CEOs are adding marathons to packed agendas

SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — Newmerix CEO Ed Roberto lives and breathes his job — except when he takes time out of an otherwise breakneck work schedule to train 20 hours a week for his next marathon.

With his 46th birthday looming, he plans to go beyond that 26.2-mile race, pushing his training schedule to get in shape for the gut-wrenching 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile marathon of an Ironman triathlon race.

"I need to be in a place where I can do that by the time I am 50," he said.

Roberto, whose Superior, Colo., company — located about 20 miles northwest of Denver — makes business software, is out of bed at 5 a.m. for a three- to five-mile run. After work, he hits the gym for two hours, either running on a treadmill or cross-training on weights.

In between, he is on the phone with customers, prospects, prospective employees, investors and others, along with writing e-mails and quizzing his engineering team about product development. He ends his day at 11 p.m. after spending two hours reviewing e-mails and reading work-related articles.

"I am pretty much working all the time. Work is part of my DNA. I enjoy it so, I don't even know that I think of it as work," he said.

His driven lifestyle has its drawbacks. Roberto blames the collapse of his six-year marriage partly on his addiction to 12- to 18-hour workdays.

Boulder, Colo., entrepreneur Ted Kennedy has never met Roberto, but he knows the type. He has built a business, CEO Challenges, which gives executives the kind of kid-glove treatment they're used to while taking part in endurance competitions. The culmination of Kennedy's Ironman events is the CEO Ironman Challenge World Championship, whose participants vie for the title "Fittest CEO in the World."

He takes care of everything from providing first-class accommodations close to the starting line to getting the executives customized racing uniforms, setting up meetings with top coaches, and providing social functions and dinners.

And like all individualized services, competing in Kennedy's contests doesn't come cheap. Prices can range from $3,000 to $6,000 per event, with airfare not included.