David Goggins made a sensational return to ultrarunning at the Bigfoot 200, his first race since 2020.
The iconic American fitness guru, a former Navy SEAL who is renowned for his motivational speaking and commitment to physical fitness, turned 50 earlier this year and hadn’t done an ultra for five years.
For his comeback he chose the 200-mile event through Washington wilderness which features a staggering 44,000 feet of elevation.
He not only completed it, but did so in 66 hours, four minutes and 17 seconds to finish 23rd. All the more remarkable as he reportedly has virtually no cartilage left in his knees.
‘It felt good to re-certify’
And afterwards he posted on Instagram to his 13 million followers: “This past weekend was the Bigfoot 200 endurance event. I haven’t done a race of any distance in 5 years so it felt good to re-certify once again.
“I want to congratulate all of the finishers of the Bigfoot 200. It’s truly an epic race that will break you the f*** off if you aren’t ready for it.
“More importantly, I want to congratulate those who signed up but didn’t finish the race. Having the courage to sign up for a race like this sets you apart from so many people in this world.
“You may not have made it to the finish line, but along your journey at Bigfoot, you found out so much about yourself. You reached beyond your limits to get as far as you could and now you will know the next time you show up to a race like that, you now have the knowledge to finish it.
“These races aren’t about winning or losing or even finishing. It’s exploring oneself and the human potential that lies within all of us.
“No matter what place you came in or if you DNF’d, you came out a better person.
“Stay hard!”
Watch David Goggins in action
The men’s race was won by Kilian Korth in an incredible time of 45:03:41 just seven weeks after his first place at Tahoe 200.
Meanwhile, the first place woman’s finisher was Ashley Paulson in a time of 57:00:08.
Goggins, who has completed several of the most brutal endurance events the US has to offer, has also finished ultra running’s most esteemed event, Ultra-Trail Du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), as well as triathlon’s IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii.
And he was followed around the Bigfoot 200 by the Singletrack podcast, and you can watch the resulting video below.
