Bob Babbitt

Resides: San Diego, California 

Career: Bob Babbitt co-founded Competitor Magazine back in 1987. Over the next two decades he helped to expand the reach of Competitor Magazine to 11 regions around the country and grew the monthly circulation of the publication to 500,000. More importantly, he and the Competitor brand helped to grow the popularity of the sports of running, triathlon, cycling, mountain biking and obstacle course racing. During that time he also created Competitor Radio, competitor.com, The Competitor Endurance Sports Awards Gala and The Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series. All of these properties helped to expand the reach of the Competitor brand. At its peak, the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series showcased 13 events across the country and over 27,000 participants. The event series also attracted a great sponsor list including Land Rover, Paul Mitchell, Brooks, REI, Columbia, Red Hook and many others. The series was the perfect example of integrated marketing since it was promoted solely through Competitor Magazine, Competitor Radio and competitor.com.

Babbitt is also the co-founder of The Challenged Athletes Foundation, which has raised more than $70 million dollars in its first 22 years to provide the adaptive equipment disabled athletes need to stay in the game of life through sport.

In 2008, Competitor Magazine, Competitor Radio, the Competitor Endurance Sports Awards Gala and the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series were sold to Falconhead Capital and became part of the Competitor Group, now called CGI. Babbitt stayed on with CGI after the initial sale. The property was sold again, this time in 2012 to Calera Capital.

At CGI, Babbitt was instrumental in the creation of the Training Day Video Series. This series followed star endurance athletes as they prepared for major events and was showcased on YouTube. The series started with a one-episode session with top marathoner Josh Cox, and then with three-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander (over 600,000 views of the multiple episodes) two months before he broke the Ironman World Championship course record.

On August 15, 2014, Babbitt launched the Babbitt Media Group, which includes Babbittville.com and the Babbittville YouTube Channel, as well as Babbittville Radio. Babbittville Radio proved to be a worthy successor to Competitor Radio. In less than two months it became the number one show on iTunes for amateur sports, and has now had more than 875,000 downloads.

Another successful media property created by Babbitt is the Breakfast with Bob shows that are filmed during the Ironman Triathlon World Championship week. These interviews get great viewership and create a ton of pre-event buzz leading into the event. Babbitt expanded this series to other major endurance events, including Challenge Roth, Challenge Dubai, and the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race.

Babbitt also created and hosted the Inaugural TRI-Palooza Endurance Sports Awards Expo and Gala on February 21, 2015 where the best athletes and performances from 2014 were honored.

Babbitt has authored six books on endurance sports, and his 30 Years of The Ironman Triathlon World Championship coffee table book sold out so quickly, the cost for a new copy of the book on amazon.com is now over $140.

He has been honored for his work with challenged athletes by the Paralysis Project of America. He has also been inducted into the Carlsbad 5000 Hall of Fame, the LA Marathon Hall of Fame and both the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame and the Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame.

Years Involved in Multisport: 33 years

Role with the USA Triathlon Foundation: Legacy Member of the USA Triathlon Foundation Board of Trustees