On episode 14 of the Suffer First Podcast I interview, Rob Clarke. Rob is a Navy veteran, a marathoner, ultramarathoner, and an Ironman. I’ve known Rob for roughly 20 years, give or take a year or two. He and I met and became friends while working at, InTech, an I.T. recruiting firm and subsidiary of, Merritt Hawkins, a physician recruiting firm in Dallas, TX. We worked together there for a few years then left and went in our own directions. We stayed in the recruiting world and even worked together again at a few different companies. Rob is 44 years old, grew up in Arlington, TX and married his high school sweetheart, Charisma (who is an ultrarunner and marathoner while being a mother and L&D nurse!). They have 2 boys Gabe (14) and Liam (8). After high school Rob joined the Navy- he was interested in the Navy SEALs, but he says he was definitely not SEALs material back then - a big part of that was his fear of swimming and open water. He barely passed the Navy swim test and likened his swimming back then to a controlled drowning. Fast forward many years later- those same fears would haunt him every summer. Finally determined - he met another Ironman who inspired him to sign up for his first triathlon…. just 70 days later…. while he still could not swim and did not even own a bike! Rob’s new Ironman friend suggested that, “not being able to swim and not owning a bike were just minor details. You need to take 2 steps to prepare for becoming a triathlete - Step 1- sign up, Step 2 – work on those minor details!” He persevered and went on to finish that triathlon. Just a year later he completed a half ironman and a year after that he completed a full Ironman! For the uninitiated an Ironman is a 2.4-mile swim, 112 miles on the bike, and a 26.2-mile run. This was a dream come true! He had watched the show as a kid and it took a ton of suffering and dedication to make it happen- all while having a full-time job, being a supportive husband and father. Please welcome Rob Clarke to the Suffer First podcast.