Update on 50-50-50 Iron Man

[Lefty]

An animal

Man does equivalent of 50 'Iron Man' triathlons in 50 days in 50 states to promote fitness among youths
By Cydney McFarland cmcfarland@journalnet.com 15 hrs ago Comments
IDAHO FALLS — James Lawrence, also known as the “Iron Cowboy,” spent Friday in Idaho Falls showing his mettle in the 49th Iron Man-equivalent event that he’s completed in 49 days.
On Saturday in Utah, he completed his 50th. Lawrence has done an Iron Man-equivalent event each day for the last 50 days in each of the 50 states to raise awareness of childhood obesity. “He heard a statistic that said this is the first generation where we, the parents, are going to outlive the kids,” said Aaron Hopkinson, one of Lawrence’s self-declared wingmen, who’s been traveling and helping coordinate the 50-50-50 challenge. “That kind of hit him, and he didn’t want any parent to witness burying one of their children because he doesn’t want that.” Lawrence has five young children and has been very involved in their lives and in their schools, and has seen what a problem childhood obesity is, according to Hopkinson. “If you look around in our school systems, obesity is a huge problem — in adults but also in children. It’s turned into the nation’s No. 1 killer,” Lawrence said in a speech he gave in Idaho Falls to a crowd gathered to run the Iron Cowboy 5K. Lawrence and his team have organized a 5K in every city as a way for people to join the cause and get active. The 5K is just a small portion of the marathon leg. “So much emphasis is put on treatment, when it should be put on prevention. Prevention is just education, real food and moving the body,” said Lawrence. He teamed up with the Jamie Oliver Foundation, which focuses on teaching kids how to live a healthy lifestyle through food education programs, and promoting healthy eating and cooking programs. Lawrence and his team reached out to people in each state to serve as an ambassador, and he relies on these ambassadors to set up a place to swim, a course to bike and a course to run. “With us having to move every day that would be a challenge for us,” said Casey Robles, another one of the Iron Cowboy’s wingmen. “We used a lot of locals to help us out.” An Iron Man consists of a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and topped off with a marathon, or a 26.2-mile run. Lawrence has started every day at 7 a.m., and then continues throughout the day and sometimes into the night, just to finish the full Iron Man. “It has ranged from 9:30, 10 at night to 3:30 in the morning, depending on how the day went and what my challenges were,” Lawrence said. Lawrence started his journey on June 6 in Kawai, Hawaii, and has since gained quite a following. Each day he has been joined by locals and fans from around the country who came to swim, bike or run with him. “When I found out he was doing 50 Iron Mans in 50 states in 50 days consecutively it just blew my mind,” said Tami Christensen, who came from Liberty Lake, Washington, to run the marathon leg with Lawrence in Idaho Falls. “I knew I just had to be part of it in the littlest sense.” Idaho Falls resident and ultra marathoner Jeremy Smith came out to run the first 10 miles of the Iron Cowboy’s marathon leg. “I believe that what he’s doing is inspiring,” said Smith. “I think he’s doing something that he probably thought was impossible on some days. But I think it wakes up a feeling in a lot of people and it really opens my eyes to what is possible if we really set our minds to things.” While Lawrence’s journey is impressive it is technically not a world record. Hopkinson said records require sanctioned events and courses, something that would be impossible to organize given their timeline. “It’s kind of just going out there and doing something nobody has done before,” said Hopkinson. “It’s more his own personal record, to see what his body is capable of.” The trip wasn’t easy. Lawrence biked and ran through some weather, including some heavy rain in Idaho Falls, and has been mentally and physically tested right to the very end. According to his Facebook page, he suffered serious cramping and hypothermia during his final swim at Thanksgiving Point in Utah, which brought him to tears in the water. He pushed through as he has done many times during his journey with the help of his crew and his family. “We’ve had some antics, some shenanigans that we’ve done, and every time we can get a smile from him afterwards, it lets us know that it’s easing the burden, easing the pain, easing the tiredness,” said Robles. “Those have been some our favorite times.” Lawrence’s wife and five kids have also been with him throughout the trip. His mom even flew in from Alberta, Canada, to run the last few 5Ks and his eldest daughter, Lucy, has run every 5K in all 50 states. “Children are a product of their environments,” said Lawrence. “It’s our responsibility as adults to set the best example for them.”

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