Bellingham man will attempt world record to raise money for local food bank
A Bellingham man is looking to set a super sprint triathlon world record and raise $500,000 for the local food bank.
Ethan Hunger founded the Hunger vs Hunger project in 2021 to raise money for the Bellingham Food Bank. In the five years since the project’s creation, it has brought in about $800,000.
“I hate the idea of anyone having to go through a single day of their life hungry,” Hunger said. “I want to be a part of the solution.”
There are several events scheduled for the project, but the main event this year is Hunger’s goal to beat the world record for super sprint triathlons in 24 hours. The plan is to complete the triathlons starting at 6 p.m. July 24 at Bloedel Donovan Park.
A single super sprint triathlon is a 400-meter swim, a 10-kilometer bike ride and a 2.5-kilometer run. The current world record is 18 in a single day. That means Hunger will have to swim a total of 7,200 meters, ride 180 kilometers and run 45 kilometers in under 24 hours just to tie. If he is able to beat the record with time to spare, he plans to keep going and complete as many as possible until time is up.
An intense fitness challenge is something Hunger has been doing every year since the start of the project. Last year he rode 112 miles between Artist Point at the top of Mount Baker and Bellingham, along with a 10.5-mile swim across Lake Whatcom, a one-hour high intensity interval training class, a seven-mile bike ride on Galbraith Mountain and a five-mile run to Fairhaven. He did it all in about 18 hours, plus transition time.
When Hunger starts to get tired — when he is 15 hours into the exercise and gets hungry and sleepy and knows he still has to keep going — he reminds himself his suffering is his own choice. There are a lot of people in the county who are also suffering who don’t have that choice. There are people who struggle every day to put food on the table, and they don’t get to stop because they are tired, he said.
“Swimming the length of Lake Whatcom at the end of that day was easily the hardest exercise I have ever done,” Hunger said. “I cramped essentially every muscle in both of my legs, and I have this rotator cuff pain in one of my shoulders that really hurt. I think about four hours in, my left shoulder started to hurt as well. I was hungry, dizzy and tired. I had slept like half an hour before I did all of it. Despite all that, there was no part of me that would ever consider giving up, not when there are other people who are fighting through difficulties that they have no chance to avoid.”
About 5,000 households a week use the Bellingham Food Bank, making it the most used food bank in Whatcom County and one of the most used food banks in Washington State, according to the Bellingham Food Bank. Other events this year include:
- A basecamp fitness fundraiser week May 11-17. Any donation made to Hunger vs. Hunger during that time will earn that person a free week at Basecamp Fitness.
- Starting at 6 p.m. May 22, Stones Throw Brewery is hosting a block party with a silent auction and raffle, with 10 percent of sales going to the Bellingham Food Bank.
- On May 31 the third annual pickleball tournament takes place at Armory Pickleball in Bellingham. That event is co-hosted by Haven Design Workshop.
- Also, the Rome Store Bakery & Market will donate $2 for every pizza sold June 25-27.
- On July 25, the day after the world record attempt, there will be a finish line party at Kulshan Trackside with live music and speeches. Again, 10 percent of the sales will be donated to the Bellingham Food Bank.
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