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Athlete Stops In Oregon For Fourth Of 50 Scheduled Triathlons

<p>James "Iron Cowboy" Lawrence is attempting to complete 50 triathlons in 50 days. On June 9, he'll arrive in Portland for his fourth.&nbsp;</p>

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James "Iron Cowboy" Lawrence is attempting to complete 50 triathlons in 50 days. On June 9, he'll arrive in Portland for his fourth. 

While most of Portland is still asleep Tuesday, James Lawrence of Utah will start his day at 5 a.m. at Clackamas Cove for nearly a 2.5 mile swim. After that, he'll bike 112 miles through Portland and the eastern suburbs. He'll close out his day with a marathon distance run. His five kids plan to jog alongside their dad for the final 5K.

Needless to say, Lawrence isn't your average guy.

The endurance athlete is on a mission to complete 50 Ironman-distance triathlons in 50 states over the next 50 days to fight childhood obesity. Portland is stop No. 4, after Lawrence completed his Washington triathlon Monday evening.

Lawrence is already the record holder for completing the most Ironman triathlons in one calendar year, which was 30. Now, 50 back-to-back will blow it right out of the water.

"This is not something that your average bear would do," said Lawrence's Portland host, Carmen Adkins. "It's definitely an endurance sport."

While Lawrence completes his Oregon triathlon, he'll be followed by a film crew for the upcoming documentary about his challenge. The public is welcome to join in running, biking or just cheering Lawrence during his Portland trek before he takes off for San Jose, California on Tuesday night.

Adkins said naysayers had plenty of criticism for Lawrence — saying he was crazy for taking on this challenge, or that he could die — but he sees it differently.

"The bigger danger is not doing anything, that's where the obesity factor comes in," said Adkins, who's an athlete herself. "What he's trying to say is that maybe the craziness is in not moving. His attitude has been nothing but 'Let's move forward, let's rock this, no obstacle is too big.'"

Copyright 2015 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Lizzy Duffy