I think it's not that impressive that this guy is doing 12-17 hours of exercise a day in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. Looks like a marketing ploy to get more gigs for motivational speaking and promote products to the mindless follower drones that cannot see things for what they really are. These are the same people that believe anything someone tells them regardless if the evidence supports it. They say, there are suckers for everything, just look at the as seen on TV stuff. But no matter what evidence we discuss, you can't change stupid. Enjoy your "ignorance is bliss" while smarter folks "keep it real."

I think it's not that impressive that this guy is doing 12-17 hours of exercise a day in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. Looks like a marketing ploy to get more gigs for motivational speaking and promote products to the mindless follower drones that cannot see things for what they really are. These are the same people that believe anything someone tells them regardless if the evidence supports it. They say, there are suckers for everything, just look at the as seen on TV stuff. But no matter what evidence we discuss, you can't change stupid. Enjoy your "ignorance is bliss" while smarter folks "keep it real."

I think it's not that impressive that this guy is doing 12-17 hours of exercise a day in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. Looks like a marketing ploy to get more gigs for motivational speaking and promote products to the mindless follower drones that cannot see things for what they really are. These are the same people that believe anything someone tells them regardless if the evidence supports it. They say, there are suckers for everything, just look at the as seen on TV stuff. But no matter what evidence we discuss, you can't change stupid. Enjoy your "ignorance is bliss" while smarter folks "keep it real."

I think it's not that impressive that this guy is doing 12-17 hours of exercise a day in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. Looks like a marketing ploy to get more gigs for motivational speaking and promote products to the mindless follower drones that cannot see things for what they really are. These are the same people that believe anything someone tells them regardless if the evidence supports it. They say, there are suckers for everything, just look at the as seen on TV stuff. But no matter what evidence we discuss, you can't change stupid. Enjoy your "ignorance is bliss" while smarter folks "keep it real."

I think it's not that impressive that this guy is doing 12-17 hours of exercise a day in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. Looks like a marketing ploy to get more gigs for motivational speaking and promote products to the mindless follower drones that cannot see things for what they really are. These are the same people that believe anything someone tells them regardless if the evidence supports it. They say, there are suckers for everything, just look at the as seen on TV stuff. But no matter what evidence we discuss, you can't change stupid. Enjoy your "ignorance is bliss" while smarter folks "keep it real."

I think it's not that impressive that this guy is doing 12-17 hours of exercise a day in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. Looks like a marketing ploy to get more gigs for motivational speaking and promote products to the mindless follower drones that cannot see things for what they really are. These are the same people that believe anything someone tells them regardless if the evidence supports it. They say, there are suckers for everything, just look at the as seen on TV stuff. But no matter what evidence we discuss, you can't change stupid. Enjoy your "ignorance is bliss" while smarter folks "keep it real."

Almost everything meant to be consumed by the public is a marketing ploy to try and sell crap. It's obvious that they've thought at least a little about branding, as the Ironcowboy logo is actually fairly slick-looking. That said, it is entirely possible to keep the "it's a marketing ploy" and "it's pretty damn impressive" thoughts in your brain at the same time.

Felix Baumgartner jumping from space was a marketing ploy to sell sugared caffeine drinks. It was still really cool.
Solar Impulse trying to fly around the world without the aircraft burning a drop of gasoline is a marketing ploy to sell batteries and solar panels. It is still really cool.
Every single rider in the TdF is trying to sell bikes, gear, or accessories. It's still cool.
The European Space Agency actually has as one of its missions to publicize european technology and researchers (which is why many of their press releases make sure to mention who made the hardware). It doesn't make the Rosetta mission any less cool.

If you go through life thinking that something being a marketing ploy means it can't be impressive or if someone stands to benefit from something that you can't be impressed, that's a very cynical life.

I'd argue that IC could have been an _amazing_ marketing vehicle (much better than they have been), and that's a bit of a missed opportunity on their part. They could've been highlighting what he's using to recover, what he's eating, what saddle he's using, who set his bike up, etc. The ability to be on a bike 6-7 hours a day, day after day, indicates that they have an extremely comfortable setup, and I would very much like to buy whatever products they're using to keep him on the saddle.

I am going to eat 50 Chipotle burritos in 50 days to raise awareness of what retards triathletes are.

I do not think there are many people on here that do not think what he is doing is physically/mentally extremely impressive. There was a lot of consternation when he was accepting donations himself while saying they were going to Jaime Oliver. He's fixed that but no one knows what happened to the donations prior to the fix, which only happened after the Jaime Oliver Foundation was alerted to the situation. The big continuing issue is that he is claiming numerous world records for consecutive ironman's when he clearly has not completed them by any objective measure while the people who set those records stuck to rigorous rules and really did it.

If it were not for those things I think most people on this thread would be very pro ironcowboy.

Got an email from blueseventy this morning claiming a World Record:

"We're inspired by James' World Record and we want to give more back. Now through MONDAY, AUGUST 3RD use coupon code [deleted] and receive 15% off your purchase. We will donate 10% of every sale used with this coupon code to Jamie Oliver's Food Foundation to help the fight against obesity."

I spend way too much time on the internet. I read a blogger yesterday who claimed a world record for IC, sorry I didn't copy it. Today, I see this in the news:
http://www.deseretnews.com/...-obesity.html?pg=all

Pretty sure he's going to stand by his world record claim, despite the elliptical day. Disclaimer: much respect for the athletic achievement.