Vegan father completes ‘impossible’ journey for son Jacob

Jordan Mulligan has arrived at his son’s grave and placed the headstone in its rightful place.  It has been a journey he was told was impossible, although it seems the severity of the challenge was what he needed.

In 2015 Jordan’s son Jacob was stillborn.  His parents were devastated, and more grief was added when they realised they could not afford the headstone.  Determined to provide this and help other families in this situation, Jordan was inspired to take on this challenge when he found some rock which could be made into a headstone.

In part one, Jordan took the massive stone and added weight.  The plan was to complete the world’s heaviest marathon by carrying the stone  – and more weight – to the stonemason.  Jordan carried 100kg (most of his bodyweight) over 26 miles.  It nearly broke him.

Next was a short rest while the stone was trimmed into a perfect shape.  Then Jordan set out carrying the finished stone 480 miles home.

This included over 133,00 feet (40,500 metres) of height gain over the 12 days following the marathon.  He averaged around 37 miles per day.

Finally he reached the grave.

“The road here was at the very limit of my bodies capability. Just enough to get to Jacob” he said afterwards.

“I carried this stone every single step of the 480 mile route. The first 28 miles to the stone mason and every single other step. Not one single step was missed.

“When I arrived I cried. But then instantly complete peace and a feeling of clarity. It was done.”

Vegan

Jordan has been vegan for around 9 years, and planned his fuel in advance.

“I’m always vegan, will continue to be vegan for the rest of my life” he says. “I usually eat a lot of whole foods but this is very calorie intensive.”

He estimated he was going to use 15-20,000 calories per day, satisfied by “a lot of Huel, lot of fruit and for carbohydrate and high energy it’s going to be fruit juices, mangoes and dates.”

Jordan is a film maker and has also taken on strongman challenges, briefly holding a world record.

The epic hike is intended to raise awareness and money for parents in this crushing position.  Donations are still welcomed (click here).

“When I’ve been in the worse physical pain in training, the thought of those going through baby loss and stillbirth quite quickly erased those feelings” Jordan says. “I’m choosing to do this, they are not.”