Todd Crandell

Todd Crandell, License Professional Clinical Counselor LPCC-S) and Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor (LICDC-CS), has dedicated his personal and professional life to helping substance abusers re-channel their destructive behaviors into positive, life affirming action. By sharing personal stories about the perils of substance abuse, best practices in prevention and how to lead a holistic lifestyle, Crandell offers a positive alternative to those struggling to overcome a life of addiction.

His 13- year struggle with drugs and alcohol nearly destroyed his life, devastating relationships with family and friends and shattering the promise of a professional hockey career. However, through his pursuit of extreme physical fitness and personal well-being, he found a productive outlet for his once-negative energies, transforming himself into a worldclass athlete and champion for sobriety. In his pursuit of recovery, he applied his energy to pursue the most grueling sport imaginable, the Ironman™ triathlon: A 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Crandell ran his first triathlon in 1999 and has never looked back.

He has since completed over 83 IRONMAN® and Ultraman Todd Crandell has chronicled his powerful mental and physical journeys in his books "From Addict to Ironman" (2006), "There’s is More than One Way to get to Cleveland" (2013), and "Choices and Consequences" (2019). These lay the foundation of Crandell’s intensive out-patient group that focuses on the emotional issues and low self-esteem that leads to a choice to drug use or self-harm and how to attain and sustain sobriety through a balanced and holistic lifestyle.

In addition, his story has been highlighted in the documentaries Addict (2003) and Running with Demons (2012) and award-winning Pure Euphoria (2020). A prolific and dynamic presenter, Crandell regularly speaks across the country to school districts, corrections facilities, drug treatment centers, community groups and other organizations. Leading with one simple message – “With Sobriety, Anything Is Possible” – Crandell’s mission is to prevent all forms of substance abuse by promoting a lifestyle of fitness and health. As someone who has been to the depths of despair, battled addiction, contemplated suicide, yet overcame and found the willpower to succeed, Crandell is able to form an intimate connection with his audience, inspiring and changing lives at every event. triathlons in 15 countries on six continents, but that isn’t his proudest accomplishment.

In the process of rebuilding his life, Crandell realized traditional recovery programs weren’t always enough to help people refocus their addictive drives into positive actions that break the abuse cycle. Crandell’s experiences and inspirational efforts led to the formation of Racing for Recovery™ in 2001, a federally approved 501 c-3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping people from all walks prevent and overcome addiction. A multi-faceted empowerment group, Racing for Recovery offers weekly support group meetings that are available to everyone who has been affected by addiction, which includes both the individual who is suffering from the choices of using drugs and their friends and families, along with the public at large. The meetings provide an inviting, educational, supportive, encouraging and caring environment that each side of addiction benefits from.

Racing for Recovery has been featured on CNN, ESPN, the New York Times and Runner’s World Magazine, and is known throughout the world.