How Adam Transformed His Life, Dropped 50 lbs & Became the 1st Person to Run the 163 Mile Pan-Mass Challenge

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Straight up, this conversation encapsulates every aspiration I ever had for the show when I embarked upon this podcast journey a little over a year ago: inspiration, in the form of a relatable everyman guest sharing his personal story openly and honestly with absolute humility and a vulnerability that is rare in today’s panoply of admirable role models.

We get emotional. We get real. We get authentic.  There’s even a few tears.  If you’re not moved by Adam’ story, then check yourself for a pulse.

” Adam Scully-Power ? Never heard of him.”

I get it.  Adam certainly isn’t a household name. But that’s a shame, because we need more guys like Adam.  So I’m doing my part to help change that, because Adam’s story is extraordinary.  And one that needs to be more widely heard.

I’ll start off with this — talking to Adam was like staring in a mirror.  Not because we look alike – we don’t.  But I have never met anyone with a story that so closely tracks the facts and emotions my own experience. In fact, it’s downright eerie.  So let’s break it down.

Much like me, Adam is a happily married family man and father of four.

Much like me, Adam had a denial-snapping middle-aged come-to-Jesus moment of reckoning catalyzed by his ever-expanding waistline, quickly deteriorating energy levels and dissatisfaction with his overworked, all-too-sedentary corporate lifestyle.

Much like me, Adam turned to his health-conscious wife for a little guidance, who at the time had been experimenting — and finding success — with a plant-based way of eating.

Much like me, and with nothing to lose, Adam decided to give this insane idea of just eating plants a whirl.

Here’s the Cliff Notes on what happens next: Adam’s energy levels explode.  Almost overnight, the extra pounds around Adam’s waist melt away, seemingly without effort.  With a vitality he could not previously recall, and for the first time in years, Adam resumes a modest fitness program to burn off all the extra energy coursing through his veins. But incapable of contentedness with “the occasional jog” Adam instead sets his sights higher.  So high, in fact, he becomes determined to achieve his own personal impossible.

Overwhelmed by the tragedy of last year’s Boston Marathon, driven by an undeniable primal urge to test the outer limits of his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual limits, and propelled by a series of eerie, impossibly synchronistic and equally improbable events — including an image texted to him by his friend David Green from the Boston Marathon finish line that led to the capture of bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev —  last summer Adam lined up to attempt the unimaginable.  An unprecedented 163-mile run across the entire state of Massachusetts.

Adam accomplished this feat. Not in spite of his plant-based diet, but because of his plant-based diet.  A feat made all the more remarkable because it occurred only one year subsequent to his epiphanic, life-changing moment of reckoning.

To be sure, Adam Scully-Power’s story of life transformation is nothing short of miraculous.  An extraordinary journey that didn’t just repair his health and resolve his waistline dilemma, but instead resulted in astonishing heights of accomplishment he could have never previously imagined in his wildest fantasy.  A story of such dramatic life transformation you will be left in tears — and beyond inspired.

Of course, not all of us have the desire to test ourselves as ultrarunners.  That’s not the point.  What’s important is the power that resides within all of us to change, achieve and be so much more than we think we can.  Inside all of us resides a better, more authentic version of ourselves yearning to be expressed.  It’s never too late.  And when desire meets faith, there is always a way.

May this conversation be of service to you along the path of your own journey of greater self-realization and expression, in whatever form that may take.

The image captured by Adam’s friend David Green that ultimately led to the capture of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and catalyzed Adam’s drive to attempt his 163-mile run.

SHOW NOTES:

• ESPN: When the Impossible is No More
• MEN’S HEALTH: Everyday Heroes – No Sleep For Boston
• YAHOO SPORTS: A 163-mile Run For Those Who Couldn’t
• Adam’s Website: WhyWeRun.com
• Forks Over Knives Documentary*
• The Pan Mass Challenge

*Disclosure: Books and products denoted with an asterisk are hyperlinked to an affiliate program. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Thanks for listening and thanks for the support!