Dr. Ken Bell

Today, I'm going to tell a story of the extraordinary things that the human body can do.

One of the constants of my adult life has been my friendship and professional relationship with Dr. Ken Bell.  We arrived in Maryville about the same time over 33 years ago.

Through the years we have played tennis, climbed rocks, rode bikes, hiked, been snow skiing, and done all manner of physical pursuits together.  We've driven across the country twice together, hauling bicycles to Utah and Colorado.

He and I (and a couple of others) have taken several "mancations" together, usually having something to do with mountain biking.

But today, I am in awe of Ken Bell.

For the better part of a year, Dr. Bell has been training to compete in the Ironman Triathlon in Chattanooga at the end of this month. 

In May, he competed in a half-Ironman Triathlon in Chattanooga more as a training activity than anything else.

Let me back up a bit.  In 2005, Dr. Bell finally relented and had Dr. Eric Morgan, his colleague at Maryville Orthopedic Clinic, perform a Total Hip Replacement on him.

For years, I had watched Dr. Bell agonize as he tried to straddle a bicycle or rise from bed or chair.  

When it finally started to interfere with his work as a surgeon, he got it fixed.

It was not longer afterwards that he was back on the bicycle.  Swimming always came easy for Dr. Bell (but then so did most other athletic pursuits--a story for another day) but running seemed out of the question.

One day not much later, he was participating in a sprint (shorter) triathlon and was experiencing some hip pain while walking during the running portion of the competition.  So he broke into a trot.

And he found that the hip pain went away.  He hasn't stopped since. 

Zoom forward to today.  An Ironman Triathlon is not just an ordinary race.  It is a grueling test of physical capacity.

Swim  2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a marathon (26.2 miles). Definitely not for the faint of heart and definitely not for unfit.

So at this half-Ironman in May, Dr. Bell somewhat casually (he wasn't there to win) finished third and qualified for the Half-Ironman Triathlon World Championship.

Yeah...you heard me right.  The world championship.  In Zell Am See-Kaprun, SalzburgerLand, Austria.

So on August 20th, Dr. Bell headed for Austria to compete against 44 others in the 65-69 category.  He went early to get acclimated to the venues and the weather.

Alas, a serious family medical problem forced Dr. Bell and his wife Patty to return home 2 days before the competition started.

But rising from our small community is one of the best athletes in the world and that's a pretty big deal.

Oh, and he still plans on doing that full Ironman at the end of the month.