LiverMan 100
2023 was a tough year. More specifically, August '22 -to August '23 was tough. Seven years prior, I had a super successful liver transplant thanks for my Aunt Dana. I love you! Fast forward, due to some complications with my bile ducts that can sometimes happen and after a gazillion procedures, it was determined that for a few months I would have to have a biliary drain. What is a biliary drain? A biliary drain is a long tube that is placed inside your bile duct through the side of your abdomen so that it can stretch your bile duct out. At times, it also meant I had a pouch for the bile to drain into. I got to carry this pouch around in a fanny pack. Sometimes (every few weeks) I'd get to go back in and have a procedure to have my biliary drain replaced. Fun! This went on until August '23- almost a full year.
During this very fun time, I had a lot of time on my hands. I couldn't hardly workout because of the drain. I almost got into real estate investing. I got attacked by a dog that bit me in the scrotum. I started taking a multivitamin (recommended by a nutritionist) that I later realized was the trigger behind 2-3 months of excruciating migraines. Life was good! Actually, the day before I was set to have a procedure to get the drain taken out, I was taking a shower and I realized all the stitches had come out. As I was getting out, the drain literally just slid out and flopped onto the ground, which is one of the most horrifying things that I had ever seen. But then that was it. I was free!
And then... that Fall, out of a lot of pent up energy and an urge to squeeze as much joy out of life having come out of such a traumatic time of my life, LiverMan 100 was born.
LiverMan 100 is a first-of-its-kind, reverse backyard triathlon: hike, bike, swim. Born out of a desire to craft a 2024 'misogi' (a year defining challenge), LiverMan 100 is all about pushing boundaries in the gnarliest way I could dream of. On June 15th, lined up with the longest day of the year and my liverversary (June 19th), racers hiked up all 11 miles and 7,500 feet of elevation gain of Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs. At the top, our amazing crew team met us with bikes which racers rode down all 19 miles of the Pikes Peak Highway back into Manitou Springs, up through Colorado Springs and to Chatfield Sate Park, just outside of Denver. A grueling 90-mile ride arriving at Chatfield Gravel Pond where five athletes wrapped up the shindig with a 1 mile swim along the shoreline of the gravel pond. Here's the route. All in all, it was a jam packed, super sweaty, beautiful day shared amongst friends and family.
Woah sponsors? Yeah! Sponsors! Why? For fun and to bring more fun, generous folks into the party. Huge shoutout and thank you to the kind folks at Kinship Landing, for helping us throw a pretty incredible kickoff party the Friday night before in their super snazzy event space. Slate, for donating a bunch of delicious lactose free chocolate milk for chugging after the race. Sap's, for donating a million cans of their electrolyte drink to help fuel us during the race. Dis Burrito, for burritos, duh. They have tasty, tasty burritos. Bubs Naturals, for donating a whole truckload of electrolyte powder that helped us survive this very long, very good day.
The Chris Klug Foundation! I love the Chris Klug Foundation! They've been a source of positivity and inspiration in my life since having my liver transplant in 2017. They're on a mission to educate individuals to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors and inspire those in the transplant community. Love that. While selfishly, LiverMan 100 was created as a personal challenge, it also became an opportunity to share the love and use it as a force for good. We raised a good chunk of change for the Chris Klug Foundation and that made me really, really happy.
A lot of folks have asked about 2025. What's the plan? Can I join? How do I get involved? This was not initially on the radar. I mean really, all in all it was a pretty terrible idea: have a race starting and ending in two locations, swim at the end, etc. But man, it was fun. So fun. LiverMan 2025? Maybe. Probably. Maybe. Follow @heyhappyworm on Instagram or sign up for emails for future updates.
