the Broncos game? I now want to run a half-marathon (on weekends)."

Binder also has much to balance as head of Comcast in Colorado and as a married father of three children. He typically trains for a couple of hours before work but acknowledges triathlon training is difficult "if you want to live a life with any balance in it, and still compete at a fairly high level."

While his family is active in sports, sometimes skiing together, the training "does take time away from everybody. I feel guilty about that."

For that reason, Binder races only periodically. That's also a reason he says he enjoys CEO Challenges: He's competing against people who also have a lot of time demands and expectations.

Binder said he has enjoyed getting to know some fellow CEOs such as New York lingerie magnate Charlie Komar, and their families have spent some time together.

Binder decided to compete this year partly to stay ahead of his 18-year-old daughter, who is running cross country at Pepperdine University. They challenged each other this year at the "Dip and Dash" at Cherry Creek Reservoir, a half-mile swim and 5-kilometer run. Dad won.

Kylberg may or may not need an anvil on Binder's ankle to slow him in Hawaii. Binder has been nursing a calf injury, which limited his running and caused him to seek deep-needle therapy.

Still, Kennedy considers Binder one of the three favorites to win at Hawaii based on qualifying times - along with Georg Partlic, manager of a concrete-materials company in Austria, and Tony Underwood, owner of a chain of gift and card shops in Australia.

Rich Kylberg, CEO of Communicom Broadcasting

• Business: Owns radio stations in Detroit, New Orleans and Phoenix

• Age: 46

• Qualifier: Won CEO Challenge in a half-Ironman in Singapore.

• Quote: "An anvil chained to your ankle and a two-hour head start might give me a fair shot at you!"

Scott Binder, head of Comcast Colorado

• Business: Cable TV

• Age: 45

• Qualifier: Won CEO Challenge at the Coeur d'Alene Ironman in June. Also was 77th at the Ironman World Championship in the mid-1980s.

• Quote: "Don't be confused. I was 22 years old then."

The story can be found here