Monkeys, the bar has been raised once again. Brian Kuritzky is a 24 year old securities analyst at Goldman Sachs. Three weeks ago, he placed a seemingly impossible bet with several of his colleagues - that he could complete an Ironman Triathlon in under 16 hours, with zero training. That's straight out of the Aeron and into a back-to-back 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike race, and 26.2 mile run. On Saturday, that's exactly what he did.
It all began when two co-workers laid down a challenge to the former Cornell soccer player: finish an "Ironman" triathlon in 16 hours. For every minute over 16 hours, Kuritzky would pay his colleagues $1 each, out of his own pocket. For every minute under, the payoff was reversed and $1 per colleague would go to the Komen Foundation.Most people that compete in Ironmans undergo 6-9 months of brutal training beforehand, and 20% of them typically still do not finish. Was this a problem for Kuritzky? Hell no.Aside from some research on nutrition and a few laps in a local swimming pool, Kuritzky had done zero training for the event. With his demanding job as a securities analyst at Goldman Sachs, he had only a few hours a week to dedicate to soccer practices, with extended games on the weekends.
"I knew every minute I finished ahead of 16 hours I had 100 people or so who were going to be donating. Every minute wasted felt like a (lost) potential $1,000. If I took my time or took a break it would've been missing opportunities for money for the charity. If I were to stop when my body was telling me to, I wouldn't have finished the first bike lap."Kuritzky finished in 15 hours and 30 minutes - a full half hour under the goal time. That earned $75,000 in payouts from coworkers, including some donation matching by Goldman.
That's drive ladies and gentleman, that's balls of steel. Keep Mr. Kuritzky in mind next time you're proud of finishing that vending machine challenge.
