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A wrist injury prevented a Navy SEAL from setting a world record for the most pullups in a 24-hour period, but he still accomplished his primary goal: bringing attention to a charity that helps the children of fallen special operators.
Chief Special Operator (SEAL) David Goggins, 37, from Chula Vista, Calif., cranked out 2,588 pull-ups, short of the 4,020 racked up by Great Britain's Stephen Hyland in July 2011, according to the Guinness World Records website.
Goggins, an ultramarathoner, made his attempt Sept. 26-27 before cameras at NBC's "Today" in New York. He said he planned to do a set of pull-ups every minute, resting between sets and fueling himself with a liquid diet.
He started off strong, hitting 2,011 pullups — one repetition over the halfway point — at 6 hours, 11 minutes, 31 seconds. An online update showed him taking a break to eat a hamburger about 13 hours into his effort — an apparent break from the plan.
It was unclear at what time Goggins suffered the injury and was unable to continue.
His ordeal was an effort to spotlight and raise funds for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a charity that gives college scholarships to the children of fallen special operators. FirstGiving.com, a website that helps charities raise money, shows Goggins raised $12,030 by the time he stopped his attempt.
It's an impressive accomplishment for a man who unabashedly says he hates to exercise and twice weighed as much as 297 pounds and once dropped 105 pounds in just over two months.
"I like to eat, I like to lift a lot of weights," he said on the Today Show.
In a 2008 profile in Runner's World magazine, Goggins said that after a deployment to Afghanistan he started to complete outrageous physical feats -- particularly endurance races -- in order to help raise money for the families of special operators who were killed.
Goggins has since become an ultramarathoner and has run Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley, Calif., three times, finishing it twice, as well as Ironman competitions.
Josh Stewart is a staff writer for Navy Times.
