By Alix Shutello In four years, Ferg Hawke went from fat to fit to famous. He’s renown for his epic 2nd place finishes at Badwater, a record-breaking finish at the Marathon De Sables and has competed in hundreds of races including Western States and other international races. Now, after a few years off, he’s coming back better than before. In 1987 Ferg Hawke was 30, overweight and according to his doctor, on the road to destruction with “dangerously high blood pressure.” He was prescribed blood pressure medication and informed that he was at high risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Hawke threw the prescription out and started running to bring his weight down. To say that Hawke jumped into an exercise program is an understatement. Two years later and 40 pounds lighter, Hawke ran the Vancouver Sun Run 10K in April of 1989 and then completed his first marathon and sprint triathlon in May and June respectively before competing in his first Olympic distance triathlon in July and then the Ironman Canada in August. “After finishing Ironman Canada and swore I’d never do another Ironman but my time was good enough to qualify for the Hawaii Ironman in...
