David Goggins

Goggins was born on February 17, 1975, to Trunnis and Jackie Goggins. In 1981, Goggins lived in Williamsville, New York with his parents and brother, Trunnis Jr.[6] Goggins has been open about experiencing racism during his early life. As a six year old, Goggins worked with his family at his father’s skate rink, Skateland.[6] In the gap between his discharge from the Air Force and enlisting in the Navy, Goggins worked as a pest control fumigator.

Goggins initially applied to join the United States Air Force Pararescue. Goggins failed his ASVAB twice before succeeding and entering into 'The Pipeline' (Pararescue training). During the training he had been diagnosed with sickle cell trait and was advised to stay home for a week. When he returned to the doctor after a week, he was told that he could return to training, but the commander said he would have to do it all over again.[7] He decided not to.[8] He then proceeded to serve as member of the United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party also known as TACP after completing successful training. Starting from 1994 Goggins served his time in TACP until 1999 and left the United States Air Force.[6]

After three attempts, Goggins succeeded in graduating from BUD/S training with Class 235 in 2001 and was assigned to SEAL Team FIVE. Goggins served in Iraq. In 2004, Goggins graduated from Army Ranger School with the distinction of achieving "Top Honor Man." [5]

After several of his friends died in Afghanistan in a helicopter crash in 2005 during Operation Red Wings,[3] Goggins began long-distance running with the aim of raising money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The Foundation gives college scholarships and grants to the children of fallen special operations soldiers.[9] Competing in endurance challenges, including the Badwater Ultramarathon three times, has enabled Goggins to raise more than US$2 million for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.[10]

Goggins attempted to enter the Badwater Ultramarathon as a fundraiser, but was told by organizers that he needed to enter another ultramarathon first; as the Badwater is an invitational event. In 2005, Goggins entered the San Diego One Day, a 24-hour ultramarathon held at Hospitality Point in San Diego. He was able to run 101 miles in 19 hours and 6 minutes—despite never having attempted to run a marathon previously. Soon after, David completed his first marathon (Las Vegas), in a time that qualified him for entrance into the Boston Marathon. After those two events, having yet to be invited to the Badwater-135, Goggins entered into the Hurt-100; an ultra marathon in Hawaii which is widely regarded as one of the hardest ultra-marathons in the world. He was the ninth runner to cross the finish line, and only 23 runners finished the event. He was subsequently granted entry into the 2006 Badwater-135. During the 2006 Badwater-135, he finished 5th overall, an unheard of result from an ultramarathon novice at a world-class event.[11]

He has participated in the Las Vegas Marathon where he placed highly. He also has participated in the Furnace Creek-508 (2009), an ultra-distance invitational Cycling Race.

Three months after completing his first Badwater Ultramarathon in 2006, he competed in the Ultraman World Championships Triathlon in Hawaii. He placed second in the three-day, 320-mile race, cycling 261 miles in two days on a rented bicycle. Before training for that race, he had never ridden a bike competitively.

In 2007, Goggins achieved his best finish at the Badwater-135 by placing 3rd overall.[12]

He returned to the Badwater-135 in 2013, finishing 18th, after a break from the event since 2008.

Over the next two years, he competed in another 14 ultra-endurance races, with top-five finishes in nine of them. He set a course record at the 48-hour national championships, beating the previous record by 20 miles with a total distance traveled of 203.5 miles and earning himself a spot among the top 20 ultramarathoners in the world.

In 2008 he was named a "Hero of Running" by Runner's World.[13]

In 2016, Goggins won the Infinitus 88k in 12 hours, almost twenty minutes ahead of the next finisher. In the same year, he also won the Music City Ultra 50k, and Strolling Jim 40 Miler.[14]

In 2020, Goggins ran the Moab 240 ultramarathon, placing 2nd in the 241 mile event with a time of 63 hours and 21 minutes, approximately 95 minutes behind race winner Michele Graglia.[15][16]

Goggins said "motivational speaker" is just his job title.[10]

As an inspirational speaker, Goggins travels and speaks to sports teams. He has spoken to athletes from professional teams, including the Atlanta Hawks and the Seattle Seahawks, as well as collegiate athletes from the Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan university football programs.[10]

Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler, upon seeing Goggins perform at a 24-hour ultramarathon, called and hired Goggins to live with him in his house for a month. Itzler wrote about his experience on a blog and later published the story as the book Living With A SEAL.[17]

His self-help memoir, Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds, was released on December 4, 2018. In the book he refers to the 40% rule, his belief that most of us only tap into 40% of our capabilities. The Audible version of this book has sat in the Amazon best sellers list since day 1 with over 15,000 positive reviews.[18]

• Goggins, David (2018). Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds. Lioncrest Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5445-1228-0.[21]

Goggins' awards include: Goggins won the Guinness World Record for 24 Hour Pullup in 2013

Special Warfare insignia
Meritorious Service Medal				Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal				Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with 2 5/16 inch stars
Army Achievement Medal				Air Force Achievement Medal				Combat Action Ribbon
Navy Good Conduct Medal with 4 Service Stars				National Defense Service Medal with 1 Service star				Iraq Campaign Medal with 1 Service star
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal				Global War on Terrorism Service Medal				Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal
Navy and Marine Corps Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with 1 Service star				Rifle Marksmanship Medal with Expert Device				Pistol Marksmanship Medal with Expert Device
Navy and Marine Corps Parachutist Badge
Ranger Tab

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Goggins.

• Pain, pleasure to the extreme at San Diego Union-Tribune
• David Goggins Getting Even More Famous (Archive.org snapshot) at Special Operations Warrior Foundation
• Sailors, SEALs complete Ironman at Navy Times
• Attention to detail at Instagram