This Guy Finished 105 DIY Ironmans in Two Years

For most folks, finishing a solitary Ironman-distance triathlon signifies a big milestone. An athlete may well educate for years to swim 2.four miles, bicycle 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles—all within the official cutoff time of 17 hrs.

But for Will Turner, a single was not sufficient. In December 2019, at age 61, Turner finished his a hundred and fifth Ironman-distance triathlon in two years. To obtain this crazy feat, he spent 2018 and 2019 in an pretty much nonstop cycle of swimming, biking, and functioning, sometimes finishing multiple “races” on consecutive times. 

The quest commenced in 2018, when Turner resolved to celebrate his sixtieth birthday by doing the exact same range of 140.6-mile triathlons in a solitary calendar year. Mainly because there aren’t sufficient organized Ironman functions to complete this target, Turner created his own programs all around the U.S. and Canada. As the owner of a gross sales-teaching corporation and an endurance-coaching business, he was capable to established his own work schedule and steadily designed upon his target of 60 functions. By the finish of 2018, he’d surpassed the Guinness Globe Document for most 140.6-mile triathlon races done in a calendar year. (Having said that, simply because he did not have two independent observers witness his accomplishment, according to the Guinness rule book, he doesn’t maintain the official history.) 

On New Year’s Day of 2019, even though sitting down at the kitchen table with Chris DeStefano, his lover, DeStefano inspired him to preserve going until he reached 100. DeStefano felt like they experienced the probable to inspire even additional folks. Turner was in, but for the 2019 leg of his journey, he produced it a precedence to do his triathlons in as numerous countrywide parks and community lands as he could. DeStefano took shots and managed logistics, and Turner created Dwell Your Bold, a website and social-media campaign giving inspiration and resources to other individuals who needed to chase large aims. 

In December, Turner finished his 99th and a hundredth Ironmans in Dying Valley National Park, which straddles the California-Nevada border. Then he added 5 additional in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, taking the total to 105. Turner recently recounted some of his favorite highlights from the adventure with Outside the house.