Lew Hollander and the Hawaiian Ironman andJeremy Reynolds Tevis

"Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy."– Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Well stated Pyotr. Inspiration, passion, creativity have a common thread. All are connected with hard work follow through, and completion.

Way to go Lew Hollander. By completing the Hawaiian Iron man, Lew, the only one in his age group to finish, became the oldest finisher in this illustrious event. Incidentally, he is 81 years young. No matter how you look at it, his accomplishment is quite impressive. He swam 2.2 miles, rode a bike for 110 miles, and ran 26.2 miles within 17 hours on the big island.

Lew has physical and mental strength, drive, discipline, know how, and tenacity to deal with this momentous task. One might wonder and marvel at his success in this event. I believe this is his 23rd completion out of 23 starts. He is batting at 100%. No one can do better than that.

How does he do it? His genetic structure likely accounts for roughly a third of his success. The rest has to do with his upbringing, life experiences, intelligence, relationships, and his thinking process. Another way to put it is that he has the ego strength to succeed. A glimpse into his thinking is as follows:
1. USE IT OR LOSE IT.

2. Go hard, live long.
3. Go anaerobic every day.
4. Eat well,fruits and vegetables with abundant supplements
5. Set your plans well in advance and have achievable goals.
6. Have a stress free relationship.
7. Keep socially active and interested in life and its challenges.
8. There are no fat old people so watch your calorie intake.

Well said Lew.  As you can see, he is very active and employs anaerobic exercise,  focused, goal oriented,  socially oriented,  other focused, eats well, and is involved both physically and mentally.  Hats off to him with this super accomplishment.  Well done my friend.

Jeremy Reynolds, a previous Tevis winner, ultra runner, and ride and tie competitor came in first in this year’s Tevis event, followed by Michael Shackelfords oldest daughter, Rachel.  Well done.  Although Tom Christofk did not ride, his horse came in 10^th. Way to go finishers.
Read more about my friends in “It Has Nothing To Do With Age “.

Lew Hollander , Hawaiian Ironman, and Ride & Tie

A bad habit never disappears miraculously; it's an undo-it-yourself project."– Abigail Van Buren

Lew Hollander is a man that has a varied background. Aside from being an exceptional athlete, he is a noteworthy scientist with many patents to his credit. In fact, he will gladly discuss with you nano principles or topics relating to synchronicity or resonance. Take your pick and I’m sure you have a topic to discuss with him in or out of the sports world.

Since the Cool ride and tie is coming up on October 1, let us take some of his expertise found in his book “Endurance Riding.” He makes the following points: 1. be calm and quiet around the horse; stand in the shade if it is hot; as soon as the horses pulse nears the criteria, send the crew person backwards up the trail to intercept the incoming runner to tell the runner where the crew is stationed and the horse is ready. 2. The horse must be watered as thoroughly as possible with tepid water; wash the horses front legs and neck first with cold water; if it is cold and windy out avoid putting too much water on the hind quarters and the big muscles of the body; and if the weather is cold or windy use a cooler a blanket to keep the horse’s body warm. 3. Help your runner in every possible way so that he may conserve his energy ; if there are no problems , a runner will  vet the horse through and hit the trail once again; a tired runner can find it  a tremendous effort just to find the timer, get the card signed and find the out trail.  Last but not least, have the rider get off his horse when he can go faster on foot.  His suggestions are right on so incorporate them into your race strategy.

Lew’s humor is best illustrated with some the following quotes from his book: 1. you must make up in your feet what you lack in your head. He got that one from his wife’s father. 2. Life is uncertain; eat dessert first. 3. You have to do with what you got because that’s what pays off in the end. Brer Rabbit 4. It is better to have a hen tomorrow than an egg today. Fortune cookie. Way to go young man – keep that humor.

By the way, Lew is the oldest competitor to complete the world ride and tie championship long course. That’s a neat record that he would say is” just for your ego.” For his ego’s sake I wish him well in this year’s Hawaiian Iron man so he will have that record as well. Read my chapter on him to find out his secrets.

Lew Hollander and the Hawaiian Ironman

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." – T.S. Eliot

Linda and I entertained Jack and Joan Sholl, Secretariat a.k.a. Tony Brickel and his wife Debbie last night. Over the past few months I’ve talked about Jack in glowing terms to Secretariat. He had some reservations and doubt not believing the numerous stories that I told about him. Well, he recently said that Jack is all that I claimed he was. Great! Jack entertained us with his exploits over the years and the different people, celebrities, and royalty that he has met in the process. Jack’s wife Joan is super also. She was a rower and has been an official representing the United States in various national and international competitions. Also, she was the first woman is official in rowing in the Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia. On some levels it’s too bad that I can’t add more to my chapter on Jack because this man has many-good qualities. I hope my chapter on him truly does him justice.

Another man that I interviewed for my book is Lew Hollander. It’s difficult to remember when I first met Lew. It was either when I read his book “Endurance Riding-From Beginning to Winning” or at the ride and tie championship in Eur Valley where we had adjacent corrals. Shortly after that in 2002, at the AERC convention, in Reno, Tom Kristoff, Linda Rodgers, Joe Larkin, Lew, and I went out for a Sunday morning run. On that day he said” I can run all day like this.”

Lew is an amazing individual. Last year after completing the Hawaiian Iron man he became the second oldest finisher. Next month, he goes after the record to become the oldest Hawaiian Iron man finisher. Don’t bet against this man as he is phenomenal. His strong suit is swimming and he has improved in his biking ability. At the moment there is no reason why he can’t break this record. Good luck and good fortune.

Aside from mastering the Hawaiian Iron man Dr. Hollander has mastered endurance riding. Even if you are in endurance rider, I suggest that you consider taking a look at his book.  To illustrate, back in 1978 he proposed a high-fat diet and a usable fat feeding program for the athletic horse. He also came up with an inexpensive way to electrolyte your horse with the use of Lite Salt.  It works as I incorporated Lew’s Mix in both endurance and ride and tie events. He introduced the “Vet Gate” at an AERC convention in Reno. He also was instrumental in the rider mileage program or the “to compete is to win”. He has made many contributions to these sports.

This man is  a physicist and continues to present papers at scientific meetings. He has numerous patents and has made invaluable contributions to our society. Incidentally, he also wrote a book on climate change called “And Chocolate Shall Lead Us.”  You may or may not agree with his politics but we can all agree on his intelligence and brilliance. Pat Browning once told me “He is one tough man and I have to work like hell to beat him.”