James Lawrence, AKA the Iron Cowboy and the current Guinness World Record Holder for Most Ironmans Completed in a Year, began his 50-day, 50-race, 50-state Challenge on June 6 in Hawaii. The 50-50-50 Challenge requires completing a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile a bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run every single day for 50 days in 50 different U.S. states. To save you the math, it’s a total of 120 miles swam, 5,600 biked, and 1,310 run over the course of the challenge. He’ll travel state-to-state, racing daily until finishing in his home state of Utah on July 25. Lawrence will be in Chattanooga on Tuesday.
The public is invited to participate for free in their city’s challenge by registering at The Iron Cowboy’s website. Choose to race the entire Ironman or just the final evening 5K. Schedule of race times and locations are available here. www.ironcowboy.co/calendar/
By doing this challenge, Lawrence hopes to raise awareness and funds to fight the evergrowing epidemic of childhood obesity through a partnership with the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, “We’re the first generation where the parents are slated to outlive their children,” The Iron Cowboy said, “The epidemic is so crazy that I had to do something that equaled its craziness in order for people to pay attention.”
Though racing this far seems impossible to most, Lawrence is prepared, “I know my limits were not reached in 2012 [when breaking the Ironman World Record] and I want to test the true limits of my mind and body with this 50-50-50 Challenge, and I want the people of the United States and around the world to join me,” said The Iron Cowboy. Thanks to generous donations from sponsors, Lawrence’s trip is funded, but he’s still looking for public donations for the documentary about this record-breaking victory. Awardwinning director and cinematographer, Jacob Scwarz, will produce the documentary.
Donations are being accepted through his 50-50-50 Indiegogo campaign. Donors receive unique perks like one-of-a-kind art works, apparel, race bibs, and copies of the documentary when completed.