From Small-Town Kid to Everest, Equinox & IRONMAN CEO

Scott DeRue1:33

Yeah, you can run and and you demonstrated that. Uh but everything else around it uh it it was a developmental experience

Scott DeRue1:45

Where did you grow up? I grew up in uh I I consider Wahberg, North Carolina is sort of my my home and my formative years. Pretty much a one-stop like town. I think when I lived there we had,00200 people and it was an incredible childhood.

Scott DeRue2:06

For the most part, yes. Uh I mean very early on I think uh my teachers uh told my mother uh he talks too much, he doesn't pay attention. Probably some ADHD somewhere in there. Uh but um I pretty quickly uh figured out that I liked to have the success and that that feedback loop. Yeah. Uh of doing well in school and uh and so you know my my thing was always nobody's ever going to outwork me. Yeah.

Uh I I'll study hard. I'll do well in school. And uh you know my grandfather was the only other person in my family to go to college.

And uh he was sort of my role model for education. But my parents were really committed to me getting a good education. So they preached it every day of do well in school, then you can play your sports. Do well in school, then you can go hang out with your friends. Uh, and that was always a big part of my life.

Scott DeRue2:56

Uh, [clears throat] ran a small business. I was the only person in my family that ended up not working in the small business. What kind of business?

Uh, they sold upholstery fabric to furniture companies. So uh, High Point, North Carolina is near where I grew up, furniture capital of the world. And my dad had this really small upholstery business that sold fabric to the furniture companies. And my mom worked there and did his bookkeeping and administration. My brother ended up working there and I worked there in the summers loading and unloading trucks.

Scott DeRue3:27

Uh but pretty quickly discovered I wanted to do that for uh the rest of my life. And uh it was a lot of fun. Uh and I learned a lot. But uh I was looking for experiences that you know were going to get me out of Wahberg, North Carolina.

Scott DeRue4:32

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think I mean, having spent a lot of time in education now over the years, whether they're 10 years old or 30 years old or our age, uh I think the more experiential the environment is, the more we learn. And the science around education is pretty clear about that now. And so whether you have really small kids or you know if you're in adult learning in any kind of form the more you can make it experiential and the more you can connect with people's interest and your passions might be different than mine but I somehow have to connect that education to what you're passionate about

If you can do that you unlock a lot of opportunity.

Scott DeRue5:13

In high school uh football, basketball and track.

Scott DeRue5:20

I was a pole vaulter. Uh was my best and least favorite sport of all of them. Actually ended up finishing top 10 in the state of North Carolina. Uh and uh but had no formal coaching or anything. I just picked up a pole and ran down and yeah, totally.

Scott DeRue5:36

Uh and then I was a sprinter and only because we needed people to sprint.

Scott DeRue5:47

Yeah. Yeah, a little faster than me.

Scott DeRue6:03

Yeah. I I did okay in high school and then I went to college at UNC Chapel Hill.

Scott DeRue6:10

And uh the coach invited me to come out and check it out and, you know, see if I could walk on or something like that. And I got there and they were preparing for the Olympics and I was not. Uh so I quickly discarded that idea and went and found the water ski team as fast as possible cuz water ski team in North Carolina.

Scott DeRue6:30

Never.

Scott DeRue6:36

Exactly. I was like, "I can figure it out. If you guys are willing to teach, I'll figure it out." And I [clears throat] mean, we grew up on a lake when I was little. you know, playing like, you know, just knee boarding and stuff like that, but I didn't know how to water ski.

Scott DeRue6:50

Uh, back then it was, and it still is for the most part, uh, slalom trick and jump.

Scott DeRue6:55

So, slalom ski around the course, jump over the ramp, see how far you can go and hopefully land. Uh, and then trick ski, which is on this little ski that has no fence, like skating on ice, basically. Uh, and um, and so yeah, so I I mostly did a little bit of trick and a little bit of a jump. Wasn't very good, but I loved it.

Scott DeRue7:20

Yeah. I mean, just being in and around athletics. I was part of the Carolina Athletic Association. We were the student group that managed all the tickets. So, everybody wanted to be my good friend.

Uh, and especially when, you know, Duke Duke basketball was uh coming into town. But, uh, uh, we we had a blast. And I mean those four years at UNC changed my life in a really positive and profound way.

Scott DeRue7:48

Yeah. And it was it was where my grandfather went.

Okay. Uh and so my grandfather went there obviously many moons ago and he studied pharmacy and came back to our you know town where you know my mom and and uh grandparents were and uh he became the local town pharmacist and the mayor at one point.

Scott DeRue8:07

And uh so he was sort of my role model from an educa education perspective and I only really considered one school because that's where he went and thankfully they let me in and my parents were over the moon happy. My my dad grew up in Mishawaka, Indiana, and uh so he was hoping for Notre Dame. Uh but uh but yeah, UNC was always going to be the school.

Scott DeRue8:34

Yeah. No, it was it was it was a good childhood. And uh I didn't know any different.

Scott DeRue8:38

Right. And you grow up you grew up in, you know, small town. You learn hard work. You learn humility. You learn sort of pull yourself up by your bootstraps type uh type lifestyle. And most of my hometown were farmers,

Scott DeRue8:50

Tobacco farmers and and the like. And and so, you know, that's what I knew uh at that time. And and I would not ask for anything different. Uh I had great friends, great community. It wasn't always easy, but but it was it was looking back on it, it was the perfect childhood for me.

Scott DeRue9:10

Uh yes. So I started out as a biology major uh because you know smart kid from smalltown North Carolina it's doctor lawyer you know and so I I didn't know what I wanted to study and

Uh I was like well okay how how do you do this medicine thing and I took my first biology class and quickly discovered that was not going to be the path and you know my parents had this small business so I was like what's the business school all about and so then I went and studied business

And where'd you go to grad school? uh Michigan State University.

Scott DeRue9:44

But there there was there was a trip in between. So I graduated college. Still had really no clue what I wanted to do.

Scott DeRue9:51

Uh but I'd never really gotten out of the Southeast United States. We didn't travel that much.

And so I wanted a job that would help me see the world and meet new and different interesting types of people and things of that sort. So still didn't know what I wanted to do. But uh I had a professor at UNC, Ed Pringle, uh who ran Coopers & Lybrand before it was PwC. Oh,

Scott DeRue10:12

And his semi-retirement gig was teaching at UNC.

Scott DeRue10:18

And he for whatever reason, I don't I don't know why, but he took a liking in me in in me. And and

Scott DeRue10:25

And I appreciate that. and really sort of mentored me and uh he helped me uh he opened a door and he said, "Look, I can't determine the outcome, but I'll help open a door for you and you get to walk through it and choose whether or not it's going to be the path for you." And so he helped me make some connections and I ended up with a uh private equity consulting job uh in Boston working for a company called the Monitor Group and they were starting their version of Bain Capital.

So, a private equity uh investment firm inside of a large strategy consulting firm.

Scott DeRue11:01

And so I went there and uh ended up working there for almost 5 years uh both on the private equity side and the consulting side. Uh met some amazing people, had my fair share of ups and downs. Uh but then I decided to go back to graduate school.

Scott DeRue13:29

What's the worst performance review you ever had? [snorts]

Scott DeRue14:01

So

Scott DeRue14:19

Yeah.

So, I'm 21 years old when I start.

So, I'm probably 22 at this time.

And it's my first performance review I've ever had in my life. And my boss at the time, uh, very smart guy, uh, learned a ton from him. Uh, my performance review consisted of one line. Scott is not smart enough to work here.

Scott DeRue14:45

That was that was my performance review my first year. And I've never forgotten it.

Scott DeRue14:52

Because I had I had the work ethic, right? But I wasn't demonstrating to him, at least at that time, that I had the intellectual horsepower to to to be successful there. And I took it as a personal mission to prove him wrong.

Hell yeah, you did. and fortunately had some people that were good mentors there. Dana Burgess, Cheryl Jacobson, Betsy Horn, Ralph Judah. I still remember them as if it was yesterday and value their friendship still to this day. Um, they wrapped their arms around me and said, "Don't listen to that. Here's the path and helped guide me to a place where I ended up being very successful there." But I've never forgotten that performance review. Uh because it sort of struck sort of this in at the core of who I thought I was at that time.

And looking back on it, I I'm grateful for it. It's horrible feedback. Horrible.

Right. It's it's do anything with it. Right. Uh but

Scott DeRue15:51

Exactly. Exactly. Uh but uh but I'm I'm grateful for that moment because for me at the age of 22, having someone that you look up to say that to you in your in your performance review, you have a choice. That's a that's a fork in the road of how you're going to respond to that uh in that moment. And looking back on it, I'm grateful.

Scott DeRue17:16

Yeah. Help me be successful.

Scott DeRue17:18

And and what I discovered also is as soon as I found people that understood how to cultivate talent and and help people be successful, then you realize, oh, that's what good management looks like.

Scott DeRue17:31

Right. And G then gave me the confidence to then be successful. gave me the courage to step outside my comfort zone and begin to develop that knowledge and the skill that's going to enable me to be successful. But, you know, I used to tell all my students at the University of Michigan all the time, like I used to tell them that story because you're going to have folks like that in your life.

And the question is how you respond to that. You can't control that other person.

Scott DeRue17:53

Right. But you can control how you respond to it. Uh, and I've never hidden from that story and I I've I've actually become grateful for it because at that early phase of my life, it actually set me on a path that looking back uh was really good for me.

Scott DeRue18:14

Yeah.

Scott DeRue18:19

But he helped me be successful. He just didn't know it.

Scott DeRue18:23

Yeah. And I mean and you know my next four years there were incredibly successful and I had a great time and learned a ton and and had an impact and uh I have never regretted it but I don't know that that would have happened the same way if I hadn't had that moment.

Scott DeRue18:40

Yeah. PhD.

Scott DeRue18:42

So I get to the end of my tenure at the Monitor Group.

Yeah.

And I'm miserable. I'm 25ish. I had a series of failed relationships. My best friend at the time, uh he uh he and I parted ways that really like hit me at the core. Um the woman I thought at the time and that I was going to spend the rest of my life with just a series of failed relationships.

Scott DeRue19:14

Come to find out, but when you're 25,

Scott DeRue19:16

And the job itself was, for me at least, completely void of any sense of purpose.

Scott DeRue19:28

And so this combination of failed relationships and void of purpose put me at a crossroads where I ended up taking about a month off of work. And Monitor was at the and now Monitor is owned by Deloitte. Deloitte bought them.

And uh they were very good to me. They they said, "Look, take a month off, you know, if you need to sort of go discover who you want to be, go discover that."

Scott DeRue19:53

And so I did interviewed people that were that I looked up to that I thought could be role models or were role models and trying to understand how they made choices about who they were going to be in life basically. And I didn't growing up didn't really have exposure to what all was possible.

Scott DeRue20:10

Right. And so I I took that month off and and really sort of went on a path of self-discovery a bit and and I said,"I don't want to live on other people's terms. I want to live on my terms

And I want to define my own path and what success means for me." And the turning point was when I realized the thing that fueled me, the thing that inspired me was creating experiences for people that were transformational, that just like that experience I'd had in college that took, you know, kid from smalltown North Carolina and exposed him to to people and ideas and cultures that you didn't even know were possible.

Scott DeRue20:55

I wanted to create that experience for other people.

Yeah. And that became my northstar. Still is to to this day. That became my northstar. And so the thing I knew at the time because that was the personal experience I'd had was education. And so I was like, okay, well, if I take I'm really passionate about business. I love what I'm learning over here and what we're doing. And this education thing can change people's lives because it changed mine.

Scott DeRue21:19

If you put them together, business school professor sounds like a pretty good gig.

Scott DeRue21:23

How do you do that? So I interviewed business school professors. I learned that you needed a PhD

Scott DeRue21:32

Some experience.

Scott DeRue21:38

Yeah. It was basically an extension of business school.

Scott DeRue21:42

And I went and I said, "Okay, I want to study the people side of business. I understand this finance thing. I understand this strategy thing. I'm really curious about how people work." Yeah. Like the psychology behind it all. And so I asked a bunch of business school professors, if you want to study the the psychology of organizations and the people side of business, where do you go? Probably eight out of 10 of them, Michigan State, one of the best PhD programs in the world. These are the professors you want to work with.

I was like, sounds good. Let me move to East Lansing.

Scott DeRue22:20

The [clears throat] masters would be the parting gift if you flunked out.

Scott DeRue22:27

Three and a half years.

Scott DeRue22:29

It's usually a four to five year program. Y

Uh but the University of Michigan uh professor job opened up and that was one of my dream jobs. So I went to my advisor uh John Hollandbeck who is still one of my dear friends to this day and I said, "John, I want that job. How do we speed this PhD thing up so I can go get that job?"

Scott DeRue23:04

Academics like to do things a little slow sometimes,

Scott DeRue23:07

So most academic jobs are announced and open in like the July in the summer.

Scott DeRue23:14

Uh but then they're not filled until the early part of the next year.

Okay. Uh so the process drags out.

Scott DeRue23:31

Absolutely.

Scott DeRue23:51

You ever had the experience when you look at something, you're like, that's meant for me.

Scott DeRue23:56

That was my experience with this Michigan job.

Scott DeRue24:00

If if I had written the job description, that's what it was. And you know, you go in confident, but you also know that this is a long shot.

Scott DeRue24:14

And my backup plan was if I don't get it, then I'll just go back to school and finish on my normal schedule and

I'll try again next year. But that job's not going to be available next year.

Scott DeRue24:33

So yes. So it's every professor job is specified by the school and at the level. So this was an assistant professor, brand new, brand new professor.

Scott DeRue24:42

Uh and they at the time uh were looking for someone who studied leadership.

Scott DeRue24:49

And that was me.

Scott DeRue24:51

And and so it was a perfect fit for uh what I wanted to research and write about, what I wanted to teach. Uh and the University of Michigan, the business school, that's a top 10 program globally. The management department there is certainly one of the best in the world. And like heroes on the faculty,

Uh like the people that you read about and when you're an academic and in that world, like these are gods.

Scott DeRue25:18

And [clears throat] just to have the opportunity to potentially work there was something that I did not take for granted. Uh and so yeah, it was it was a brand new assistant professor job. The topics that they were curious about were the same topics that I was curious about. Uh and it ended up working out and uh I had an amazing 14 years uh at the University of Michigan. Woke up nine years to the day I started as dean of the school. uh and those 14 years that I spent at the university uh were years that I will forever be grateful for.

Scott DeRue26:40

It it is, and I and I'm incredibly grateful for it and appreciative of everyone who helped me along the way. uh because anything you do in life it's there's often people around you that are supporting you along the way and this is no different. Uh so I started there in the summer of uh 2007 and pretty quickly went from assistant professor to full professor.

Scott DeRue27:08

I did it in five to six years.

Scott DeRue27:20

Yeah. So the in in professor world, you would go assistant, associate, full, and chaired.

Scott DeRue27:26

That's the I ended up having an offer to go to Harvard Business School for a promotion. Michigan uh said, "Why don't you stay here, skip the associate rank, and we'll make you full professor." Oh, so the Harvard offer kind of triggered this like, "No, no, no. We we want you to stay." Exactly. Oh, so you must have been kicking ass. And if Harvard wants you and Michigan's like, "Screw all this." Like, "You're the full professor." That's awesome.

Yeah. I was I was moving pretty quickly.

Scott DeRue28:12

Yeah. You're on you're on a mission, right? And and and

Everybody finds whatever that thing is that fuels them. Like if you get to that point, you're fueled by something and what fuels you could be different than what fuels me, but you're fueled by something. And for me it was creating these experiences that were transformational for our students. Like that was the thing for me.

Scott DeRue28:44

I I'll give you an example. Um I took 30 undergraduates to Africa and we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro together. The way we designed that experience, those 30 students will never forget that moment.

Scott DeRue29:02

And what they realized is a life lesson that you know now, I know now, but at the time they didn't. And the life lesson they learn is learned is that they are all stronger than they thought they were.

Yeah. Whether you're in a classroom, whether you're on a mountain in Africa or anywhere in between, I always viewed our job as educators to create the environment to create that experience to help you discover that.

Yeah, I got you. And yes, you want to develop the you want to learn the knowledge and the skills that are going to help you, you know, be successful in business or whatever the the domain is. But I always believe that one of the main sort of elements of of education is to help people discover that they're stronger than they thought, that they have more potential than they thought, and to open up their eyes to sort of possibilities. And and we were able to do that whether it was a classroom or outside the classroom.

Uh but uh but yeah so I brand new assistant professor started moved up pretty quickly uh the offer from Harvard didn't didn't hurt uh and so I became full professor in whatever it was five or six years uh then I became chair professor a year later uh you were asking for perspective that's about twice as fast as you would normally uh do all of that uh and then our dean at the time asked me if I wanted to actually it was in response to another offer I had an offer from Pepsi uh to go be their chief learning officer.

Interesting.

And it was the first offer I had outside of academia that really piqued my interest because it was still in learning. It was still education. Uh but it was for hundreds of thousands of people.

Scott DeRue31:01

So, in my early 20s, money was the primary motivator. When I made that shift at the age of 25 or whatever that was,

It became, it's not that it's unimportant.

Scott DeRue31:12

Uh, everybody wants to be paid for fairly equitably for what they do. Yeah.

But it no longer became the primary motivator. Uh, but to be fair, business school professors are paid extraordinarily well.

Scott DeRue31:25

Oh, okay.

Scott DeRue31:30

Sometimes you might be surprised.

Scott DeRue31:32

Yeah. Because you can do things outside of the school. Uh and I always described academia as you're an intellectual entrepreneur.

Scott DeRue31:39

And if you know companies want to pay you for your services, then you can get paid reasonably well.

Scott DeRue31:45

Uh and so I was doing just fine. Uh

Scott DeRue31:58

When I when I called my parents to tell them that I was leaving this well- paid job in Boston at the time

To go back to graduate school and make nothing. Yeah.

Right. While you're in graduate school to be a business school professor, my father Yeah. uh who didn't go to college, didn't know, you know, uh anything about this world. He said the exact same thing. Are you crazy? You're going to give up all of that to go be a teacher? And I was like, "No, no, just trust me." Like, I've done my homework here. Uh but no, business school professors make a great living,

Scott DeRue32:41

For sure. But but that was actually I'll tell you a story. So, I was working at Monitor. I was probably 23, 24. And this was one of the turning points that led me to start questioning sort of the path I was on. I walked into uh the men's restroom at the office headquarters and next to me on either side was two of the founders of the company. So, they are absolutely making and even at this time, this is late, you know, early 2000s.

Scott DeRue33:13

They're making tens of millions of dollars a year, right? I don't know how much, but they're making a lot.

And I'll never forget the conversation they had.

One of them says to the other one, "How is the empire building coming?"

Scott DeRue33:25

And the other one says, "It sucks." And he goes on to describe how someone else at one of the other consulting firms made more money than him. And I left the restroom thinking, "These people are insane."

Scott DeRue33:41

And it taught me an important lesson that still to this day, I think social comparison is the root of much evil.

Scott DeRue33:50

And when you're not living life on your own terms, but you're constantly comparing yourself to others, there's always someone with a bigger house, a fancier car, a bigger boat, you know, whatever the case may be. And so that social comparison to me is the root of unhappiness or or evil in in in many people's people's lives. And I decided that's not going to be me,

Scott DeRue34:16

You know, you want to be fairly paid. You want to, you know, depending on how important money is to you, you want to work in environments that pay you well enough. Uh, and that's always been the case for me, but it's never been the primary motivator.

Scott DeRue35:02

It was I loved every minute of it and and so you know I had this really incredible run as a professor. Loved researching and writing and teaching. Uh, and then this offer from Pepsi came along. And our dean at the time, you know, to her credit, really sat me down and said, "Look, you can go do that and you can always come back. Like, that's fine. Uh, but if that's what you're really interested in, why don't we create a role for you here where you can do the exact same thing?"

I love how creative they are.

Scott DeRue35:33

and and so she made me associate dean and she gave me responsibility for all of our executive programs including all of our executive education, all of our corporate learning. So we had 75 to 100 companies around the world that we were working with uh in every country you could imagine. And so I started traveling the world basically running this professional services business inside of the business school uh and getting to teach and work in all these companies and I was learning a ton had an amazing time.

So I did that for a couple years and then um uh she decided to move on as dean and one of my senior colleagues uh was tapped to be on the search committee for the next dean and he walked into my office uh Krishnan uh is his name.

Scott DeRue36:30

No.

Scott DeRue36:31

Uh no.

Scott DeRue36:33

No. Actually, one of my good friends uh who I grew up with in academia um reminds me uh quite often that of a time where we were sitting in a faculty meeting and I leaned over to him and I said, "Please do not ever let me become a dean." And and so Ms. Krishnan, who was on the search committee, senior faculty at Michigan, walked into my office one day and he said, he closed the door and he said, "Hey, what would you think about putting your name in the hat for the dean uh dean role?" And I was like, "Get out of my office." Like, I mean, I was 30 at that time.

Probably 38.

Scott DeRue37:15

Certainly in [snorts] their 40s, if not 50s. I mean, this is usually the last job you take, not not the early one.

And I was like, Krishnan, get out of my office.

Scott DeRue37:23

You know, a week goes by, he comes back.

And he's like, no, no, no, seriously. So, I ended up putting my name in the hat. Then the process worked out and and I became dean at

Scott DeRue37:35

I was excited, nervous um and mostly nervous about how the world was going to react.

Scott DeRue37:44

So I was when I was announced I was 39 years old and by far that would be the youngest dean uh of a top business school.

So awesome. And you're both a little bit nervous about how the world is going to react. You're also a little nervous about how internally people are going to react. Now, everybody for the most part knew that I was in the process because you interview with a lot of people.

Uh but um I grew up there.

Scott DeRue38:10

Right. I mean these my senior colleagues, they raised me. Yeah. in many ways. And and I I'll never forget one of my dear friends uh and colleagues at Michigan, you know, she she told me, she said, "Look, yes, you know, my language, you were raised here, but people trust you, right? They they trust your motives. You're authentic around sort of the mission and the purpose why why you want to do this. And we all have you have your back. like we want you to be successful because when you're successful as dean that means we collectively are successful.

Scott DeRue38:53

And I'm sure not everybody did but enough did and I'm really grateful because you know I ended up serving uh one term as dean. I'd signed my uh uh second term and that's when Equinox uh came calling. Uh but um we were what we were able to to achieve together uh at Michigan is something that I'm really proud of uh for our students, for our faculty, for the staff that work there. Uh and um and I had a blast. Uh I loved creating an environment where other people could be successful within education because it took the reach that I would have in my class of you know 60 students in every class or whatnot and now it's thousands of students over many years that you are now either directly or indirectly part of their journey part of their story part of their life and all coming back to this north star for me of I just want to inspire people.

Yeah. I want to create a platform where people can uh to where they can grow, where they can develop and transform themselves to be a better person, a better professional. And now you're creating this platform where everyone can do that if they choose. Uh that was pretty special.

Scott DeRue40:21

I appreciate that. There there are plenty of vices, but uh but the the sense of mission behind it is is certainly genuine.

Scott DeRue41:25

Yeah. So, mountaineering for me started uh I was finishing graduate school. I'd always been outdoorsy and you know, whatnot, but uh but for me, you know, it was classic American sports, right? And uh though I don't know if pole vaulting is classic but uh uh but you get my point. And and so um I was finishing graduate school and growing up we didn't travel that much and so I wanted to treat myself. I'd gotten a Michigan job and I knew I was going to finish my PhD on time and so I wanted to treat myself.

I felt like I had earned it.

Yeah. And because we grew up not traveling that much, uh I took a world map and I basically just picked a spot and uh it was Africa. I'd never been. I'd heard amazing things. And so I Googled or probably at the time it was Yahoo or something like that. What do people do in Africa?

And two things popped up. Safari and Kilimanjaro.

Scott DeRue42:24

So I was like, "All right, I'll do that."

Yeah. And so I uh went to Africa and uh climbed Kilimanjaro and I loved it. Had no idea what I was doing, but I loved it. And

And uh I came back and I called uh Alpine Sense uh which is one of the leading big mountain guide companies in the world

Based out of Seattle. and uh Todd Berles, the founder, and Gordon uh who helped run the business, they took the time to talk with me about mountaineering

And about all these places in the world that you could experience and go see and and uh and I was hooked. And so I was like, "Okay, how do I do this?" And so they in uh had me come out to the Cascades in Washington. I spent a couple of weeks in their school learning winter survival skills, climbing skills, etc. And then about once or twice a year, I would call Todd or Gordon and say, "All right, I want to go climb another one."

Scott DeRue43:26

And they would say, "Well, based on, you know, this or that and your prior experience, you should do this one." And as my lovely bride, uh, Kathy says, "If you keep climbing, they just keep getting bigger."

That's true. And I never I never started with a goal that I'm going to climb Mount Everest or I'm going to climb the seven summits or anything of that sort.

Ultimately, it was about wanting to uh see the world in ways that I could have never dreamt of seeing and this love of nature and this love of being outdoors combined with doing hard things and this sense of challenge fuels me. I'm not going to be the fastest. I'm not necessarily gonna be the strongest. Uh, but I love putting myself in that environment where I'm gonna face this challenge that I'm confident, but I'm not sure that it's going to that I'm going to be successful and embracing that sort of uncertainty and the pain that comes with that sense of challenge.

Uh and putting myself in that environment because that's where I feel like I grow and and uh and evolve the most both on a human level but also just from a skill perspective whether it's at work or on the side of a mountain and so mountaineering for me became that thing uh where I could be in nature I could be part of a group and I could challenge myself in a way that I wasn't going to get in business.

Yeah.

And and that became the thing. So then I started climbing and they kept getting bigger and bigger and uh and it's you know been a journey of of exploration and adventure and and love and and and I've had the good fortune of being able to climb, you know, many of the tallest mountains around the world and and come home to to tell about it.

Scott DeRue45:25

Everybody says the goal is to get to the top. No, it's not. The goal is to get back down.

Scott DeRue46:21

So the the biggest summits I mean Everest would be the tallest but uh

Scott DeRue46:30

So, I've done all seven of the seven summits.

Scott DeRue46:44

I don't love the cold either. Uh, but you actually you you learn [clears throat] to deal with it. You I mean, the the gear today, the the technology behind it is pretty remarkable. I mean, if you look back into the the 50s and 60s and 70s and what these people were climbing with, It it's incredible, right? I mean, we're very privileged today to be uh to be climbing with the technology that we have access to. Uh but I don't love the cold either. Uh and so my goal is to not get cold.

Yeah.

Right. Even in the coldest environments, Antarctica, it's -40. My goal is to not be cold. Yeah. Right. Uh but but no, so I started out Kilimanjaro. Uh went down to South America, climbed in South America a bit, uh including Aconcagua. uh went um uh to Alaska, climbed to Denali. Uh and from there I went to Everest. Uh and once I climbed Everest, um I was like, well, the seven summits thing is kind of an interesting goal.

Yeah. Uh, and so at that time I and I'd met some people that had done it and they were telling me about the the magic of Antarctica and it's I mean you feel like you're on an entirely different planet.

Um, and in Papua in the South Pacific, it's one of the most remote uh parts of the world. Yeah.

Uh, and you won't even see other humans for for much of the the trip. Uh and and so I' had heard all these stories and I was like I want to experience that.

Scott DeRue48:22

And so I just kept climbing and and I love it. So yeah, so uh as of 2025 I uh finished the seven summits. There was the one in South the South Pacific had been off limits since 2018 or 19.

Yeah, I remember you telling me about that. Uh they unfortunately had some pretty um uh significant civil war uh in the country and it was unsafe uh to get there. I'm not sure it was safe to even be there

Uh last year because we showed up at uh the mountain and there were, you know, military folks with machine guns.

Scott DeRue48:58

Exactly. Uh but uh yeah, no, it's it's been incredible and I've met some amazing people and and had good fortune, but yeah, I mean, some mountains you have to turn around on and it's not going to be your day. I remember uh good friend of mine, Garrett Madison, uh and Garrett's arguably the best big mountain guide in the world. uh he and I with a small group were on a more technical route of Rainier uh up in Washington

And we were I don't we couldn't see it maybe 500 ft from the summit and Garrett at that time had probably climbed a nearer 250 times.

Scott DeRue49:32

And he looked at me and he said, "I'm pretty confident that I can get us to the top, but I don't know if I can get us back down." I was like, "That's good. I'm good.

Scott DeRue49:42

We can go down now." Yeah.

Uh but um but no, I mean we've had some uh some remarkable experiences, mostly good, some, you know, scary moments, some challenging moments, and uh you know, if you're going to put yourself in those high-risk environments, uh you know, inevitably something's going to happen at some point. Um but the question is, how do you respond to it?

Scott DeRue50:02

Everest was difficult, not simply because it's the tallest, but you're there for two months.

Yeah. And it's it can get pretty monotonous and you go from zero to 100 like that in that you're off and now you're on and you've got to be laser focused. Uh and it can be pretty dangerous.

Scott DeRue50:32

Yeah,

Scott DeRue50:58

That's right. That's right.

Scott DeRue51:00

Yeah. That happened. So I was there in 2013 and then in 2014 there was an avalanche that came off of the Khumbu uh that unfortunately took a number of people's lives.

And then it was the year after that must have been 2015 uh if I if I get it right.

Scott DeRue51:22

When the um earthquake came through and Garrett, my good friend, and a number of my other friends were there.

Oh wow. and um had members of their group unfortunately pass away and some of the um local uh sherpa community that I climbed with when I was there in 13 uh passed away both in 14 and 15.

Um yeah, it's heartbreaking and some of the towns that you you walk through and get to know the because you basically stay in people's houses

And so you get to know these folks and their entire towns were washed away or and it was

It was it was tragic. Uh but you know in those moments you learn a lot about resiliency and how resilient the human spirit is.

And I still uh to this day keep in touch with some of the uh the Sherpa folk that uh that I met who are in Nepal and and live in these really small communities and um they're to me they're inspiring.

Scott DeRue52:27

Yeah. In 2013, there were 27 ladders. Uh I I remember it like it was yesterday. Uh 27 ladders that you had. And what they don't tell you about Everest is you actually climb it three times. You just don't go to the top the first two. Yep.

And so the first rotation up the mountain, you go about halfway, then you come back down. Second time up, you go, you know, 2/3, 3/4 up, and then come back down.

Scott DeRue53:02

Every time you go, it gets easier, though.

Scott DeRue53:04

So, I I'll give you uh So, the first time we went up from base camp to camp 1.

Scott DeRue53:10

Took us about seven or eight hours.

Scott DeRue53:14

The third time we went up from base camp, we skipped camp one. Yeah. and went straight to camp 2 in about 7 hours.

Scott DeRue53:24

So, you're getting fit and much more skilled at going through the ice.

Scott DeRue53:30

And so, it gets easier. Okay?

It's not easy, but it gets easier.

And so, for me and our team, we had 12, we started with 12 climbers, four guides. Uh, and one of the climbers uh went home pretty early. He was the bad apple of the group. Uh

Scott DeRue53:54

He was he was the bad apple of the group. Uh and once he left, uh everything worked out. But uh we we were able to move pretty efficiently up the mountain and fortunately with folks like Garrett and Ben Jones and Lock Perita, like we had the best team in the business.

Scott DeRue54:10

And uh and it it was an incredible experience. But you get up there and I I have this uh this video from the GoPro on my helmet.

Scott DeRue54:19

Um and so you asked about the Khumbu. So there's 27 ladders. Some of them are vertical. Some of them are, you know, at this angle. Some of them, you know, horizontal and you have to walk across them. You've seen them in the movies or with docks or whatnot.

Scott DeRue54:37

Yeah. Exactly. And so I I I have this this image of walking across the biggest crevasse that year at least and imagine going to Home Depot and buying the cheapest ladder you could buy, but buying two or three of them and then taking some twine and tying them together and then throwing them across a crevasse that when you look down in it has no bottom. It's just black abyss. I have this image of the GoPro and I'm looking down at the ladder and it captured the image of the crevasse when I got home and first saw that picture.

Scott DeRue55:20

I don't remember it.

Scott DeRue55:22

I don't remember that crevasse. What I remember and what I dreamed about for weeks, maybe months following the expedition is every rung of the ladder.

Yeah. And so like I could tell you exactly what the ladder looked like,

But I never really saw the crevasse. It's

Scott DeRue55:40

Exactly. Exactly. And you know that's that's how you have to operate up there. Otherwise things go sideways real fast.

Scott DeRue55:47

I'm here. The top of Everest for me was one of the most antilimatic experiences of my life.

The reason is and I so I have uh a video of it because it was a GoPro. Uh my teammate and I are you know you know high-fiving and hugging and he's like we did it. We did it. We're here. And I say no we didn't. We're only halfway there.

Scott DeRue56:20

Right. And so you still have to get back down. And so yes, you want to celebrate that moment. You want to cherish that moment. It's one that for most people they never get to experience. And even for those like myself that do, you're only going to go once. Yeah. Right. And so, and that was my deal with my wife is make it to the top, that's your once, right? Got to come home.

Scott DeRue56:38

And I thought that was fair. And so, uh, but for me it was antilimatic because we still had to get down.

Scott DeRue56:45

For us? It was I mean I I can show you.

Scott DeRue56:49

Uh, it's it's not big,

Right? It's certainly not big for 15 or 20 people standing up there.

The pictures that you see with the long lines and all of that. Uh that does happen on occasion.

Uh it was not the case uh when I was there. Yeah.

Uh when that happens, it's because the weather window is short. Yeah.

And then everybody goes at the same time.

If the weather wi window extends out,

Uh you can manage it where you're not in these big traffic jams.

Yeah. And fortunately for our year and because of our guides being very very smart about when we went and there was almost nobody there except for our group but even for you know we had at that time

We had nine climbers get to the top out of our original 12 plus the guides and the sherpa who were with us

And so I don't know you're probably 20 25 people up there

Scott DeRue57:44

Is pretty tight.

Scott DeRue57:45

And the rope doesn't go all the way to the top. So you're completely unclipped when you're at the summit.

Scott DeRue57:57

Goodbye. Goodbye. And so you got to be really careful.

Scott DeRue58:06

I'm not going to jump [clears throat] around. I'm sure people do, but that's not me." Uh we're going to celebrate and uh and cherish that moment, and then we're going to get organized to get back down.

Scott DeRue58:22

Cool. Cool and focused. Like never too emotional, never too high, never too low, and very focused. Uh that transcends most things in life, I think. And most accidents happen on the way down, not on the way up.

Scott DeRue58:34

How am I going to get down?" Going in mountaineering, climbing down is by far more technically challenging than going up.

Scott DeRue58:47

And so physically it's hard going up.

Scott DeRue58:51

But for folks like you and me, you focus, you're fit.

Scott DeRue58:56

You can do that.

Scott DeRue58:58

Coming down requires technical skill that going up does not.

And every step matters. And so the level of focus and attention that is required when you're coming down a big technical mountain like that is extreme.

Yeah.

And that's when bad things are going to happen. And so I I still remember one of my tent mates uh he's unfortunately passed away now, but his his name uh was Martin. And we were coming down uh around camp 3, which is the Lozy face.

Yep. And so you come down uh camp 4 and you come around the corner uh the yellow band and you're coming down the Lhotse Face and it's all just ice. Yeah.

And it's very vertical.

And he made a decision that morning to wear liner gloves, like really light liner gloves cuz it also gets hot up there

Scott DeRue59:55

Like the big the big like heavy duty gloves. And [snorts] if things go perfectly, that decision is fine.

Scott DeRue1:00:04

Okay. Because it gets hot up there, so your hands like, you know, he didn't want him to get sweaty or whatever.

Scott DeRue1:00:13

He could. Yeah, of course.

So we're coming down the Lhotse Face and he's in front of me as close as you are to me.

Yeah. and we're going down step by step really carefully and he slips and he immediately like fell on his backside and started slipping. So your natural reaction at that time is to grab the rope.

Scott DeRue1:00:36

Which he did. Well, if you grab the rope and you have light liner gloves on, the rope burns through your gloves and your hand.

Scott DeRue1:00:43

And so then your natural reaction is this.

Scott DeRue1:00:46

Which he did.

Scott DeRue1:00:47

And so then he shot down the mountain, took out a couple other people. And I'm watching my friend

Scott DeRue1:00:54

I'm watching my friend fall down the Lhotse Face on Everest and I still can hear it. So the rope is anchored every so often.

Scott DeRue1:01:04

And now a group of them hit that anchor and fortunately it holds.

Scott DeRue1:01:11

And fortunately despite all of the sharp crampons, ice axes, everything flying around, nobody gets injured.

Scott DeRue1:01:19

It's incredible. So then we collect ourselves, get down to them, make sure everybody's okay.

Scott DeRue1:01:32

It's it's just your natural reaction, right? And then once you have speed, there's no way you're you're you're grabbing a hold.

And so we get down, get everybody everybody's okay, fortunately. Get going back

Scott DeRue1:01:46

Minus his hands. We get back going down the Lhotse Face and it's not 15 minutes later and Martin, this was the last of his seven summits was climbing Everest and he wanted to climb Everest with the crampons that he had used on his first mountain many years ago. So they were old. Okay.

A crampon falls off and and so, you know, it's we were able to go and get it and put it back onto him.

But it just goes to show you that these little decisions in these in in these extreme environments, and this is true whether it's mountaineering or business or anything else, but often times these little decisions add up.

Yeah. and they can add up real fast when things go sideways

And and so, you know, fortunately we were able to get his crampon back on and get back down to safety and and all of that. But I'll never forget those moments because it taught me a lot about how groups work, about the importance of making the right decisions at each step. Uh even if those decisions seem small and you're never going to be perfect at it. uh but having that sort of level of focus uh on a daily basis uh and and approaching every one of these decisions with that that intentionality uh is something that I I took away.

Scott DeRue1:03:24

Yeah. No, he's he's he's he was a he was a really good guy and unfortunately passed away uh in a skiing accident uh way way too young, but somebody that was a good good friend of mine.

Scott DeRue1:03:41

So, uh CO had uh Yes. So,

Scott DeRue1:03:58

Yeah. So Steve um Harvey Spivac, Jeff Blau. So uh the backstory is I was on the board of Equinox for a number of years uh while I was at Michigan

And had gotten to know uh the brand, the team, the company, and the ownership group. uh and really admired uh everybody involved uh and thought it was and and still to this day think it is one of the coolest uh uh lifestyle brands uh that that we have. But the thing that really connected uh for me is that same northstar purpose that led me to education. I want to create experiences that inspire people that help people be better and transform themselves in a positive way. health and fitness equinox is that

Right it's just a different vehicle it's not education but it's the same northstar at least for me

So uh the pandemic kicks off in March of 2020

Y

Uh all of the clubs globally close uh and uh at that point the business goes from being one of the fastest growing most successful businesses in the country if not the world uh to uh being in crisis mode.

Scott DeRue1:05:19

And uh the the board and in particular Harvey and Steve and Jeff uh were asked if I would uh come on full-time and be part of the team that led through COVID and ultimately the rebuild. And that was our mandate is how do we survive the pandemic? And at that time nobody knew is this going to be another month or two or is this going to be another 12 months. Nobody knew. Yeah.

Uh, and so

Scott DeRue1:05:59

It's crazy. I was I was the dean. I had signed my uh So, at Michigan, you have five-year terms.

Scott DeRue1:06:06

So, I had completed term one and I had signed for my second term. and Harvey and and and Steve and and Jeff uh uh came and asked me if I'd be interested in doing this. And I had not only signed my second term, I had lifetime jobs career at Michigan. Could not be fired.

Scott DeRue1:06:24

Yeah. Had tenure. Could not be fired.

Scott DeRue1:06:27

I had banked two years of time off at full pay at Michigan, which my wife reminds me of often. And here's the equinox on the verge of collapse in many ways. Uh and who knows or who knew at the time how it was going to play out.

Uh vaccines didn't exist. Uh remember the variants Delta and Omicron and all that. None of that had happened.

Scott DeRue1:06:57

Right. most of the clubs had closed and they were be they were reopening and so most of them had reopened and that's when I I joined and so it was early 2021 so maybe a year after the uh the initial onset of the pandemic uh but the company we were really struggling

Scott DeRue1:07:24

Yeah a lot of people stopped paying cuz you didn't You didn't have the service.

Scott DeRue1:07:29

And uh even once we reopened the clubs uh people weren't coming back.

Scott DeRue1:07:34

Right. So you've got a nice home gym. Yeah. People built home gyms, right? You had the Peloton effect uh everybody bought a Peloton everybody. Right.

And uh I mean Peloton at the time I think was worth $60 billion and you can look it up now. It's not worth 60 billion anymore.

But um but you know nobody knew if people were going to come back. Yeah.

And so I I left Michigan. Uh Kathy and I packed up the car and the the dogs and the cats and drove to Manhattan. Nobody was in the city.

Scott DeRue1:08:11

But nobody was there.

Like everybody had left. Uh we'd walk on the High Line at night by ourselves.

Scott DeRue1:08:18

And so everybody was leaving the city. We were we were the only ones coming in.

What a crazy time in history. It's it's something that people will write write stories [clears throat] about for many many years to come. Uh but um but for me it was I I believed in the brand. I believed in the team and I believed in the ownership group. And the question was I I was confident we could get through the survival phase and if we could do that we could rebuild and and that's what we did. And so it took us about two and a half years, but we were able to rebuild uh the company back to pre- pandemic performance.

Uh and it's something that uh I learned a ton, but really proud of the team and um and uh is is an experience that I'll forever be grateful for.

Scott DeRue1:10:44

Yeah. So, so I go to Equinox, we we get through the pandemic and we rebuild the company and there's obviously a lot of twist and turns uh in those few years. Uh but I learned a ton and I was still fueled and motivated by this northstar of wanting to create experiences that inspire people.

Yeah. and the IRONMAN Group, the CEO at the time, Andrew Mesik,

Scott DeRue1:11:16

Yeah, super nice guy. So, Andrew, um, he and I didn't know each other. We now, um, know each other quite well. Uh, but at the time I didn't know him and he had decided to step down and retire. uh he'd been there for 12 years uh as CEO and the ownership group um was uh going through the search process to hire his successor and they called and asked if I would be interested and at the time I didn't know that much about the company. I knew the IRONMAN brand

But I didn't know the company. Uh and the company to put it in perspective for folks were the largest organizer of participation sports. So triathlon obviously is a big part of our business with IRONMAN in 70.3, but across road running, we just had the uh I believe it's the largest road running race in the world down in Sydney this past weekend with 90,000 runners.

Scott DeRue1:12:11

Uh city to surf starts in the city, ends at Bondi.

Scott DeRue1:12:17

Yeah.

Scott DeRue1:12:20

It's 14K. It's not that long of a race.

I know. And so you got people starting, you know, or finishing while people are starting over here. But our team, it's an engineering feat what they're able to pull off.

Scott DeRue1:12:43

Yeah. But I didn't know much about the company. And so I didn't know that it had all these other brands, all these other sports. But the more I learned, the more interested and and curious I became. And then what I discovered is exactly what you uh were talking about is this isn't simply uh an event or a race. It's a way of life. And that for me connected back to Equinox. Equinox health fitness. But for many people, whether it's their way of life, whether it's the status symbol that they're after, the community that they're the passion about being a part of um I learned a lot about cultivating that community, creating that sort of lifestyle.

And I felt like a lot of the lessons that I'd learned at Equinox could be applied to the IRONMAN Group. What most people don't know is just like Equinox for the IRONMAN group 2020 almost no events.

Yep.

2021 most of the events did not happen. In 2022, you start holding uh the events again uh at scale uh but you're still feeling the effects of coming out of the pandemic. So, I knew what we had done uh at Equinox and I felt like a similar playbook could work at the IRONMAN Group. And but most importantly, you have a brand and a community that is among the most powerful in the world.

Scott DeRue1:14:17

IRONMAN we believe to be the most tattooed brand in the world.

Harley-Davidson probably has something to say about that, but it's one or the other.

Scott DeRue1:14:25

Right. and nobody's really counting so who knows.

Uh but it is a way of life

And it's for many of our athletes it's not simply a race. It is part of their identity.

Scott DeRue1:14:41

Thus the tattoo. It's their community. It's where they find belonging. And I felt like that was the type of environment that I wanted to be a part of that I would feel proud to be part of that team and to lead because of the impact that we have in people's lives. Uh and that has played out uh many many times over just in the last two and a half years for me.

Scott DeRue1:15:12

Let me tell him what he's what how great he's doing. Oh, there's that mother effer right now. Let me tell him how they screwed me on this race and gave me a penalty and did this and did that. These people are crazy. All feedback is a gift, Kim. Uh I welcome all of it. If if you if you give it to me with a smile, that's great. If you give it to me because you're angry and emotional, that's okay, too. Uh all feedback is a gift.

Scott DeRue1:15:53

So fast.

Scott DeRue1:17:05

Absolutely.

Scott DeRue1:17:18

Yeah, that's why the medical tent is not far from the finish line. Uh but uh no, it's it's an incredible experience. I mean, it's I mean, this year is going to be epic. Uh this will be the first year in a number of years that we'll have men and women racing on the same day again. Oh, in Hawaii.

In Hawaii. And so we're really excited about that. But uh you know, I've always described Kona as one of those things where you can read about it, people can tell you about it. Uh but I didn't grow up a triathlete. That's not and and so it's not one of those things that you can truly appreciate or feel until you're there.

Scott DeRue1:17:53

And it is it is it is the most iconic, toughest one-day endurance event in the world for a reason. Yep.

And but what I've come to appreciate is for so many people around the world, it is their dream.

Scott DeRue1:18:12

And what a privilege also a responsibility.

Scott DeRue1:18:15

But what a privilege it is to be a part of that dream.

Yeah.

And and I know for our team that's what fuels us, what's motivates us is we get to, you know, we always say we're in the dream fulfillment business. We're not in the running business or the triathlon business, etc. Yes, of course we are. But at the end of the day, we're in the dream fulfillment business. And whether you're a professional athlete chasing your dreams as a professional athlete or you're the grandfather, grandmother, mother, father who's working a full-time job and raising kids and this is your thing to show predominantly yourself, but also the world that you're stronger than you could have ever imagined.

Scott DeRue1:18:56

That's your dream. And we get the privilege of being a part of that. And you know now IRONMAN 70.3 there's you know 170 of them around the world. Uh and all in we'll do about 260 265 events this year. I think there's three weekends this year where we don't have an event. And every weekend it's how do we make people's dreams come true? And we're not perfect at it but we strive to be.

Scott DeRue1:20:22

Don't forget the underpants run.

Scott DeRue1:20:23

It's it's an incredible experience and and it's one that really celebrates the endurance community and the triathlon community and you know we we understand the importance of Kona uh to the world like we we we take that responsibility very seriously and when I when I started the most common question that I got was hey what are you going to do with Kona because we had for a whole host of reasons related to the pandemic we had split the men and women and the world championship for the men uh was in one location and the women were in another location and they were flipping between Nice, France and and Kona.

And my answer at the time, it's still true for most of the big decisions that we make uh is we're going to listen to our community.

And I firmly believe that whether it's Equinox or the IRONMAN group, if you put your members or your athletes first, everything else takes care of itself.

Scott DeRue1:21:24

But you have to be willing to listen. So like all that feed that feedback is a gift. I tell my team that all the time and it doesn't matter sort of how it's packaged. It could be in a happy form. It could be in an angry form. It doesn't matter. All that feedback is a gift because at the end of the day, we're trying to make dreams come true. We're trying to create experiences that inspire people, that make people better. And that feedback helps us do that better.

Scott DeRue1:21:46

Right. And so we asked our community, what do you want to do? And they said, we want to race in Kona together.

Scott DeRue1:21:52

And we said, okay, let's make that happen. Yeah.

And so this will be the first year where everybody's back together and it is going to be epic.

Scott DeRue1:22:09

All feedback is a good um no what people don't appreciate is we actually model um in a pretty scientific way uh the course density for when we start different age groups. So, it doesn't go just youngest, oldest, or oldest, youngest. We actually stagger the age groups. The pros obviously go first.

Uh, and they're they're out ahead,

Scott DeRue1:22:33

Yeah, it could be. Uh, but we actually st we design the the the age group wave starts uh to optimize capacity on course. Our focus is once you get sort of the event operations, the fundamentals right, safety, course density, course design, venue design, etc. Um, then you can start to have fun with the experience.

Yeah.

And and our focus really is uh is upleveling and elevating that athlete experience at every touch point. And that's race day, race weekend. But like our community, like what you were describing is our athletes, if they race with us a couple times a year, they're training year round.

Scott DeRue1:23:15

And so our opportunity isn't simply as an events company. Yes, we put on lots of events, but it's really about going back to that lifestyle, that way of life, and being um that um uh that community, that that brand that people identify with, that tattoo, right? Whether you get the tattoo or not, identify with it.

That sense of community and belonging. Uh and ultimately the events are where you earn that human transformation where you earn that uh sense of achievement and where you discover that you are stronger than you thought you were.

Yeah. Uh and so our opportunity is and where we're really focused is making sure that athlete experience at every touch point, whether it's the app, whether it's the race itself, whether it's the training environment, uh the brands that we bring to uh the uh the community, uh that it's the very best in the world.

Scott DeRue1:24:17

Ooh. Um which is your favorite kid?

Scott DeRue1:24:30

Oh yeah. Who knew? Yeah. It's a great

Scott DeRue1:24:34

Yeah.

It's a It's a really cool race.

Scott DeRue1:24:38

That runs hard through the golf course.

Scott DeRue1:24:45

I I I'll tell you I It's not necessarily a favorite race, but I'll tell you uh maybe a favorite moment. So before I joined the company, I'd never been to an IRONMAN race.

Scott DeRue1:24:58

So you you I join the company. We we do all the fanfare, all the publicity and all that. And then I go on a world tour to meet our team.

Scott DeRue1:25:07

Huge. And so I'm traveling the world and the first IRONMAN event that I uh that I attend is IRONMAN New Zealand and it's in March of 2024.

Yeah.

And it's the I didn't know it. I mean, I learned very quickly. It's the second longest running IRONMAN in history. Right. So you have Hawaii

And then you have New Zealand.

And so I think that year was our 45th anniversary if I remember correctly.

And so I'm soaking this all in like I'm just there to be a sponge to listen to meet the community and learn as much as I can and meet and celebrate our team.

Yeah. And so we're around the event and um you know the pros come across and it's this amazing experience and I'm learning about sort of the the pros and what prot triathlon is all about and and talking with them after the race and and I'm having a ton of fun learning a lot and then they tell me about sort of the the magic hour or midnight.

Scott DeRue1:26:05

And so we go we eat dinner we come back and it's the final finishers.

Yep.

Scott DeRue1:26:20

Depending on the race, it's And depending on when we started, it's like 16 hours or 17 hours. But yeah, around midnight is the cutoff.

Scott DeRue1:26:27

And if you don't make it by that time, you didn't finish.

Scott DeRue1:26:32

So, we're there. We're celebrating all of the final finishers coming across. And that is where you start to really begin to appreciate the spirit of IRONMAN.

Yep. Right? Because what the what what folks like you do where you're really fast, it's an incredible athletic achievement, right? And what you're able to do in terms of both mind and body is otherworldly. Then you get the folks that are out there for 15, 16, 17 hours. And that is a it's different. It's slower obviously,

But no less of an achievement.

Scott DeRue1:27:21

You're out there, right?

And so all these folks are coming and you're now I'm starting to feel the magic of it and the spirit of it and whatnot.

So there's this woman who the year prior and she's probably in her 60s.

Scott DeRue1:27:38

Okay. The year prior she missed the finish cut off by about two minutes. So at IRONMAN New Zealand in Taupo, if you miss the final cut off by 2 minutes, you can see the finish line,

Scott DeRue1:27:55

And you can hear it for sure.

Scott DeRue1:27:57

Right. So imagine you're out there for 17 hours and you miss that cut off by two minutes.

Okay. So we know she's coming.

Scott DeRue1:28:06

Okay. She comes around the corner and there's seconds.

Scott DeRue1:28:12

And she's on the railing holding on. Can barely walk and and whatnot.

And from me to you to the finish line, she collapses and she's crawling and it's like that Julie Moss moment from the early 80s that really defined the IRONMAN brand back then. She's having her Julie Moss moment.

Scott DeRue1:28:31

And she's crawling across the finish line. I have videos of it. It's incredible. Ken, she made it with about 3 seconds to spare.

Scott DeRue1:28:41

The energy and the electricity of the crowd, the fans at midnight celebrating this woman's achievement.

Scott DeRue1:28:50

And talking with her post race to understand just how meaningful this moment was. This was her dream.

Scott DeRue1:28:57

Right. And she had the resiliency to fail the year prior. Fail. and then to train and come back and do it again. One of the hardest races in the world

To do it again. And then she makes it with about 3 seconds to spare.

I'll never forget that moment in my life.

Scott DeRue1:29:14

Never. And it's it's it's one of the moments that I look back over the last two and a half years and if people ask me what's your favorite race and whatnot, that moment for me, it was my first ever IRONMAN race. And I've now seen that moment play out a number of times again and again. And at every event that I go to, I'm always there for the first finisher. Many finishers in between, but I'm always there for the last finisher as well because that moment means so much to that person.

And that woman in New Zealand taught me that.

Scott DeRue1:29:45

I've not done any.

Scott DeRue1:29:47

No.

Scott DeRue1:29:48

Yeah, exactly. So, I did uh 70.3 um and I jump into a lot of our races and I do parts of them. I'll do part of the bike, I'll do the run. Um I usually have obligations around the event. Uh, so I tend not to to do the the whole thing, but um but I'm looking forward to the first IRONMAN. Uh, and I want to see you do one.

I've been uh I've been swimming and biking and running a little bit more than usual here recently. So uh you never know when I might jump into one. It might be a surprise for folks, but

Scott DeRue1:30:47

And you could hear the music.

Scott DeRue1:30:56

Yeah. No, it's um Yeah. I mean, it's I I definitely want to do an IRONMAN at some point. Doing hard things is not something that I'm afraid of by any stretch, right? Whether it's long running or whatnot.

Um I need to learn to swim a little bit better. Uh that would be useful. Uh but um but I'm really looking forward to that moment. Uh because I also don't think you can truly appreciate it until you've actually gone through it. Of course, right? And so the reason I jump into a lot of our races is I think in my role you should experience what your athletes are experiencing, right? And so uh so I I definitely want to do that. But um uh no, I mean the Gobi for me uh was an incredible experience getting to, you know, get to know you in that type of environment.

Uh, I I'll never forget. Do you remember what you told me after the first day?

Scott DeRue1:31:52

Obviously, I'm a lot slower than you. So, I get to camp and you're like, I don't know if I can do this. Like, I don't know. And so, you know, there's these seeds of doubt that always creep into our minds, especially when you have one expectation.

Scott DeRue1:32:03

Right.

Scott DeRue1:32:08

Yeah. And and so you've got these expectations. you come in fourth or whatever it is

And you're like okay well what's day two what's day three what's day four going to be like

And I remember telling you I was like just have fun you're like I don't have fun I

Scott DeRue1:32:24

And I was like well go win then uh and then day two and three and you did and it was it was incredible but uh no I mean for me that was you know it's one of those things where you don't know how it's going to play out

Scott DeRue1:32:37

And having the courage to just try and and you know the humility to you know like accept that it's going to be hard.

Yep.

And uh I had a blast. Uh and uh you know wasn't fast but uh had a lot of fun.

Scott DeRue1:32:54

Um I the blisters were I had some but nothing too nothing nothing too bad. My my Achilles was really painful like basically tendonitis.

Scott DeRue1:33:22

Yeah. I just I mean I guess people, you know, have different, you know, different feet in the sense of like they're more susceptible to it or something. I don't know.

Scott DeRue1:33:31

Yeah, it's possible. It's possible. the blisters I didn't I mean I maybe a little one or here or there but uh but no I ended up having some tendinitis in my so every morning when we started uh that was painful as soon as I started going and so like I would I would run the first every each day

You know I would run maybe the first 8 to 10 miles at a reasonable clip for me

And then I would go sort of run fast hike run fast hike uh and that helped me sort manage the the the tendonitis a bit.

Scott DeRue1:34:16

Did the whole thing in wooden shoes insanity.

Dressed like an eggplant.

Scott DeRue1:34:27

I think in different cultures it means different things. But um but yeah, dressed like an eggplant for some reason uh in wooden shoes. Yeah, he was he was he was fun. I have a picture of uh the two of us at the finish line. That was

Scott DeRue1:34:43

Croatia.

I think it was Croatia.

Scott DeRue1:34:48

Uh he was at Harvard for a while. He went to Princeton for a while. Uh

Scott DeRue1:34:53

Yeah, Deja. Um and so we're still in a text group together.

Scott DeRue1:35:06

Absolutely.

Scott DeRue1:35:31

Yeah. No, it was it was a cool experience. But, uh, yeah, the 50 mile day was a that was a hard day.

Scott DeRue1:35:37

Uh, that was a hard day. But, uh,

Scott DeRue1:35:49

Exactly.

Scott DeRue1:36:09

Yeah. No, I mean the landscape there, I mean for folks that haven't been to Mongolia, uh it is otherworldly and incredibly beautiful. And I mean we could run for tens, 20s miles and not see another human.

Scott DeRue1:36:26

And I mean you see some horses every now and then.

Scott DeRue1:36:29

Exactly. And I mean some of the pictures of those wild horses, they're incredible. But uh no, that's an experience that I I'll never forget and I was I was honored to to get to share it with you. That was fun.

Scott DeRue1:38:20

Yeah.

Scott DeRue1:38:47

Yeah, but maybe you needed that.

Scott DeRue1:38:50

Yeah, maybe you needed that. And it was I mean, it was it was really interesting to watch because, you know, roughly 20% of the people run the whole thing. Yeah.

Right. And then there's another 20% that essentially walk the whole thing. And then there's people like me in the middle that sort of do the run, hike, walk thing. Um, and and the diversity of it. I mean, I think we started with 120 people. It's not like it's a big race. Uh, but just the diversity of people from different cultures, different backgrounds, but also different athletic levels. For sure.

I I I thought that was super cool.

Scott DeRue1:39:19

Uh, yeah,

Scott DeRue1:39:23

I'll leave that one for you.

Scott DeRue1:39:56

Yeah. can love you back and congratulations on everything that you're achieving right now and being able to spread your message uh and your journey uh with people around the world. You're inspiring millions of people. Thank you, brother.

And uh I'm really proud of you and much love back to you.

Scott DeRue1:40:16

Deal. Deal.