Man of iron

Executive: Joe Bonness, owner and operator of highway construction, quarry, trucking and electrical businesses in Naples, including Better Roads, Southern Sand & Stone, Advantage Transportation and iTran Partners.

Diversion: Leading more than 300 cyclists in the Iron Joe Turkey Ride on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Ironman legend: In January, Bonness will be inducted into the USA Triathlon Florida Hall of Fame. There's a good reason why he earned the nickname Iron Joe: Bonness regularly broke his age-group record for Ironman competitions, grueling contests that combine a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon footrace. He qualified for the Ironman championships in Kona, Hawaii, an astounding 17 times. In 2000, he completed what's now dubbed the Bonness Triple: three Ironman races in 21 days, for a total of 421.8 miles.