Wednesday, February 11, 2009

BIG MAN ON CAMPUS

Back again folks..... I have to tell you about an inspirational man I had the chance to do a story on.

Imagine these factors.

He's half the man he used to be.

He is twice the age of those he comes in contact with.

He has a spiritual connection.

He competes collegiately.

His name is Terence Haynes and he is a wrestler for Baldwin Wallace College in suburban Cleveland. He is a heavyweight, but as of about 13 -14 months ago....he was....a super-duper-extra-triple-duper heavyweight. Terence weighed 470 pounds.

Show of hands please. How many think thats too much???? Thanks. You can put your hands down.
Terence lost 235 pounds and since he was making changes, he decided to go even further. He enrolled in college... at age 45. Yes, he graduated from high school in 1981. The kids he sees on campus were not even born when he was getting his high school diploma.

Since he was losing weight and getting in shape, he tried out for the college wrestling team. He is their heavyweight and has one victory.

Terence works with troubled youths at Parmadale and is an ordained minister. He is always smiling and inspiring.

I did a piece on him and its posted on our website. www.fox8.com/sports once you get to the site.. search 45 year-old wrestler in the videos section on the right.. When I consider slacking off on my training or eating habits, I think of Terence... Ohh yea, look for a long story to be done on Terence this spring on ESPN E-60 show. That way he can inspire people all over the country.. BW folks wrote a great story on him too. THE LINK

Training has been going well. I sent in my application and will race in the Fools 50K on April 5th. Looking forward to that.
Thanks for the feedback on my gym ideas. I have more and will drop them in from time to time.
Life's a Blast!!!!

18 comments:

Wes said...

You find the best stuff :-)

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

I didn't even know they had weight classes that high! Good for him!

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

Good stuff. Go to my blog. The middle follower "Slim down 220 The story of a triathlete" is also half the man he used to be. He was 450+ and is hoping to do IMFL this November. He is president of Baton Rouge tri club and was featured in last issue of Triathlon Times (the USAT magazine)

Shannon said...

I love inspiring stories, keep them coming. Great job on the training front, you will do great in April.

Rainmaker said...

Wow, that's incredible. Thanks for sharing that.

Missy said...

I love those kinds of stories. Seriously, he just sucked it up and DID it, no magic or hocus pocus, just hard ass work. That rocks.

TRI TO BE FUNNY said...

What an awesome piece!! How inspiring!

Unknown said...

Good stuff. :-)

Marcy said...

Wow that is amazing!! Whoooaaa. Thanks for sharing JT ;-)

Mike said...

Holy freaking amazing!!! Good for him! He truly is an inspiration! Thank you for sharing!

Brian said...

As I was leaving my gym the other night, and was super duper pooped, I thought about your gym ideas. I want my car parked close at my gym.

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

That's very cool and inspiring, JT! Very cool!

Kevin said...

Thats a great story

Donald said...

It's like you work for a news company or something. Awesome story on Terence.

mjcaron said...

That is really inspirational. People are amazing.

Rachel said...

Great story. Very inspirational. That's why I love this sport.

jcarneyjr said...

What a cool story and inspiration John. I have been so bad about blogging I have to take some pointers from you.

Marci said...

He is amazing... thanks for sharing with us! Truely inspirational!