Fat Fighter

Local homebuilding executive Michael Rego surprised his wife and three kids on Thanksgiving in 2011 with a jarring proposition: He wanted to run a Turkey Trot 5K race.

The plan was a stunner because the 285-pound Rego hadn't been training. Still, Rego, vice president of the building division at Lakewood Ranch-based John Neal Homes, ran and finished the race, held in west Bradenton.

But it was the struggle of a lifetime. Rego's heart rate rose to 195 beats per minute, dangerously high for his weight. Adds Rego: “My wife could hear me gasping for air.”