Bob Babbitt

The annual ESPY Awards take place today in New York City. In 2005, Challenged Athletes Foundation stars Jim MacLaren and Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah were awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYs, and I had the honor of attending the ceremony and walking the red carpet. The video profile of Jim and Emmanuel that was shown at the ceremony was directed by Lisa Lax and her twin sister Nancy Stern Winters, aka Lookalike Productions, known for many of the most memorable profiles on the NBC Ironman TV show. The presentation of their award brought the auditorium, filled with stars and legends of the sporting world, to their feet. If you watch closely, you can spot a future great friend and supporter of CAF: NBA legend Bill Walton among those who were touched by Jim and Emmanuel's story. Link to watch in comments.

The amazing Mohamed Lahna has made it to Las Vegas on his swim - bike - run from New York to Los Angeles. I caught up with Mo a few days into his journey.... find out more about this incredible athlete and why he's undertaking such a difficult endeavor....
Challenged Athletes Foundation

Ever wondered what it would be like to swim, bike, and run 3,300 miles across the United States in 50 days - with one leg. Meet Mohamed Lahna, the unstoppable young man who is doing just that. I chatted with Mo while he was resting after a day's journey.
Link below to watch.

Yesterday I had the honor of joining the amazing Jenna Nascimento for a chat on K**I News. Jenna's story of strength and persistence in overcoming extreme pain to then find para surfing and a new life is incredible.
Challenged Athletes Foundation

Local athlete set to compete with Team USA in Para Surf Jenna Nascimento was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in 2024, leading to an amputation, and she has since become an adaptive athlete, competing in para surf and running her first 5K in May 2025.

When I look at what makes an event great, it always starts with leadership and creating a family atmosphere that creates a bond between the athletes, the community, the volunteers, and the event team. What Felix, Kathrin, and their mom Alice have put together over the last few decades at Challenge Roth is magical and the blueprint for the perfect event:
300,000 enthusiastic spectators lining the course, a sold-out field, one of the best pro fields ever assembled, volunteers that are second to none, the youngest female champion in Challenge Roth history in Alanis Siffert, a defending champion in Sam Laidlow, who not only defended his title, but also made history by putting together a 7:21:04, the fastest long-distance time ever.
To be able to have our Breakfast with Bob show at the epic HOKA booth where we had 40 wonderful conversations with amazing athletes makes this past week one I will never forget.
A huge Thank You to all of our Breakfast with Bob fans who took time out of their day to come by and thank me for putting these conversations together over the past 15 years. Your kindness and support really means the world to me.
Thank you to all of you for watching our shows and thank you for your wonderful feedback and for telling others about the shows as well.
You are the absolute best!

If you haven’t had a chance yet, all of the interviews from Roth are up on our Babbittville channel and I invite you to check them out!

Photos: John Gefrom

For Championship Edition of Breakfast with Bob from the legendary Challenge Roth we had four really fun conversations with champions Alanis Siffert and Sam Laidlow, 2nd place finisher Kristian Blummenfelt, and 3rd place finisher Rico Bogen. Thank you for joining us at our rooftop studio at the HOKA expo booth. Watch all the interviews on the Babbittville channel.

Thanks to our awesome sponsors and partners: HOKA, MasterSpas, Precision Fuel & Hydration, ROKA Multisport, OUTRIGGER Kona Resort and Spa, Quintana Roo Tri, Tri Travel, TriFind, and the Challenged Athletes Foundation

Sam Laidlow successfully defended his title to become back-to-back Challenge Roth yesterday. He joined us this morning to talk about his race, including his record 7:21:04 finishing time.
Link below to watch.

Really fun conversation this morning with Kristian Blummenfelt on his race yesterday at Challenge Roth where he ran 2:29:33 to finish in 2nd place to Sam Laidlow.
Link below to watch.

Alanis Siffert had an amazing race yesterday at Challenge Roth where she took the victory and became the 2026 Challenge Roth Champion. She joined us the morning after the race to talk about her day and where she goes from here.
Link below to watch our conversation.

Just posted: Three quick finish line chats with Sam Laidlow, Kristian Blummenfelt, and Alanis Siffert after they finished 1st - Sam and Alanis, and 2nd - Kristian, at Challenge Roth. We'll chat more on Monday's Championship Edition.
Link below to watch Sam, KB, and Alanis now.

Just three fans of triathlon having a good time spectating at Challenge Roth....