Brian may not remember our first meetup, but I certainly do: Hammer – or more accurately, CAPS Enzymes – was operating out of essentially a one-room office/warehouse on Geary Street in San Francisco. I had placed my first order in July 1988, moved to SF that October, and immediately tracked him down there. And here we are, 37 years later...
Hammer has been a constant through my entire endurance career. I raced in the Ironman World Championship 11 times – starting with my first Kona appearance during the IronWar in 1989, and returning in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2013. One of my proudest achievements was winning the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2007, powered by the same fueling philosophy and products I first discovered in that tiny San Francisco office.
My relationship with Hammer has always been the old-school kind: word of mouth, athlete to athlete, training partner to training partner. The products worked, the philosophy made sense, and the results followed. It’s been that simple.
And I’m not done yet. I’m building toward a new chapter – a series of Otillo swimrun races starting in 2026 – taking everything I’ve learned about endurance into a whole new landscape. Nearly four decades later, Hammer isn’t just a brand for me, it’s an integral part of my story as a lifelong athlete.
