Welcome to the wonderful world of awareness scams. Awareness, it's your ticket to doing what you want to do when you cannot afford it on your own.

Very well put:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

[pink] He swam this morning in Blueseventy Core shorts. We need the water temperature to make sure it was wetsuit legal, or else he should be DQed. [/pink]

At the very least he has not followed these IUTA rules;
- No IV fluids
- No drafting on the bike
- No pacing on the run

Anyone following close enough to provide insight on his updated plans for tomorrow in Texas? Still in Dallas? Start time, location, etc? Especially if he's deviating from what is listed on the calendar. Thanks!

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Lars Finanger
Odyssey SwimRun

Thanks! The pacing on the run isn't super strict but I agree on the first two. Sorry I missed that!

Dallas tomorrow will be interesting. With Tropical Storm Bill is showing up, 4-6 inches of rainfall, flooded roadways, and Little Elm is currently closed due to flooding in the area.

If you click the links from the calendar on his dedicated website (ironcowboy.co), the returned maps look like alternates to Lake Ray Hubbard.

Either way, with the rain, flooding, and a mixture of Texas Drivers w/ weather - I truly with this event the best of luck.

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Team Gingerfight

Apparently he's raising $100k so he can "own" his documentary? That strikes me as odd. I don't begrudge him trying to set a world record but why would someone pay for him to own his documentary? I was also unaware he was doing this for a cause. I'm following him on Twitter and I have seen no mention of it.

right now FB says he is hoping to be done with the current (OK) run by 1am. did you check the group page or the FB point person? let me see what i can find...

https://www.facebook.com/events/682655818527536/

"
Hello All,
I am Coach Sean, the Texas Ambassador. Several things have changed and with every state we modify things for James to meet the ever changing situation. I am in contact with all the Ambassadors and each of us have been on top of things to help James meet the demands of this task head on.
Here in Texas we are looking at a tropical storm hitting the Gulf and are under flash flood warnings. With several months of floods all the lakes in the Northern parts of the Dallas area are still flooded. This has caused many changes. If rain and wind stay away I have moved the swim to Wind Surf Bay at Lake Ray Hubbard, if the rain moves in like predicted a pool swim will be set up instead.
We will bike from there to White Rock Lake since it is a closed loop somewhat protected from traffic. If the rain is heavy James will probably be driven from the pool to White Rock. This move is to help protect James during potential rain, flooding, and traffic. The loops will allow his crew and my crew to help any and every way we can. The run will also be around White Rock and end at the Whole foods located at Gaston and Abrams.
Find the Dallas Facebook page for the latest updates....https://www.facebook.com/groups/texasironcowboy/
Feel free to contact me for anything you need"

Sean's contact info is at https://www.facebook.com/sean.gassman

"As of right now 7:30 am pool swim start at Lifetime Garland"

"
Ok... Just got off the phone with some updates. As of Now... and it could change.
1. swim is est. to start at 7... but depends on how he feels getting off the bike.
2. He will be moved to the parking lot by the spill way which will be our T1 and T2 for the bike and run. The 5k will be at around 7 no matter what, he has started getting them done and then finishing his run since he is not finishing until much later and does not want everyone waiting on him.
3. Arrive early and stay late... times can change but an effort is being made to keep it around the same time.
stay here for updates. I will be using periscope for live broadcast also...

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

No need for me to wait another 9 years to get back to you to give this some perspective.

Splitting a daily marathon into a morning and evening run, with plenty of walking for good measure, with little else to do all day, is probably more achievable than many runners would imagine.

As far as over 60 ultra running goes, this is nothing like the performances of Cliff Young, George Audley or George Perdon in their 60s.

(Quotes edited for clarity)

tonight's marathon turn out...

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

youngster! :)

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

He is going to need all the help he can get, they are saying scattered showers in the morning but after lunch it will rain pretty much non stop for 24 hours. Then travel to Oklahoma and get more of the same. Maybe pull a Tim Don and do an IM on stationary equipment?

thanks for sending that link -- very helpful. going to attempt to make the drive up from north houston to check it out.

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Lars Finanger
Odyssey SwimRun

actually he'll be going to Louisiana, he was in OK today. It won't be great there either.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

yay! please report back if you can and take care! that was a pretty destructive storm down here before it was even named.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

This whole thing is a clown show;

1. No clearly defined rules, absolutely nothing. So he could define a day as 00:00-23:59 like the rest of humanity or it could be 33 hours since he had a dream telling him that is how a day is defined. No rules on drafting, pacing, assistance, resting, etc. You have to set the standards so others can repeat your attempt. Without clearly defined parameters i am not sure how this will be a world record? Do indoor miles count? How do we validate that he did the actual distance? This to me is an indicator that he lacks the professionalism to be respected.

2. He is sponsored by young living, nuf said (Google their founder).

3. Dragging his family through this self centered ordeal. Any parents here will know that this is a nightmare for kids, they will not find this interesting at all.

4. Extremely shady fundraising on his website under the ruse of some great good, AKA, give me money that i can use on myself. I would much rather give my money to an actual charity that is helping those in need or help those in the local shelter with my money.

Watching the periscope.tv broadcast right before the run last night, I noticed a few different things.

His crew & his family all appeard to be in very high spirits. His kids are doing some if not all of the 5k with him

He talked quite a few minutes about where the money that he raises fromt he 5k donations are going, and that is going to the Jamie Oliver foundation. 100% of all money donated for the 5k in each state is going to this foundation. That being said, if you cant afford a donation, he encourages anyone to participate regardless.

He loves everything about what he is doing. His oldest daughter spoke and talked about the raising awareness and the Jamie Oliver foundation. He loves all the support he is recieving, even it's just a message on twitter or Facebook.

While I don't think it's the best run thing in the world, I believe that everyone is passionate about what is happening and pushing forward with the task on hand.

That being said, sure there are some things that could be done differently. His website is odd to navigate, the logistics, the "rules", etc

I have gotten a few messages about why I am so passionate about this, my answer is always why not? If he inspires 1 kid to get up and get moving, or 1 adult, then it's all worth it. People here on ST are going to nit pick everything to death. Point is, there is no precident for this. There is no prior attempt at this to base it off of. If we as endourance atheletes can't appreciate what he is doing, that's sad.

As far as I can tell, people not being aware that he's doing this for a cause seems to be a serious marketing failure of his team. It seems many people weren't aware of that. That says to me either that's entirely a secondary part of his purpose or just poor execution of that plan. It seems with social media his team should be mentioning that fact with every single post they make about this event.

Just went to his website about the event. In the home page, at least on mobile device, there is no mention of raising awareness of obesity on the home page. That should be right up front plastered all over the place. Seriously, if this event is primarily about awareness and not him then that should be all over that page. You don't need a PR or marketing degree to know that.

Who cares? Back in the 1979, Terry Fox made it halfway across Canada raising money for cancer, doing approximately 1 marathon per day. Nobody cares how his marathons were marked or what rules he followed. Nowadays, the Terry Fox Run is an enormous annual fundraising event. Fox lacked professionalism too: It was him and a van for much of the run, and they were essentially ignored by the media until they made it into Ontario.

Will this guy accomplish the same thing? Probably not. But complaining that his effort isn't doing USAT-defined triathlons seems a bit nitpicky. He's also accepting external assistance from his support crew in the form of food, massages, spare bikes, etc. Who cares?

I agree they need to do better highlighting the goal online. Maybe they're better at it in person. They do have 38 or so days to get that figured out.

This is an amazing effort, I hope he makes it.

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STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016

Agree. It's easy to try to complain about the rules being vague or how many hours are in a day or this or that or that he's drafting or that he's using an IV. Fact is, the guy is undertaking an extreme endurance event and he sets his own rules and is open about what he does. THere are no secrets. That means if you want to try it yourself one day, you can easily see what the spirit of his unwritten rules are and do the same and see how far you get.

As far as I am concerned he can swim with a pull buoy in the pool, a wetsuit in non-wetsuit temperatures per USAT rules, draft on the bike, have any outside assistance he likes because fact is that his accomplishment remains incredible regardless of those details. I think of it as climbing Mount Everest, some use additional oxygen and some don't. While for some people that may be a substantial difference, it's still climbing the tallest mountain in the world and there are great dangers regardless of how you do it.

So I think some more respect is in place and there's no need for some here to continue their negativity. It's annoying and makes them come across as sour losers.

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_____________________
Don't forget to attack!

ok, that is enough about the kids. you guys have NO IDEA what the kids are doing or experiencing but they looked pretty happy yesterday at the cowboy museum. the oldest daughter is quite beloved by the participants also - there are frequent mentions of her by people doing the run. additionally, *I* have no idea what his kids are going through either but i'm not going to speculate.

AND, as a parent who dragged a 3mo, 3yo and 5yo out on an RV-cross country trip, I can guarantee you it is quite possible they are having the times of their lives (as well as hating certain moments, but as parents, that is what we do. we give them good and bad.). AND as a parent who dragged a 2yo, 4yo, 7yo and 9yo on an international (USA and Mexico) 4-year cross country trip, I can again assure you I have some BTDT WRT kids and very involved RV trips.

so, t

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

well, that is your opinion. even though i suspect his religion and political stance might be 180 to mine (i haven't checked because, duh, has nothing to do with the event) i continue to be incredibly impressed. you have no idea if he is dragging his family or not. any time you give money to someone you have to allow for the possibility that they're going to go buy a million kilos of cheetos with it. once you give that money away it is no longer yours. put it in a bubble and blow it away.

i think it is possible that a lot of you naysayers are just jealous that you can't begin to comprehend the fitness this event requires. and really, how sad is that. how sad that so blinded by your jealousy that you (the general you that this applies to) can't simply appreciate the theatre and spectacle that the 50 days will bring.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

I wonder what the ST response would have been had a pro triathlete been attempting this 50/50/50 instead of some unknown from Utah?