David Goggins

When David Goggins first joined the military, he weighed 290 lbs and couldn’t even run to the mailbox. Today David is a Navy Seal and a serious competitor in many of the world’s toughest endurance races. Through his racing, he has helped to raise money to put over 250 children through college last year. Timex is proud to sponsor David in his 2009 Race Across America.

Favorite Timex Product: Timex Race Trainer
David Goggins Website »

David Goggins joined the military over 13 years ago to push his limits. When he first joined, he couldn’t run down to the mailbox. He weighed 290lbs. The guy at the recruiting office looked at him like he didn’t have a chance. He was very wrong. David became a Navy Seal.

After 9/11 hit, David lost some buddies in a mission that went bad in Afghanistan. He vowed to do something for the children of those fallen soldiers so he started looking into ways to raise money for them. He found out about The Special Ops Warrior Foundation whose mission is to pay for the education of children of soldiers that have been killed in combat. Knowing that selling lemonade on the street corner wouldn’t work, he went online and Googled the 10 hardest things to do in the world.

That led David to enter the worlds toughest endurance races – he figured if he experienced some serious physical pain it would inspire people to get interested and donate some money. Someone told David about an ultra-marathon race in Death Valley called “Badwater” (a 135 mile race in 120 degree heat.) He didn’t even know what an ultra-marathon was. So, he called up the race director of Badwater to try to enter. The race director asked David how many 100 mile runs he had finished. David said, “None.” Then he asked how many marathons David had done. “None,” David replied. The director said David had to have at least one ultra-marathon under his belt before he could consider letting David compete. Long story short, David got that ultra marathon under his belt and hasn’t stopped running since.

David knows what it’s like to run 203 miles with busted-up feet. He knows what it’s like to be alone three miles out in the freezing ocean in the middle of the night. He knows what it’s like to bike 500 miles non-stop. David is not scared of extreme pain. David often says, he’s “nobody special.” But that might not be for him to decide.

With David’s help, the Special Ops Warrior Foundation put 266 kids through college last year. And that's what keeps David going. David says “I don't like running. I don't like biking. I don’t like swimming. I do it to raise money. But, now that I'm in this sport I want to see how far I can push myself”