Wireless Wednesday Exclusive: Neil Myers, 'Climb'
A great talk with Neil Myers – award winning documentarian and amateur triathlete.
During the holidays, we’re all looking for that feeling of hope and inspiration. Enter Climb - a heartwarming documentary about a triathlete’s inspirational journey back from a near-death accident. Neil Myers is an amateur triathlete – sometimes competing in individual triathlons (where he completes all three - swim, bike and running portions), and sometimes as part of a relay team as their cyclist. Four years ago, at the age of 61, Neil and his relay team had just won the biggest race of their life, the NYC Triathlon. Four weeks later - he was fighting for his life in the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital ICU.
Have a watch and listen:
The day of Neil’s accident in August 2018, he had just finished training on his road bike on Gibraltar Road in Santa Barbara. Gibraltar is one of the top climbs in the country – a Tour de France level climb that ascends from sea level to 4,000 feet in just six miles. On his way down the mountain, Neil rounded a blind curve at 35 miles an hour to find a truck coming back at him in his lane. He had no chance to react, and he hit the truck head-on. The accident lasted just two-tenths of a second during which he broke both wrists, his right leg, 7 ribs in 16 places, his nose in two places, ripped 4 transverse processes off his spine, collapsed both lungs, bruised his heart, suffered deep lacerations that required 400 stiches and suffered a concussion with bleeding on his brain.
Meet Neil Myers who will share his inspiring story. After being in the hospital for nearly a month, in a wheelchair for another month, followed by extensive rehab, he was able to get back on his bike within four months of his accident. Climb is a love story of cycling, of the 300 people in the community that brough Neil back to the start line in Santa Barbara, and Neil’s family, who were there every step of the way. Climb was an official selection at 40 film festivals in the US, Canada, and Europe. It has won 26 awards, including best documentary, best original score, best cinematography, best editing, and others.
For more information please visit: https://www.climbdoc.org
Neil Myers is a native Californian who was born in Los Angeles, grew-up in Santa Rosa, and has lived for the past 33 years in Santa Barbara. In 1989 Neil founded Connect Marketing, a full-service marketing firm focused on B2B high tech companies. Since then, Connect Marketing has helped more than 600 tech firms like Symantec, Siemens and HP reach their marketing goals. Myers is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. In 2021, Myers released his first documentary, Climb, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Climb was an official selection at 40 film festivals in six countries, winning 26 times including best documentary, best cinematography, best director, best editing, and others.