In 1995, Gerry Duffy weighed almost 240 pounds and was smoking 50 cigarettes a day. After years of abusing his body, he finally was inspired to lose weight after seeing a picture of himself that he hardly recognized.
Fast forward to 2011 and the now 43 year-old man just finished ten triathlons in ten days. In case you are not familiar with a triathlon, Gerry swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and then ran a full 26.2 mile marathon each day. He did this ten days in a row. For each triathlon, he had to complete the required distance in 22 hours or less. Finishing earlier obviously gave him more time to eat and sleep before starting the next day’s event.
A brief recap of the event can be seen below.
Completing ten triathlons in ten days is an incredible feat for anyone. It is literally mind boggling as there is hardly any time to eat and sleep before starting over again the next day. Gerry’s accomplishments are even more incredible when you consider where he started. How many overweight adult smokers believe they have the ability to complete a triathlon? Many have already given up on the possibility of pursuing a healthy and active lifestyle.
Fortunately, Gerry Duffy has shown us all that it is never too late to start. We all possess the ability to reinvent ourselves and start something new.
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“A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.” – John Barrymore
Wow. And that was 10 Ironman triathlons, the already hardcore version of the triathlon!
Wow is right. I like working hard, but I have no desire to work like that.
Ross, I ended up interviewing Gerry after hearing about him from this blog post. If you’re interested, the interview is here:
http://www.bodyhack.com/blog/inspirational-interview-with-gerry-duffy-who-ran-32-marathons-in-32-days-22
Amazing guy. His book is a good read too–his website is http://www.32marathons.com