Ryan Sutter's Return to Ironman

Kevin Mackinnon profiles former reality television star Ryan Sutter as he raises money for First Descents

The first time Ryan Sutter took on an Ironman, he arrived in Kona as a full-fledged celebrity as well as an Ironman rookie. Known for sweeping The Bachelorette's Trista Rehn off her feet in front of millions of television viewers, the former football star and Colorado firefighter finished the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona in 11:38, raising money along the way for the Firefighters National Trust.

Sutter is gearing up for a return to Ironman racing next month when he’ll compete at Ford Ironman Lake Placid and, once again, he’s raising money – this time for First Descents, a charity that provides adventure therapy for young adults with cancer.

Training for next month’s race has proved to be more challenging than Sutter found during his first go at the Ironman distance. In addition to his work as a firefighter for the Vail (Colorado) Fire Department, he and wife Trista have welcomed two children into their family since their days on television. Their son, Max, will be three in July, while daughter Blakesly just turned one.

“The first time around, before we had kids, we were both amazed at all the time it took for the training," Sutter remembers. “Now, with the kids around, it’s increased both our work load. She (Trista) knows how much I enjoy it and enjoy the challenge. She’s been tremendously supportive – which is what it takes. To do something like this you need the support of your significant other.”

Sutter has always been a driven and competitive athlete. After an illustrious football career at the University of Colorado he fulfilled a lifelong dream by playing a brief stint in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. While he hasn’t competed in any Ironman events since his race in Kona in 2004, Sutter has competed in several XTERRA events. “It’s easier to train for off-road races where we live,” he says.

Now he’s taken on another endurance challenge in order to raise money for First Descents as the organization celebrates its 10th anniversary. In addition to the Ironman in Lake Placid, his 10-race schedule will include, among others, the Bolder Boulder 10K (which he ran twice, once to get a time, another to enjoy the atmosphere), the Teva games (he finished second), the Firecracker 50 mile mountain bike race in Breckenridge, the XTERRA Mountain Championships, the Leadville 100, a Firefighter Challenge event in August, 24 hours of Moab and the New York City Marathon.

According to his charity website – Ryan Sutter’s 10 10 10 Challenge, “By the end of 2010 Ryan Sutter will have trained for 700 hours, traveled 8500 miles, and climbed the equivalent of Mount Everest four times. He has taken on this incredible challenge all while wearing the Team FD jersey in an effort to challenge 10,000 people to give $10 in honor of First Descents' 10th year anniversary.”


Sutter has been inspired by the young adults that the First Descents charity focuses on. Started by professional kayaker Brad Ludden a decade ago, the charity put over 600 young adults with cancer through the adventure kayaking program. There are very few cancer charities that focus on young adults, Sutter says, a demographic that hit very close to home for the 35-year-old.

“I saw the devastating effect that the disease has on young adults,” he says. “They still have to deal with life on top of cancer. These people summon this incredible strength of spirit – they dig so deep in spite of everything that’s going on in their lives. They’re confronted with this life and death issue. It inspired me to take on these big events and to try to push myself a little further and hopefully give back to the organization that inspired me by providing motivation. The point is to get out there and meet people and do what I can do to raise awareness.”

We’ll follow Sutter’s progress at Ford Ironman Lake Placid right here on Ironman.com.

To find out more about Ryan Sutter’s 10 10 10 Challenge, click here.