PowerBar founder (and former world-class marathon runner) Maxwell collapses, dies at 51

USA Today ^ | 3/20/04

[Libloather]

SAN ANSELMO, Calif. (AP)

[Libloather]

George Burns used to smoke eight cigars a day and lived twice this long. Can you be too healthy?

[lelio]

Did he have a history of heart problems?

[AGreatPer]

5 children. Hey, he was a rabbit.

[facedown]

When your number's up, your number's up.

[Hand em their arse]

This stuff scares the crap out of me, I've done two marathons and try to run about 25-30 miles a week but who the hell knows what works nowadays????

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

No, he was a father. My father had nine, and he was no 'rabbit,' thank you very much.

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

I WILL say that the ghost of Jim Fixx is giggling. Some things don't change.

[dawn53]

Just like Jim Fixx, but I believe he was 52.

Control is an illusion.

I believe in living as healthy a lifestyle as one possibly can, but our days are numbered, and no man controls the time of his death.

[dennisw]

Brian Maxwell

Founder and Former CEO, PowerBar, Inc.

Born in London, England, Brian Maxwell grew up in Toronto, Canada. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975 with a degree in architecture and received the Brutus Hamilton Award as the outstanding student athlete on the track team.

For the next eight years, Maxwell made his living as a long distance runner as he represented Canada in many international competitions and was ranked #3 in the world in the marathon in 1977 by Track and Field News. He was the top-ranked Canadian marathon runner on the 1980 Olympic marathon team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics. During this period, he also coached the distance runners at Cal-Berkeley, developing four NCAA Division 1 All Americans.

In 1983, Maxwell started a project to develop a nutritious, easy-to-eat food for athletes and active people. In 1986, he founded PowerBar Inc. and Brian and his wife-to-be Jennifer began selling PowerBar® energy bars out of their kitchen. Over the next 13 years, with Maxwell as CEO, PowerBar Inc. grew to $150 million in sales and 300 employees. Maxwell was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Inc., one of the "100 Superstars of Marketing" by Advertising Age and "100 Most Influential People In Sports" by Sportstyle. PowerBar also won the American Marketing Association's Best New Products Award in the nutrition/health category. Maxwell has also been featured in People, Forbes, Business Week, Fast Company and many other magazines.

In March of 2000, PowerBar was sold to Nestle SA for one of the largest multiples of sales ever paid for a food company.

Brian is now Chairman of Coolsystems Inc., a Berkeley sports medical device startup, and recently joined the Board of Directors of The Active Network. He stays busy advising several other entrepreneurial companies and serving on various charitable and arts boards. He balances his business activities with trail runs, mountain biking and various sports with his wife Jennifer and five children. He lives in Marin County, California.

[Mr. K]

I know what you mean- I tend to do what I enjoy and the heck with what the 'experts' say- everything in moderation, you know what's really not good for you, your body tends to crave what it needs...

Like last week I had a craving for a two pound live lobster and a half a stick of butter. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

[decimon]

Jim Fixx: 1932 - 1984.

author who popularized the sport of running; his 1977 bestseller The Complete Book of Running, is credited with helping start America's fitness revolution; died of a heart attack while running. Infoplease

[Hand em their arse]

Only half a stick??? Sheez, ROOKIE! LOL

[omniscient]

James Fixx Syndrome strikes again. What was it that Ian Fleming said about not wanting to waste the time he had left by worrying about prolonging it?

[billorites]

"When your number's up, your number's up."

Tick, tick, tick.

I'm not sure there's any lesson to be learned from these early deaths except, perhaps, humility.

[ironman]

"about the point where experts say the body ceases burning carbohydrates and begins burning muscle tissue.
"

That's pretty darn wrong. When you hit the wall essentially you've burned up the carbohydrates in your body. Fat metabolism is the primary fuel for endurance athletes, but it doesn't burn well without carbohydrates. During a marathon I would not recommend solid fuel. Try using PowerGels or Gu instead, which are liquid concentrated carbohydrates.

[luvbach1]

Is running marathons good for your heart? Can the heart be worn out before its time?

[Texas Eagle]

Maxwell collapsed Friday at a post office,

What happened? Did a postal worker ackowledge his existence?

[Fitzcarraldo]

I think it was Neil Armstrong who said he 'would never waste a minute doing exercise.'

[Texas Eagle]

What was it that Ian Fleming said about not wanting to waste the time he had left by worrying about prolonging it?

I like what Economics Professor Walter E. Williams says. Something along the lines of, "Now why would you want to put a perfectly good body in a box and bury it six feet under ground?"

[AGreatPer]

Your father had nine. WOW. That is wonderful.

Don't be so testy. I ment that as a compliment to the man. Of course he was a father. And, I am sorry that he died at such an early age.

Somebody said it above, when your time is up.