February 9: Mike McCastle, American endurance athlete and founder of the ‘12 Labors Project’, is also a globally acclaimed coach who specializes in mental strength development and peak performance. As a multiple world record-setting athlete, Mike redefines the limits of human potential and has coached countless others to do the same. For the last fifteen years, McCastle has been on a mission to show people what they can truly achieve. McCastle has coached world renown athletes and explorers, helping them realize self-mastery and achieve record breaking outcomes. McCastle combines insight from endurance athletics, military experience and the science of the mind to reveal hidden potential.
Mike has personally undertaken Herculean endeavors under the banner of the ’12 Labors Project’, a charity driven initiative inspired by the mythological 12 Labors of Hercules. Devoted to inspiring others while pushing the limits of human performance, McCastle is committed to completing 12 seemingly impossible physical feats of strength. To date, McCastle has broken several world records including those previously held by David Goggins and Wim Hof. Mike is also an award-winning blog writer and motivational speaker who shares lessons of mental strength, grit, discipline and persistence with audiences around the world.
McCastle found his passion for fitness while serving 11 years in the U.S. Navy where he gained experience training Navy SEAL candidates and high-level government leaders. He has quintessential experience in the sport and fitness field and various other performance sectors. This has synced McCastle’s name with “performance booster” and “mental strength guru”. Recently, McCastle started giving guidance through seminars and individual coaching about how to use adversity and hardship as a catalyst for strength and continuous growth. He believes that “real strength is in the mind and not in our muscles. If you can believe it, you can achieve it.” Opening the gates of mental strength is something McCastle preaches about the most.
Mike’s clientele include elite athletes and teams, business leaders, mountaineers and explorers, and everyday seekers of excellence. World renown polar explorer and New York Times best-selling author, Colin O’Brady, sought McCastle’s help in training for his historic solo, unassisted and unsupported trek across Antarctica and man powered row across the Drake Passage. Various media outlets have featured Mike’s charitable efforts and expertise in mental strength and physical conditioning.
Apart from the field, Mike’s life is filled with being involved in charitable efforts centered around veteran mental health issues and Parkinson’s Disease.
Just like the legendary ’12 labors of Hercules’, Mike McCastle’s incredible challenges test his physical and mental limits with the ultimate goal of inspiring others to live with purpose, stand for a cause greater than themselves and be relentless in the pursuit of their goals.
Michael’s Charitable Labors have included:
- A 50k run for Cancer Research (wearing a 40lb vest).
- A 13-mile, 250-pound tire flip for wounded veterans; he flipped the tire 137 spans along a 500-foot paved street over the course of 10 grueling hours.
- A Rope Climb that equaled the height of Mount Everest, a full 29,029 feet in 27 hours for Parkinson’s Disease Research–a cause that hits close to home following the death of his father who suffered from the disease.
- On September 27th, 2015, Mike shattered the Guinness World Record for ‘Most Pull-ups in 24 hours’ after completing 5,804 pull-ups, all while wearing a 30 pound pack to represent the heavy burden of the wounded warrior. The event benefited Operation Enduring Warrior, a veteran run organization that hosts adaptive athletic events for wounded veterans.
- On May 22nd, Mike pulled a 2016 Ford F-150 pickup truck for 22 miles in 19 hours across Death Valley to raise awareness for Veteran Suicide.
- On April 11th, 2017, Mike began running 20 miles per day for 100 consecutive days to, again, heighten awareness of the Veteran Suicide epidemic. He completed this Labor on July 11, 2017.
- On Sept. 14th, 2021, Mike pulled a full size pickup truck for 10 miles through the Arctic Circle.
- On January 25th, 2021, after 2 hours and 40 minutes, Mike broke the world record for the longest full body submersion in ice.
Elite endurance athlete and strongman, Mike McCastle is also closely involved with “Frog Fuel” which is the world’s fastest digesting protein built for high performance athletes. McCastle believes there is still a long road to travel in front of him and says that he still has a lot more to achieve. You can get inspiration from him via his Instagram where he has more than 14k followers.
Divya Agarwal
