Distance running and competitive modeling.

Totally different, right?

Not so, says Vince DelMonte, the high-selling fitness author, Web consultant and model -- known to some as the "Skinny Guy Savior" -- who has competed in both and took part in the World Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation's World Championship in late August.

ESPN.comVince DelMonte is in Las Vegas this weekend at a Muscle & Fitness convention.

Sure, one involves speed and timing, while the other revolves around looks and personality and judging. But as "isolation sports" both, they share one pretty big parallel.

"[Success is] really up to you," DelMonte. "You're in complete control."

That's one of DelMonte's mantras, and one of the reasons why the 31-year-old author of "No Nonsense Muscle Building" decided to change things up about a decade ago.

A runner as a teen and later at the University of Western Ontario, DelMonte was pretty competitive; he even ran for his native Canada at the World Triathlon Championships at age 16. But he never became elite -- "I was what you would call mid-pack," he said -- and spent his university years watching his "absolutely buff" roommates attract more attention than his thin self.

That, plus a desire to become a personal trainer -- and "who's going to want to train with a 140-pound skinny guy?" DelMonte remembers thinking -- pushed him to bulk up drug-free, tell his story, and inspire other small guys who want to get big.

So he has, and still does. Through that book, which has gained him a devoted online following. In a potential hardcover follow-up (possible title: "The Skinny Guy Savior," of course). And, every so often, at those shows, where he currently competes in the fitness model category (designed for less bulky guys).

He didn't place at the WBFF World Championship, but he's keeping on. This weekend he's off to a Muscle & Fitness competition in Las Vegas. And after that -- probably next year, he said -- he might move up to the "muscle model" category, one that will require packing on a few more pounds.

"It'll be a new challenge," he said, "and a personal accomplishment, as well."

But he's used to that sort of thing.