1986
- 1st – Desert Princess Duathlon World Championship Series: Race #1
- 1st – Penrod’s; Ft. Lauderdale, FL
1987
- 1st – Desert Princess Duathlon World Championship Series: Race #2
- 1st – San Diego International
1988
- 1st – Huntington Beach, CA
- 1st – Sacramento International
- 1st – Human Race, Newport Beach, CA
- 5th – Nice, France World Long Distance Championships
- 6th – Kelowna World Olympic Distance Championships
- 3rd – Bermuda International
1989
- 1st – San Diego International
- 1st – Human Race, Newport Beach, CA
- 1st – New York City Duathlon
- 2nd – Antigua Pineapple Triathlon; Antigua, West Indies
1990
- 1st – Orange County Performing Arts, Mission Viejo, CA
- 1st – Eilat, Israel International
- 1st – Reebok World Triathlon, Toronto, Canada
- 1st – Oxnard Bud Light, CA
- 1st – Huntington Beach, CA
- 1st – Software Publishing Biathlon; San Jose, CA
- 4th – World Cup, Gold Coast, Australia
- 3rd – Coors Light National Duathlon Championships, Phoenix, AZ
- 6 victories, 19 top-5 finishes
1991
- 1st – Bud Light US Triathlon Series Coke Grand Prix National Championship
- 1st – USA Triathlon National Sprint Championships, Aventura, FL
- 1st – ITU World Cup/Pan American Championships; Ixtapa, Mexico
- 1st – Bud Light US Triathlon Series Phoenix
- 1st – Bud Light US Triathlon Series San Diego
- 1st – Orange County Performing Arts; Mission Viejo, CA
- 1st – Huntington Beach, CA
- 1st – Eilat, Israel International
- 1st – Software Publishing Biathlon; San Jose, CA
- 9 victories, 16 top-3 placings in 16 finishes
1992
- 1st – St. Anthony’s, St. Petersburg, FL
- 3rd – America’s Paradise, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
- 5th – ITU World Championships; Muskoka, Ontario, Canada (last top-5 USA male, thru ’14)
- 3rd – ITU World Cup; Beijing, China
- 5th – Chicago Mrs. T’s
1993
- 1st – DCA Sprint; Stone Mountain, Georgia. Richest Sprint distance race in triathlon history
- 1st – Old Sacramento Triathlon
- 5th – ITU World Cup series final/Pan American Championships; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
1994
- 1st – Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA
- 5th – ITU World Cup; Ixtapa, Mexico
- 2nd – ITU World Cup Duathlon; Dallas, TX
1995
- 3rd – Wildflower Half Ironman
Honors
- 1991 ranked #3 in world by US Pro Athlete Commission rankings
- 7-time Triathlon Today All-American Professional Team
- USA Triathlon Top-6 professional ranking for five consecutive years
- 31 Professional Victories, 77 top-5 finishes
- 7 Consecutive victories 1991-1992
- Ranked #1 duathlete in world for four months, 1986-1987
- Ranked #1 triathlete in world for two months, 1991
- 1991 Bud Light Series Coke Grand Prix Champion
- Only American since 1992 to place top-5 at ITU World Championships
Brad Kearns raced professionally as one of the world’s top triathletes for nine seasons from 1986-1994. He had over 30 victories in his professional career, including a remarkable streak of seven in a row in 1991 and early 1992. Brad was a 4:19 miler in high school and ran cross country at UC Santa Barbara for two years before injuries ended his running career. He competed for the UCSB cycling team and won the Western Regional Championship in the novice division time trial in 1984.
After graduating in June, 1985 with a degree in economics, Brad worked all of 11 weeks for an accounting firm, then decided to give a career as a pro triathlete a try. At the end of his first season, in November, 1986, he shocked the multisport world with a victory in the inaugural Desert Princess Duathlon World Championship Series event. His improbable victory is still considered today to be one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport, as he spoiled the anticipated showdown between the world’s #1 ranked triathlete Scott Molina and the world’s #1 ranked duathlete Kenny Souza.
He then won his next two races, the Penrod’s Triathlon in Florida and the second of the Desert Princess duathlon series (by five minutes), establishing himself in the elite ranks of professionals, and “staving off a pizza delivery job that winter to continue training full time.”
Brad lists among his most memorable races first two Desert Princess events, where his victories “surprised everyone, including myself; they gave me the confidence that I could make it as a pro triathlete”; the 1990 and 91 victories at the Orange County Performing Arts Center races “Many family and friends and a great pro field were at those races. The 1991 event, where I came from 1:45 down off the bike to win, was the hardest run of my life”; and the 1993 DCA Sprint in Atlanta “It was one of those days where I felt no pain”.
When asked for the most humorous experience in his career, Kearns related a trip to Florida in 1987. “I was about to fly home with George Hoover. I dropped George off, returned the rental car, and the plane left the gate early without me. I was so mad I ran out onto the tarmac and screamed and gestured for the pilot to stop taxiing and turn around to get me. As the security guards hauled me away I could see George laughing from his window.”
