Paul "Boomer" Throop was born in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, Aug 14, 1945. His interest in downhill skiing was nurtured in the family’s back yard, on property that was eventually sold, and would later become more popularly known as the Craigleith Ski Club.

He became a competitive junior alpine skier, and his fearless runs down Collingwood’s steepest pitches earned him a nickname that stuck. But he was also an avid Nordic skier, and won a spot on the Ontario cross-country ski team from 1969-72. In 1972, he was named National Director of the Canadian Cross Country Ski Team, a post he held till 1976. For the following two years, he was North American Product Manager for Fischer Skis of Austria.

When he and wife Heather were married in 1978, they put down permanent roots in the scenic Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa. Boomer entered the Ottawa area’s budding high tech sector, and has been employed in sales and marketing in the sector ever since. Prior to devoting himself full time to the ride, he was the Executive Sales Manager for VMI Medical Inc., a biomedical company that engineers echo cardiograph software, for specialized use in pediatrics and heart center cardiology.

Boomer is an adventurer who possesses a boundless reserve of energy, and a gregarious, "can-do" personality. This infectious combination of traits regularly conspire to take him on fantastic journeys, like a 5 week, 5,000 km bike trip through Europe after a summer job with Splitkein Skis of Norway in 1970. He has followed the seasons to ski in the southern hemisphere, hitching rides across the Pacific on tankers and container ships so he could ski in New Zealand.

In one memorable trip at the height of the Cold War in the late 60’s, he managed to board a train on the Soviet Union’s Pacific coast, and road the Russian equivalent of 3 week milk run, whistle-stopping his way across the frozen interior of Siberia through to Moscow, and ultimately on to a ski meet in Munich.

More recently, he has become an enthusiastic participant in the annual RAGBRAI bike ride across Iowa. Started 30 years ago by two reporters from the De Moines Register News, the ride has grown to become something of a carnival, featuring an estimated 20,000 cyclists participating in a 7 day, 1000 km bike ride that begins with the riders’ back tires dipped in the Missouri River, and ends with their front ones dipped in the Mississippi. Boomer, Heather and daughters Amy and Megan have made the ride an annual summer pilgrimage, leading a small band of friends and relatives off on this week long festival of fitness, fun and fresh air for almost 10 years now.

Through countless family bike and ski trips, Boomer has passed this zest for life to daughter Amy, now in her second year at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, and Megan, a student at Heritage College in Hull, Quebec.

And his passion for living has given inspiration and strength to his wife Heather, and sister Anna. Heather is a two-time survivor of breast cancer, while Anna has successfully met the challenge of colorectal cancer.

Taken together, Boomer has all the requisite skills, experience and motivation to undertake and complete this challenge. Indeed, he is uniquely qualified.