BYU’s Lazy Ironman makes an ambitious goal attainable for a wider audience

BYU Student Wellness is hosting a Lazy Ironman this October as a way to help individuals achieve an ambitious goal in an innovative way.

The title of the event may be deceiving, however, as there is nothing lazy about a Lazy Ironman. This event requires an individual to complete a 26.2-mile run, 2.4-mile swim, and a 112-mile bike ride over the span of 31 days.

The Lazy Ironman event is for anyone who has ever wanted to do an Ironman race but doesn’t seek the extensiveness of the traditional event. This challenge allows people to do things at their own pace, making it suitable for all fitness levels and ages.

Patrons are asked to track their progress on a tally card. Once this is complete and all the requirements are met, one may go to the Student Wellness office and redeem a t-shirt with a custom design.

“This is such an awesome event,” BYU student Dylan Hedin said. “I achieved some awesome goals through it and want others to do the same.”

For some, a Lazy Ironman is completed just one month out of the year. For others, it is something that continues month after month.

Hedin is a senior at BYU majoring in exercise science. He participated in the 2019 Lazy Ironman and enjoyed the experience so much, he decided to make a goal of doing one every month for the next year.

“I set a goal to do a Lazy Ironman the month following the Student Wellness event. However, I had no real intentions of doing it for a year,” Hedin said. “Once I started doing it every month, it was hard to stop.”

In 2019, the Student Wellness department took a survey of BYU students and found that 68.3% would be interested in participating, while 31.7% said they would not. A common saying among those who said they would not participate was that the event took place in November when the weather was too cold. Following these comments, the Student Wellness department decided to host the 2020 Lazy Ironman in October.  

“The winter months were difficult,” Hedin said. “But BYU provides great facilities that make doing year-round Lazy Ironman (challenges) really easy.”

This event is open to BYU students, employees and the public. Registration began on Sept. 1 and will close Oct. 5. The cost to participate is $5. More information will be finalized after the registration date. Until then, check out the Student Wellness website for updates.