Ben Hoffman (born August 22, 1983) is an American professional
triathlete
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...
from
Grand Junction, Colorado
Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States Census, making Grand Junction the 17th mos ...
who races in long distance, non-drafting triathlon events. In 2014 he placed second at the
Ironman World Championship
The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...
.
Career
Hoffman grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado where he participated in basketball, track, golf, and soccer in high school. He also took part in week long bicycle tours and a partial cross-country ride with his parents.
After high school he attended the
University of Montana
The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...
where he earned a degree in Spanish language with a minor in English.
Hoffman discovered triathlon during a summer trip to Alaska during which he found a book about training and racing. As a result, during his first year at Montana, 2003—2004, he joined the university club triathlon team (that included
Linsey Corbin) as well as Team Stampede in Missoula where he enjoyed the people associated with the team, the training the sport required, and the competitiveness.
Despite having no swimming background he was able to move past that obstacle and compete in his first race, the 2004 Grizzly Triathlon, where he took second place. In 2005 he took time to travel to Argentina. While away he had missed the sport and upon returning he decided that he would get serious about competing in triathlon.
In his final year at Montana, Hoffman won the individual 2006 collegiate national championship and his club team won the overall Collegiate Triathlon National Championship.
Following graduation, Hoffman raced in triathlons in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
and Canada while supporting himself just enough through race winnings that summer.
He capped his summer racing off by traveling to Europe and competing in the 2006 World University Championships in
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
where he placed 39th.
He committed to racing as a professional after that summer and moved to
Durango, Colorado
Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...
to train. There he worked part-time at the local health department doing Spanish translations and living paycheck to paycheck while training.
His first race as a pro athlete came at the
Wildflower Triathlon in 2007 where he took 3rd place.
After a few years of part-time work at the health department he stopped working to become a full-time pro triathlete. In 2011 he moved his training base to Boulder, Colorado.
Hoffman has focused primarily on racing half-iron and ironman distance racing (e.g.
Ironman 70.3 An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting o ...
and Ironman Triathlon). He has won six Ironman events (
Ironman Lake Placid Ironman Lake Placid (sometimes referred to as Ironman USA) is a triathlon race owned by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) that takes place in Lake Placid, New York and the surrounding Adirondack Mountains. It is the longest-running Ironman tr ...
, St. George, Wisconsin, Coeur d'Alene, and twice at Ironman South Africa) as well as numerous half iron-distance races. At the
2014 Ironman World Championship he had a break-through performance where he took 2nd place, five minutes back of winner
Sebastian Kienle
Sebastian Kienle (born 6 July 1984) is a German long-distance triathlete. He is the winner of the 2014 Ironman World Championship, as well as the 2012 and 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
Athletic career
Kienle was exposed to the sport o ...
. His previous four finishes at the championship were 102nd, 53rd, DNF, and 15th.
Notable results
Hoffman's notable race results include:
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Ben
1983 births
Living people
American male triathletes
People from Grand Junction, Colorado
University of Montana alumni