KONA — The EPIC5 Challenge begins today on Kaua‘i as the current standards in human endurance will be shattered as five athletes attempt to complete five triathlons in just five days across the Hawaiian Islands, states an event press release.
KONA — The EPIC5 Challenge begins today on Kaua‘i as the current standards in human endurance will be shattered as five athletes attempt to complete five triathlons in just five days across the Hawaiian Islands, states an event press release.
According to the course map, the five participants will begin with the marathon run from the Princeville Airport to Nawiliwili Park. Their itinerary states they will begin at 4 a.m. and expect to arrive at 8:30 a.m.
They will then complete the swim portion with three laps in Nawiliwili Bay from 8:40 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.
The final bike portion will take the group from Nawiliwili Park back to Princeville Airport, where they will turn around and head back south, then continue on to the Westside, past Kekaha and turn around at Lighthouse Road at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. They will then return to Nawiliwili Park, where their event will be complete.
The bike portion is expected to last from 10:50 a.m. to 6:20 p.m.
They then have a 7:52 p.m. flight to O‘ahu, where the second leg of their adventure will take place Friday. Moloka‘i is the location for Saturday, followed by Maui on Sunday, before completing Monday on the Big Island.
“This is a spiritual journey,” said Jason P. Lester, organizer of the EPIC5 and 2009 ESPY award-winning athlete (Best Male Athlete with a Disability). “While all five of us have completed numerous triathlons throughout our careers, the EPIC5 Challenge will test each one of us physically and mentally, for sure. But it will be the spiritual component that will rally all of us at about the third day. As a group, and individually, we will be united with whatever higher power we believe in. It will take everything we have to complete this 703-mile journey in just five days.”
But overcoming challenges is nothing new to the 37-year-old Lester, who was left for dead when a woman traveling at 70 miles per hour hit him on his bicycle when he was 12 years old. With 21 broken bones and a paralyzed right arm, Lester faced even more devastation as his father, and sole guardian, died of a heart attack while he lay in a hospital bed recovering from his injuries.
Despite the overwhelming odds, Lester used athletics to overcome the difficulties in his life, playing baseball and football only one year after his accident and making the all-star team.
Lester started the Never Stop Foundation in Hawai‘i, whose stated goal is to help those in their formative years find their own true voice, help them build their confidence, improve their communication skills and learn the values of discipline, trust, compassion, self-reliance and respect.
Joining Lester throughout the USA Triathlon-sanctioned EPIC5 Challenge are four other renowned endurance athletes from around the globe.
Josef Ajram from Spain has completed three Ultramans, five Ironmans and lives by the motto that “Attitude has no limits.”
Juan Craveri from Argentina, a soft-spoken individual, has made a lot of noise in endurance sports, completing 23 Ironman competitions throughout his career.
Christian Isakson, from Portland, is the youngest of the participants, whose experience as a fireman lends itself nicely to the help that all the athletes will need while completing the demanding journey. Isakson has completed five Ironmans and four marathons.
Chet “The Jet” Blanton is the senior statesman of the group, with an eye-opening 45 marathons, 80 ultra marathons, 15 Ironmans (including two doubles and two triples) and one 10-time Ironman distance race. Despite his vast experience in endurance sports, Blanton admits he is somewhat fearful of the EPIC5, noting that if he makes it through the first day, the rest will be achievable.
This core group will be joined by Mike Flarety, who too will try to complete the five-day odyssey, as well as the Nike Women’s Relay team, consisting of Kelly McKean, Michelle Macy and Patty Smaldone. McKean will complete the running leg, Macy the swim and Smaldone the cycling. William Pruett will join the group on the final Kona leg.
Distances for each day will be a 2.4-mile swim, 112 miles of cycling and 26.2 miles running.
The final leg is expected to finish up around midnight on the Big Island, which will be late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.
For more information, visit www.epic5.com.
