David Goggins, a 12-year veteran of the Navy SEALS runs marathons in memory of the fallen.

Navy Seal competes for those who cannot

NIWOT, COLO.—Petty Officer First Class David Goggins says he hates to run, hates to swim and hates to bike, though one would never know it. With every race Goggins enters, the 13-year Navy Seal veteran and racing newcomer sits on the heels of the more experienced extreme athletes. In 2007, Goggins finished second in the Plain 100, an all-terrain 100-mile race through the Cascade Mountains (ten years ago the Plain 100 had no finishers, this year only half finished). Athletes and the sports media are all asking the same question: Who is this guy and where will he show up next?

Look for him on June 8th 2008 at the Race Across American (RAAM), a continental coast-to-coast bike race. Goggins will click his shoes to his bike petals and ride from Oceanside California to Annapolis Maryland to raise money and awareness for the American Military Family Association (AMF), a Colorado-based nonprofit assistance organization for military service members and their families.

So what pushes this Navy Seal to test his physical and mental limits to this extreme? It was the grief from the loss of eleven of his friends serving in Afghanistan that pressed Goggins to pursue becoming an ultramarathoner. "I’m nobody special," Goggins says modestly. "I joined the military to push myself, but when I joined I couldn’t run to the mailbox. I was a 280 pound power lifter who benched 485 pounds," he says. "But when I lost my friends, I thought there must be a way to raise money for their kids." Goggins was able to raise enough money to send 226 children of killed military service members to college through the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF).

Goggins chose the most grueling sport possible, but his advantage was the intense mental and physical Navy Seal training, with a little naivety thrown in. With only six days notice and no training, Goggins used his Navy Seal mettle to complete his first 100-mile race in 2005, the San Diego 100. This is where the naivety comes in, no more than eight days later Goggins ran the Las Vegas marathon.

A year later, Goggins was more than fifty pounds lighter and one hundred times wiser, which paid off. The two early qualifying tests opened the door for entries in two major races, with notable finishing times: fifth place in the 2006 Badwater Ultramarathon, a grueling 135-mile race that starts at below sea level in Death Valley and ends at the 8360 foot Mount Whitney; and second place in the 2006 Hawaiian Ultraman triathlon, a 6.2 mile swim, 261 miles of cycling and a 52.4 mile run.

Goggins expects no less for himself in the RAAM bike race on June 8, 2008. Above all, he will use his single-minded dedication and focus on raising awareness and contributions to the American Military Family Association (enclosed is the 2008 race schedule). Goggins doesn’t do this for the accolades. Every petal rotation, swim stroke and running stride is for his fellow soldiers and their families. Goggins says he "competes for those who no longer can."