60-Year-Old Sets Audacious Goal to Finish 60 Ironmans in One Year
Will Turner is a little busy at the moment.
The 60-year-old finished an Ironman-distance event in Telluride, Colorado, last Tuesday, drove and arrived at his home in Richmond, Virginia, last night, and is preparing for another Ironman race right there in Richmond. It will be triathlon No. 43-this year.
On January 7, 2018-his 60th birthday-Turner decided to go big with a project he’s dubbed Sixty @ 60, something he had been toying with for three years.
Turner casually mentioned doing six full-distance Ironman triathlons-that’s a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.2-mile run-during for his 60th year to a friend three years back. But when the response was that somebody else in Richmond had recently done that, he felt a little deflated. So Turner decided to multiply his goal times 10.
“So I just thought, sixty at 60… and I thought it just had a nice ring to it,” Turner told Bicycling over the phone.
Turner loves to push himself beyond his limit, so not only would this goal achieve that, but it would also put him in position to set a Guinness World Record in the process. Ludovic Chorgnon from France currently holds the official record with his 44 Ironman races completed in one year.
Turner completed his first triathlon in 1993. With about a dozen marathons, 20 Ironman/full-distance triathlons, and a handful of ultra triathlons under his belt, you’d think the guy might have had enough. But Turner said he is always searching for a new goal and a way to test his limits.
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In 2016, Turner set the goal of finishing 20 Ironmans that year to see how his body would hold up, and it did. He’s carefully budgeted the whole project, from traveling in a camper to staying with friends when he can. Turner is the cofounder of RefuseOrdinary, a sales and productivity coaching company, and he coaches athletes with Endorphin Freak. Both of these jobs allow him to work remotely and meet with clients along his route across the US
The first Ironman was an official race: HITS in Naples, Florida, on January 6. (Technically before his 60th birthday, so Turner plans to do a 61st race, just in case.) Many other Ironmans are done “On Your Own,” meaning it isn’t an official race, but he’s logging the workouts. All the races must be at least the traditionally accepted Ironman distance and completed in the swim, cycle, run order. (He posts many of these to his Strava account.) Guinness requires photographic or video evidence of each race, and if it’s a sanctioned race, results and a letter from the race director must be sent to verify completion.
Turner says Grand Tetons has been a highlight location for him (he’s done five of his events in Jackson, Wyoming), and he’s also had some frustrating and... slightly terrifying ones.
One of Turner’s hardest events was his second race in Richmond, and it rained for most of the day-he was soaked head to toe almost the whole time. Another “favorite” was No. 36 in San Diego, his first ocean swim. Hours before getting in the water, friends were sending him news articles of increased stingray activity in the area and sharks spotted in the waters. Naturally, Turner jumped in anyway. About 10 strokes into his swim, he said a stingray swam about 2 feet under his torso.
“It was the longest swim of my life,” Turner said.
In between races, Turner does light stretching and foam rolling to keep his muscles active without straining. He keeps himself hydrated, avoids sugar and processed foods, and eats a lot of anti-inflammatory foods, such as spinach and berries. During each race, Turner’s “route master,” coworker and friend, Chris DeStefano (who he affectionately calls his “Uber Sherpa”), drives or cycles along the course, taking photos and bringing nutrition so Turner can refuel. For his postrace routine, Turner immediately downs an recovery drink.
But more than just accomplishing this incredible physical feat, Turner wanted to encourage others to push themselves and reach their own goals.
“My professional background is training and development… that’s a part of what I do with my work that I love, and it also carries over to the coaching work I do with athletes: helping them unblock themselves and move forward,” Turner said.
Maybe doing 60 Ironmans in a year sounds crazy to most, but for Turner, it comes out of a belief that everyone can go farther and work harder than they think, and the journey to get there is more than worth it.
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