Thinking about running from Lathrop Police Chief Ryan Biedermann?
That’s probably not the smartest idea.
Plan on scaling a fence to get away from him?
He’s probably got you covered on that front as well.
Last week Biedermann wore the patches of both the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department – which provides police services under contract to the City of Lathrop – and the Lathrop Manteca Fire District, where he has many friends, at the 2019 Spartan Trifecta World Championships in Sparta, Greece where he tested his mettle against some of the best athletes in the world.
In less than 20 hours Biedermann earned his sixth Spartan Trifecta this season – meaning he completed a 3-mile Sprint race, 8-mile Super race, and a 13-mile Beast race – and plans on earning his seventh this weekend in Sacramento.
“I’ve always been a runner – I played soccer my entire adult life and coached at Lathrop High School, so when I suffered an injury and couldn’t play soccer I looked into doing this because it was a little bit less dynamic on my feet than playing soccer,” Biedermann said. “We’ve got two teams from the Sheriff’s Office going up to Sacramento and competing, and there’s definitely a lifetime fitness component to all of it – the office is really big into competing, and I try and drive the guys under my command to take care of themselves because it’ll always end up helping them in the long run.”
Having already run nearly two-dozen Spartan races already this year – distance races that use terrain, altitude, and obstacles to test the endurance and mettle of competitors this year – Biedermann is preparing to wind down his season with his seventh Trifecta medal.
But he already has his sights set on eight of them next year.
And in his age group – for competitors above the age of 40 – Biedermann is among the best the world.
He’s currently ranked No. 15 in his age group and turned in the seventh best time in his age group in the Beast race – which is 13-miles in length – at the World Championships, which drew 1,600 of the best Spartan competitors from more than 80 countries around the globe.
And with his daughter and his girlfriend also accomplished Spartan athletes in their own right – his daughter was ranked No. 1 in the world in her age group before taking a year off – the endurance racing world has become a common focus when the races are in season.
None of it would be possible, however, without a boss that supports his adventures and sponsors that have helped him cover the costs of traveling and participating – people including San Joaquin County Sheriff Pat Withrow, Lathrop businesswoman Susan Dell’Osso, and a number of people at the Lathrop Manteca Fire District that he has worked with over the years.
While the stereotypical relationship between law enforcement and the fire service is at times an adversarial one, Biedermann said that his experience in Lathrop has always been quite the opposite and he was proud to wear not only the letters LMFD on his arm when he competed, but also wear the No. 3 patch on the back of his gear because he knew his friends back home were with him in his pursuit.
“I’ve never seen a relationship between the police and fire like there is in Lathrop – we really work hand-in-hand, and everybody is really good friends with everybody else,” Biedermann said. “I’m great friends with Fire Chief Gene Neely and all of his Assistant Chiefs and Battalion Chiefs, so I wanted to make sure I wore some Lathrop Fire stuff in addition to getting to fly the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office flag while I was there.
“There were so many people that made this possible – Susan Dell’Osso as well, about the best citizen that you can think of that is giving and loving of this community – and I wanted to make sure that I had all of them with me when I was out on the course.”
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
