Kenny Souza's Back

It's somewhat auspicious for me to be starting this blog this week, because Kenny Souza--he of the lion's mane hair and skimpy Speedos, who simultaneously put multisport on the map and made TV producers squeamish about pointing cameras at a guy running around in a banana hammock for no good reason--began his comeback over the weekend at Powerman Zofingen in Switzerland, the mecca of the sport. For a guy who hadn't raced in six years, he dispatched himself fairly well, with a 23rd place finish. It's also interesting that he chose to compete as an elite rather than as an age-grouper, as he could have.

My only hope is that his comeback isn't the short-lived affair of Alberto Salazar, whose return to running in the '90s consisted of winning the Comrades Marathon (technically not a marathon in that it's 53 miles long instead of 26.2) and anchoring the Nike team in the Hood To Coast Relay in Oregon. I hope Souza sticks around in the sport, because it needs a rock star.

My friends at duathlon.com have an interview with him (conducted by Jay Cech, who himself has all those same rock-star qualities as Souza) and a report on the race. And of course, there are full results.