Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Bill Carlson the Pioneer

Here's the original ABC broadcast of Bill Carlson as the first diabetic athlete to compete and finish an Ironman race. He did this back in 1983 with a pump that puts the old brick cell phones to shame. After having the pleasure of meeting Bill back in December, I would have to say that he hasn't changed much! His competitive streak seems as strong as ever and I think he's probably even more fit. I think he rides his bike a gazillion miles every day or something! (maybe a few less)



Bill is part of the Triabetes group and will be racing with the team at Ironman Wisconsin this September.

As a side note, I'm glad to see the progress in diabetes technology as well as hair styles since 1983.

5 comments:

Becca said...

C'mon, Anne, your hair looked so good back in '83!

Wingman said...

Man that is crazy - I can't even think of how PERFECT his nutrition had to be leading up to that race with the type of insulin they were using.

Scott K. Johnson said...

Anne - what a cool story. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

Quite an inspiration, even for us non-ironman kind of guys.

And yes, I totally remember that meter they showed!

LindaF said...

What an inspiring video, and what a great person to be acquainted with! Watching him makes me feel the same way that I feel when I watch you compete--proud and moved to tears.
Love, Mom

Michelle said...

I tell everyone my absolute positively favorite moment while I was in San Diego....was watching Bill Carlson's 1983 Wide World of Sports moment in a room where I was most certainly the minority...the minority being the fact that my body was pumping insulin on it's own. I remember verbalizing that fact to Matt Corcoran, MD - one of only two people in the room with functioning islet cells. Someone had to peel me out of a room with Bill King and Bill Carlson....pioneers, indeed. What a happy memory of San Diego!