Most people don’t have the grit, stubbornness, or borderline-questionable decision-making it takes to complete the world’s toughest endurance challenges. Some are perfectly content on the couch, snacks in hand, watching other people suffer through HYROX races and Survivor-level gauntlets while we whisper, “Couldn’t be me.” But then there are the outliers, the ones who treat exhaustion like a hobby and seem to sweat out every ounce of water they drank that day. The people who push their bodies so hard you’d think they’re training to outrun a zombie apocalypse.
One of those people is TV personality and ultrarunner Spencer Matthews. This year, the 37-year-old decided to take on a challenge so outrageous it makes a marathon look like a warm-up jog—seven Ironmans on seven continents in just 21 days. Only one other person has ever completed the feat, and it took them nearly four years.
Matthews calls it Project Se7en. The journey takes him around the globe, completing back-to-back Ironmans. Each day includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a marathon. His stops include London, Arizona, Cape Town, Perth, Dubai, Rio, and Antarctica. While the physical feat alone has captured national attention, Matthews is also using the spotlight to raise awareness for James’ Place. The charity provides free, life-saving support to men struggling with suicidal thoughts.
A few weeks ago, Men’s Journal caught up with Matthews between his second Ironman in Arizona and his third in Cape Town, just hours before he was set to take on the next brutal leg of his journey. Soon, he’ll tackle Antarctica, which he expects will be the toughest challenge yet.
Fatigue and Recovery in Motion
When most people picture someone finishing an Ironman, they imagine a giant cheeseburger in one hand, a restorative ice bath, maybe a sauna session, and a week of doing absolutely nothing. Matthews’ reality looks nothing like that. He hops off the course, boards a plane, and flies straight to the next continent, with barely a moment to catch his breath, let alone properly recover.
“In an ideal world, you’d come out of the Ironman, you drink two, three liters of cold water with loads of electrolytes, have physio, get into bed, sleep all night, you know, but unfortunately that just hasn’t been our experience so far,” he said when I spoke to him the day after his second Ironman.
“We are also strangely bouncing back quite well at the moment,” he said. “I don’t mean to jinx it, but probably slept for four hours last night, had a big late dinner, and [I’m] absolutely physically depleted, exhausted, and could barely eat the food because it’s just not what you really feel like doing.”
Aside from nutrition, which he’s monitoring closely while burning around 10,000 calories per race, sleep has been crucial. Matthews would love to crash in his own bed or on a plush hotel mattress, but the physical toll of the races, combined with adrenaline and excitement, makes getting quality rest a challenge. That leaves just a few days, or more like two, when hopping across time zones, to recover from the beating his body takes.
“It goes without saying, obviously, if we don’t sleep on the plane, then that’s just, you know, raw dogging another [race],” he says. “I will fall asleep almost immediately, I’m sure, on the plane, but like it takes one really bad sleep or, you know, one frustrating plane journey to throw a bit of a spanner in the works.”
Related: I Asked UTMB Athletes How They Prepare for the World’s Toughest Races—Here’s Their Advice
The Mental Marathon
Aside from the physical toll, the mental challenge of Project Se7en is just as intense, especially since Matthews can’t listen to music during races that can last 24 hours or more. Out of everything, this is one of the aspects he admits is toughest to handle.
“Music is, in my opinion, single-handedly the best thing about like working out and pushing yourself and, you know, that’s what really allows you to kind of go into some space that’s awesome and enjoyable,” he admits. “When you remove that, it is pretty grim.”
Without the music to distract or motivate him, Matthews relies entirely on mental grit to keep moving. Every stroke, pedal, and step becomes a battle not just of the body, but of the mind. He has to consciously push through the creeping doubt that naturally builds over hours of relentless effort.
“I think an awful lot of this challenge revolves around your belief that you can do it,” he says. “It’s pretty easy to get crushed mentally by what we’re doing. It happened yesterday, temporarily. I had to actively change my outlook and mindset during the run, go into my head, and sort it out because it was slow, awful, and painful.”
The Mission Behind the Madness
But when he is deep in the pain cave, Matthews reminds himself why he is out there. It is not only to prove he can endure something this extreme. It is to draw attention to James’ Place, and to the men who rely on it. That purpose cuts through the suffering and puts his own discomfort into perspective.
“I really enjoy, for my own personal development, pushing myself. But I find that if you attach a phenomenal cause to the mission, it really helps the ability to achieve the mission,” he says. “Like when Chris and I were running last night, and as I’ve described many times now, in a fair amount of pain, I was certainly thinking that the men who are going through hell, who are considering taking their own life, are probably in significantly worse places than we are right now. And this is very much temporary. It’ll be over in a few hours.”
Related: How Elite Ironman Athletes Stay Race-Ready Between Punishing Competitions
