Bereaved father completes record 100 kg marathon

The event came out of a massive personal tragedy.  In 2015 Jordan’s son Jacob was stillborn.  It was devastating.

Among the many crushing emotions was that Jordan was unable to financially provide for the cost of a headstone.  The impact of the experience has never left Jordan, and over the last year he stumbled across a challenge that would honour Jacob and help other parents affected by this painful loss.

Strongman record

Between the two dates, Jordan has already made unlikely history.  He had an opportunity to compete at the Arnold Sports festival in a new event using a monster Atlas stone.  He would be lifting a 460 lb (210 kg) stone – bigger than any used in competition before – over a 4 foot bar, for reps.

He was against Mitchell Hooper, a full time strongman who had just won the Arnold Strongman competition and has since racked up masses of wins including World’s Strongest Man.  He was 50 kg heavier than Jordan.

Mitchell managed a single rep of the massive weight.  Incredibly, Jordan managed three reps, to take the world record.

It didn’t last long, but it was incredible that Jordan was even in the running for the record as a smaller man with a fraction of the training.

Heaviest marathon

The new challenge came to Jordan when he stumbled across a natural rock that would make an ideal headstone.  The challenge was that he would carry the rock himself as part of the world’s heaviest marathon.  Jordan would be carrying 100 kg (220 lb) for a full 26 miles.

This wasn’t to be the end of the challenge.  After the rock was cut down he would take the 30 kg rock home, 450 miles.  He’ll be raising awareness along the way of the terrible loss of stillbirth, and aiming to raise thousands of pounds to help other families affected as he was.

The undertakings defy belief.  Jordan’s put on weight but at 118 kg expected to be carrying close to his bodyweight on the marathon.

This incredible first part is now complete.  He’s completed a route which was measured by Strava to be closer to 28 miles.  It almost broke him mentally and physically, and cut him literally as the heavy equipment dug in for thousands of steps.

“The immense physical pain was difficult to overcome but the emotional burden of letting Jacob down was even worse” he said.

Vegan power

Jordan has been vegan for around 9 years, and planned his fuel in advance.

“I’m always vegan, will continue to be vegan for the rest of my life” he says. “I usually eat a lot of whole foods but this is very calorie intensive.”

“On the actual run days I’ll use 15,000 calories, it’ll 12-13 hours of running 260 lb with 70 lb of weighted pack on my back” he says.   The same on the marathon – with 220lb on my back.  The wholefoods go out of the window to consume all those calories, it’s been a mix of things.”

Huel is a big part of what Jordan eats, although he also has to make room for a less wholefood, calorie intensive foods.

This includes “a lot of Linda McCartney sausages and Huel Black.  On the run itself a lot of will be Huel, lot of fruit and for carbohydrate and high energy it’s going to be fruit juices, mangoes and dates.”

Every aspect of the training and the challenges are awe-inspiring.  The physical demands and the urge to stop are enormous.

“When I’ve been in the worse physical pain in training, the thought of those going through baby loss and stillbirth quite quickly erased those feelings” Jordan says. “I’m choosing to do this, they are not.”

“Life is tough but I promise you I can be tougher.” 

The finish is now 450 miles away.