Now almost halfway through a push to complete 50 triathlon distances in 50 states in 50 days, James Lawrence discusses his aims in the above video.
James Lawrence, a record-smashing triathlete who bills himself as the Iron Cowboy, plans to bring his campaign to complete 50 Ironman-distance triathlons in 50 states in 50 days to the Greater Red Bank Green on Saturday, July 4.
Yes, you read that correctly: 50 tris in 50 days in 50 states. Insane, right?
“Yeah, pretty much,” says Doug Rice, founder of the Sandy Hookers Tri Club, which is coordinating the Jersey leg of Lawrence’s epic endurance effort.
A map shows the bike leg of Lawrence’s New Jersey effort; click to enlarge it. For details on exact turn points and estimates on when Lawrence will reach them, check out this spreadsheet.
Lawrence, a 39-year-old father of five from Utah, already holds world records for the most half-distance triathlons in a year (22) and the most full-distance Ironman tris in a year (30). The New Jersey event is to be the 29th in the series that began on June 6 in Kauai, Hawaii, and is meant to bring attention to the dangers of obesity.
Lawrence is expected to begin Saturday’s effort at 6 a.m, when he’ll enter Sandy Hook Bay from opposite parking lot C at Sandy Hook and swim south with the current for 1.2 miles into the Shrewsbury River before turning around, Rice tells redbankgreen. (Maps linked from the Iron Cowboy website erroneously show the original plan, which was for an ocean swim; in the event of bad weather, Lawrence will do the swim in the pool at Ship Ahoy Beach Club, said Rice).
A support crew will then take Lawrence back to his motel on Ocean Avenue in Sea Bright, where he’ll jump on his bike for a 112.29-mile ride that takes him through Rumson, Fair Haven, Red Bank and beyond, into northern Burlington County and back.
Then there’s a 23.1-mile run that loops from Sea Bright to the north end of Sandy Hook and back. After a brief rest at his motel, Lawrence will cap off the day starting at 7 p.m. with a 3.1-mile jog into downtown Sea Bright in which all are welcome to trot alongside Lawrence, said Rice.
“It’s a pretty tall feat,” Rice said of the 50-50-50 objective. “But he’s coming up on the halfway point,” and as long as he stays healthy, has a chance of completing it. Because Lawrence is not racing, “if he has to walk some of it, he’ll walk.”
Supporters are asked to donate to the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation.
