Athlete of the Month

The Team Sheeper Athlete of the Month award is handed out to a member of the team on a monthly basis, 7 or 8 times a year. The AOM is someone who made a notable contribution to the team or did something remarkable. Selection is made by nomination and voting by the membership.

You can nominate anyone and the nomination period is usually during the first week or two of the month. Look for notification that nominations are being sought.  When nomination close, the voting starts and once all the votes are tallied, the new AOM is crowned.

Besides bragging rights for a month, our AOM gets some goodies from our gracious sponsors, such as free shoes from TRH, a massage from SMI, gift certificates from GoRide.

SMI is proud to sponsor this month's athlete who embodies the spirit of Team Sheeper. SMI is a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to the prevention and treatment of overuse injuries, optimization of human function and enhancement of athletic performance.

Elad Benjamin

April 2007 Athlete of the Month

Elad is forging a tough endurance season for himself this year and has already had an awesome performance at Marathon de Sables. Next up for Elad are the Terrible Two 200m ride in June, IM Wisconsin in Sept, and the San Diego 100m run in October!

Are you currently employed and/or describe your employment/career?

I am currently the CEO of a medical device startup which I co-founded last year with three fellow Stanford graduates. We invented a 'vascular closure device' which helps physicians access and close arteries during certain procedures without any surgical intervention. Although it sounds very respectable, it's still three people in a garage right now :-)
We recently raised money though, and I'm looking forward to my first paycheck sometime soon, and to moving into our new office in San Carlos.

Do you have any specific career aspirations?

I love creating products and companies that help people, so I hope I'll be able to continue doing that for a long time to come. I'm also still in the pursuit of the right balance between work and everything else in my life, and I hope to get to that sweet spot sooner rather than later.

Do you have a spouse or children to tell us about?

My wife Or, and two children Dor (6) and Tal (2) are absolutely the joy of my life. We have tons of fun together, and Or has been supporting and encouraging me on my somewhat 'out there' adventures ever since we met. I would have never been able to pull it off without her! She was also my companion in my first Eco-Challenge, and I've been trying to pull her back into endurance sports ever since.

What other hobbies do you have?

I love music, and have a respectable collection which I've cultivated over the years. I've also dabbled with the violin, piano, flute, guitar and saxophone, although today I can't play more than 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' on any of them...
I also write quite a bit, and a few years ago I published a children's book in Israel, which was a great experience.

How did you become involved with Team Sheeper?

Sherry Smith, who coaches the Stanford Tri team, sent out an email at the end of 2005 asking anyone if they wanted to join the Sheeper crew at IM Coeur D'Alene in June 2006. I had never done a triathlon, but it seemed like a great challenge, and so a few weeks later I was signed up and ready to go! I trained with the team only on the weekends, and tried to fit in the rest of my training hours whenever I could during the week.

What is your athletic background?

I've always been involved in sports, but in Israel there are very few structured sports programs in schools, like there are here, so it was always with friends on an informal basis, and mostly team sports such as soccer and basketball, which I played all through high school. My endurance 'fetish' started when I saw a program on the Eco Challenge on TV and decided to do one. I've been going longer and longer ever since...

What is it you like most about triathlons?

I'm very new to the sport ... I've only raced in 4 triathlons, so I'm still excited by everything surrounding them. Every race is different, and I learn to cope with new challenges and difficulties every time. I also have so much room for improvement, and that's a great source of motivation for me.

What races are you planning for the remainder of this year, or the future, that you are gearing up for?

I'm gearing up for the Wisconsin IM in September this year, and on the way I'll be doing the Terrible Two ride, followed by the San Jose Tri and Vineman 70.3. I've also caught the ultra bug, and I'm going to try and fit in a 100 mile run before the end of the year, we'll see if I can pull it off!

What are your Triathlon, or personal goals / aspirations?

I would love to qualify for Hawaii sometime in the next few years. I believe I can do it, it'll be a matter of reorganizing my life around it somehow, so I'm waiting for the right time. I guess that ties in to my personal goals as well, which I mentioned earlier ... to find that balance between a challenging and engaging work environment and a challenging and engaging athletic environment, without compromising family and friends. Not easy!

What is your favorite Team Sheeper workout or memorable moment?

My first encounter with Tim. He came to Stanford to talk to the few people who had signed up for Coeur D'Alene. It was December 2005, I had just broken my wrist (riding down Alpine and getting hit by a car that didn't stop at a stop sign), I had never done a triathlon, and the first road bike I had ever owned was smashed up into bits in my backyard. I had a simple question, which was 'Do you think I'll ever be able to get in shape on time?' Tim looked at my hand (still in a cast), and waved his hand with indifference ... "Phew& sure, you seem strong enough, no problem!"

Now that I know Tim a little better, I probably should have had more doubts at the time, but hey, he was right!

Another great moment was the 50K from Woodside to San Francisco that Eric and I ran in February this year. I had done a 50K on Saturday, and on Sunday at 5:30am we set out in the dark, and met the rest of the team as they finished the SF Half Marathon. That was the ultimate confidence builder for the Marathon De Sables!