My Spontaneous Run with Iron Cowboy

Spontaneous Run with Iron Cowboy

Today I went on a run with my dog, we ran about 3 miles, enough to work up a good sweat in the 80 degree heat. It reminded me of the time not long ago (July 16,2015) I found out about the Iron Cowboy and had a chance to run a marathon with him in Madison, WI.

Who’s Iron Cowboy?

His name is James Lawrence, he resides in Utah and holds two spots in the Guinness Book of World Records for triathlon: one for the most long-course races in a year (22 in 30 weeks in 2010), and one for the most ultra-distance triathlons in a year (30 in 2012).
Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2014/06/james-lawrence-legacy.aspx#ixzz4mXkUblMR

I heard about him and what he was trying to accomplish and I was inspired to meet him. You see he was midway through his journey (50.50.50) and he was coming to our state on a mission. 50.50.50

50 Full Ironman Distances in 50 Days in 50 States

"My goal is simply to inspire others to challenge themselves and to be more active.
Together with the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation we can all be part of the movement to fight obesity." - James Lawrence

When I arrived, I talked with a group of inspired people looking to meet Iron Cowboy and run with him. People could run a few miles with him, run a loop or run the whole 26.2 miles. While meeting some guys from Chicago, they asked me if I was just there to run a loop or was I going to run the whole thing? In my mind, I thought to myself, if this guy (ironcowboy) can do what he is doing, then I can run the marathon with him. I answered “yes, I’m going to run the whole thing.” It was overcast, but that could not dampen the excitement in the air. We all waited for him to come out of his RV to get started, one problem was that he was suffering from hypothermia and was trying to warmup, especially after the swim and bike ride. He met with all of us that were ready to go (we had mostly adults and also a 13 year old girl who drove down 2 1/2 hours to run) and also took a picture with us.

Then it was “go time”. We started on our run at about 5pm, running through the city of Madison along the lake and then through the Vilas Zoo, where I saw a friend who joined up right there and started to run with us. She heard about him to as she has completed many Ironman races. It was fun to have here running alongside him, talking back and forth. We completed a little over 5 mile loop and he again took a break and then we started up again to meet more of a crowd at the zoo and have him say a few words.

The crowd was very welcoming with a nice group there at 7pm, Bucky Badger made an appearance too. Some came to run a 3k with him, so just as we were getting ready to run and he spoke, of course we had to get him a "Cheesehead" to wear as that is what Wisconsin is known for, then rains came. Hard rain came pouring on us, it reminded me of how I felt when a kid playing out in the rain. Small kids to adults trekked along the path to get through the 3k, most left after that but some of us had our minds set to complete the whole marathon distance with Iron Cowboy.

We had a couple more loops, all sharing stories and working together so we were safe in the dark. Remember the 13 year old girl, she was determined to finish and all of us were encouraging her to keep going as she did, wow talk about some mental toughness! We were on the last loop and finally ended up finishing at 11pm, drenched and accomplished, we all wished each other well and thanked the Iron Cowboy for coming and taking us on his journey with him. It was a blast!

He completes it!

50 Ironmans in 50 Days in 50 States

Triathlete and father of five completes epic endurance challenge.

By Megan DiTrolio Friday, July 31, 2015, 1:55 pm

James Lawrence, a 39-year-old triathlon coach and personal trainer, set out on a grueling endurance challenge on June 6 in Hawaii:to complete 50 Ironman-distance events in 50 states in 50 consecutive days. He succeeded, finishing his final 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run 50 days later on July 25 in Utah.
Along the way, the father of five from Lindon, Utah, raised $70,000 for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, an organization focused on teaching youths about food and nutrition and combatting obesity in America. After hearing a Ted Talk about the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, Lawrence knew it was a cause he wanted to support. “I’ve got five young kids, I’m very active with their lives," Lawrence told Runner's World Newswire. “I want to help change up-and-coming lives and set an example for my kids, so that they can then set an example for their schoolmates.”

Source: Runners World

Conclusion

What an inspiring story and a sure way to influence others to exercise. Sometimes its great to break up our workout/fitness routines and go do something we normally would not do. For me, I’ve run marathons before, but haven’t run one like this, it was a special chance to be a small part of Iron Cowboy’s journey and I will always be inspired by him. A great way to raise awareness and send a positive message to the next generations to come. Remember, do something within your fitness level, the main thing is that you do something, maybe even something spontaneous as well.

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Be your best,

Tim