Tough as Nails: David Goggins

A few weeks back I received the latest issue of "Runner's World" in the mail. The most interesting feature of the magazine was a section entitled "Running Heroes." The section consisted of one page write ups for various running figures like distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie and Olympic sprint phenom Usain "Lightning" Bolt. Among these heroes was a person I had never heard of before. His name was David Goggins.

David Goggins is a US Navy SEAL. After experiencing the loss of a few friends in missions gone awry in Afghanistan, he decided to dedicate part of his life to raising money for the children of his fallen comrades. A highly motivated individual, David googled the "10 hardest things to do in the world" and decided he wanted to complete the Badwater ultramarathon for himself and for his charity cause.

There were a few kickers about this situation. First of all, the Badwater ultra is known as one of the toughest endurance events in the world. It's a 135 mile race held in the July heat that begins in Death Valley, California and rises in elevation up to the portal of Mount Whitney. Secondly, although David Goggins is a Navy SEAL, he had never ran a marathon, let alone an ultramarathon.

David asked the race director to let him enter the race. The director told him he needed ultramarathon experience first. So David looked quickly for his first ultramarathon race. He soon entered the San Diego 24 hour 100 miler. Despite breaking metatarsal bones in both feet and suffering kidney failure (he urinated blood), David managed to finish the 100 mile race in about 19 hours. Ten days later, he amazingly ran the Las Vegas marathon in 3:08. His career as an endurance athlete and philanthropist had begun.

David went on to place well in many races including the vaunted Badwater ultra. He even placed second in the 2006 Ultraman Championships, a double ironman race held over the course of a few days. All the while, David has raised around $200,000 for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which provides college scholarships to the children of fallen special operatives.

A few things are evident from reading David's story and website. First of all, David is obviously extraordinary in his ability to endure and tolerate pain. He is motivated by discovering how far he can push his limits. To me, he is definitely one of the most inspiring individuals because of his toughness and his commitment to his cause.

If you would like to read more about David, check out these links:
http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/content/content.jsp?contentId=content3808
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-408--12944-0,00.html
http://the100mileman.com/davidgoggins/

Here's a link to David's charity cause, Special Operations Warrior Foundation:
http://www.specialops.org/