As a regular reader of this column (and if you’re not, you should be), you might remember a story I told about a chance encounter with my neighbor Joe Gagnon. I was out walking the dog, looking at the Peloton app on my phone and patting myself on the back for having walked more than a mile for 10 straight days. Peloton said they were happy with me, which caused me to puff out my chest a little. Then Joe — who I had not seen in a while — came jogging by. We struck up a conversation, as it had been a couple of years since we last crossed paths.
As I was about to tell him about my 10-day streak, we got to talking about his physical regimen. Joe has a nearly 11-year streak going in which he has exercised for more than an hour a day. I wilted. For the previous 540 consecutive days, he ran 10 miles, did 100 pull-ups, and 100 pushups. That year — 2024, I think — his goal was to do 100,000 push-ups. That’s about 300 per day.
You might have heard about one of Joe’s accomplishments. In April of 2017, he set out to meet the Six Continent Challenge. His dream — and “modest” goal — was to run six marathons in six days on six continents. Let that sink in. I’m sure he would have planned for seven, but it’s hard to find a marathon to run in Antarctica. And the flights there are tricky, too, since there aren’t any.
Starting in Sydney, Australia, then on to Singapore, Johannesburg, overnight to London, crossing the Atlantic to São Paulo, Brazil, and finally popping up to Los Angeles for the sixth and final marathon on April 15. He flew coach and subsisted on ice cream and peanut butter. I get tired just saying it.
Not one to rest on his laurels, this past summer Joe applied for — and ran — the “Badwater 135.” The 135-mile race starts in mid-July on the floor of Death Valley, 200 feet below sea level. It ends 135 miles and 48 hours later on Mount Whitney, more than 8,000 feet above sea level. I say “applied for” because, believe it or not, more people want to run this race than are admitted. Much like getting into an Ivy League school, you submit a résumé, an application, and an explanation of why you need to do this. Not surprisingly, it’s called the world’s toughest foot race.
There is a lot more to Joe’s story than being an extreme athlete who has completed more than 75 races of over 50 miles. He’s also had quite a business career. At 35, he was one of the youngest people ever named partner at his Big Four consulting firm. He left shortly thereafter to help grow a startup that expanded to more than 450 employees and was ultimately sold to IBM. He has been a business coach and serial startup entrepreneur ever since.
Joe has also written multiple books about his philosophy of life, achievement and business. His most recent title, "Living Intentionally," explores the idea that grit isn’t inherited, but rather built through small actions and habits. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have folded down more than a few pages that I still refer to regularly.
If you’d like to hear more of Joe’s story — including what possessed him to run 135 miles across Death Valley in July — he’ll be at the Bedford Playhouse on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. for an evening presentation and conversation about his experiences. I’ll be emceeing and interviewing Joe as part of the program, and he’ll also be signing copies of his new book If you’ve ever wondered how an ordinary neighbor ends up doing such extraordinary things — and what the rest of us can take away from it — this should be a memorable way to spend a winter evening. Running shoes are optionable.
For details and tickets, visit bedfordplayhouse.org.
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