Competitor - June 2017

30

Photos: oliver baker

In the BegInnIng

This month, Competitor magazine turns 30. Things have come a long

way in those three decades—so we sat down with the creator of it all,

endurance-sports legend Bob Babbitt, to hear how it all started.

Thirty years ago this month, Competitor magazine was created in a 200-square-foot storage

shed in northern San Diego by Bob Babbitt and Lois Schwartz. In the beginning, it was a regional

publication on newsprint that covered running, cycling, triathlon and every emerging fad sport

you can imagine in Southern California in the 1980s. Babbitt was already a familiar face in

endurance sports, having competed in the second ever Ironman triathlon in 1980 and being

friendly with many star athletes. He handed out copies of his new magazine at local races in

the region every single weekend, and distributed it at Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill and at Jamba

Juice locations. In the ’90s and 2000s, Competitor expanded all over the nation—first by buying

other regional endurance-sports magazines, and later launching Competitor editions in other

parts of the country. Babbitt also expanded his duties—co-hosting the weekly Competitor Radio

show, and Breakfast with Bob during the annual Ironman World Championship, and creating

the Endurance Sports Awards and the Muddy Buddy Race Series, among many other things.

He stepped away from Competitor Group in 2014, but hasn’t slowed down one bit: He raced

40 times last year, and recently ran the Boston Marathon—dressed, as usual, in his Elvis costume.

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