Richard Bernstein Wins Ironman Medal

WJBK Fox 2 News
July 23, 2008

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

I’m Lila Lazarus. It’s one of the most challenging athletic achievements, the Ironman, hard to fathom. Imagine doing it blind.

You probably recognize Richard Bernstein, one of the lawyers in the Bernstein family in those TV commercials in a suit and tie, but now this trial attorney has something new on.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

I love it!

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

A medal from the Coeur D’Alene Ironman.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

I know that it’s kind of, like, unusual for an attorney to walk around with a medal, but can I tell you something? I’m really proud of it!

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

And he should be proud. At 34, he accomplished a dream, swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles up and down mountains on a tandem bike, and running 26.2 miles - all in 14 hours and 6 minutes. And he’s blind.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

God will give you what you need, when you need it.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

Understand he’s swimming in 55-degree open water with 2,000 people. It’s like swimming in a washing machine.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

You would basically get kicked in the face, all the time.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

And he sees nothing.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

You don’t know where you are. You don’t know where you’ve started. You don’t know where you’re going. You’re swimming in an abyss, and you just keep swimming.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

It was prayer, he said, that got him through. Especially when other swimmers got tangled in the string that guides him in the right direction. Achilles is one of the organizations that helped prepare him for this race.

[Talking to Richard] Let’s try this, come on. He showed me how he holds a tether.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

It feels good, doesn’t it?

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

It feels great. That’s how he gets through the running portion.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

After our first five miles, you’ll feel much better.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

Allowing a guide to steer him 26 miles to the finish line.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

We should go for a while.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

How fast do you want to go?

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

We should do like a 6 minute pace. We’re only going to go for a few miles, though.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

He gives a lot of credit to that guide.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

Come on, we can go a little faster, come on.

The guides are not only doing an Ironman, but they’re working to get you through it.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

But mostly it’s his faith and determination to see the race through, without seeing anything at all.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

So no matter how challenging, how difficult, how intense, you realize that you’ll work your way through and you’ll get through it.

Reporter Lila Lazarus:

So what’s next for Richard? The New York Marathon in November. It’ll be his 10th.

That’s Health Works. I’m Lila Lazarus. Good run.

News Anchor Sherry Margolis:

He is quite a guy. I’m proud to call him my friend. Congratulations, Richard!