Wow. That’s all I can say. I am speechless. Today Men’s Fitness Magazine just went live online with the “MF 25”– the magazine’s annual list of the 25 “Fittest Guys”. Previous year editions featured the fittest guys in America. But this year they broadened their reach, making the list global — the “25 Fittest Guys on the Planet”. The Planet!?!?!
And guess who made the list? This guy. Sandwiched between the athletic superhero legends like Rafael Nadal, Hugh Jackman, Usain Bolt, Lebron James and just below Sir Richard Branson, there I am, featured as the “Real Guy”. Pretty mindblowing!
I have known about this for a few months, but was asked to keep it under wraps until they went live with the list. Honestly, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. I am humbled to the core, as I truly don’t feel like I belong in such unbelievable company. I’m just an average guy who wanted to lose some weight, get healthy and challenge myself by tackling something hard. I had no idea it would lead to something like this. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I thought it was pretty darn groovy. Actually, its way cool.
I just hope that this piece will serve to open up some doors that can lead to new avenues of service to others. If there is anything I can do to help someone else out there, please let me know.
Here is the excerpt on me from the article:
RICHARD ROLL
Age: 42
Country: U.S.A.
Career: Entertainment Lawyer/Producer
Some guys buy a sports car when they hit 40. Roll was 30 pounds overweight at the time, so he decided to invest in his body, instead. Two years later the Calabasas, Calif., lawyer earned the honor of being the second “Regular Joe” on the MF25. “When I turned 40, I found myself the most out of shape I’d ever been,” says Roll, a former elite swimmer at Stanford. “I didn’t want to live that way.” He adopted a plant-based diet and used multisport training to achieve a base level of fitness. But “base” wasn’t enough, so he set his sights on the 2008 Ultraman, a three-day, double Ironman distance triathlon in Hawaii. Roll began 15 to 20 hours of training per week, eliminating “anything extraneous” beyond family (he’s married and has four kids) and work. He finished 11th overall in the Ultraman but first among non-pros. “Working out makes me adhere to a tight schedule,” Roll says. “I’m much more productive.”
