(This photo was taken by Will during an impromptu 5 day hike covering nearly 80-miles on the Buffalo National River in Arkansas)

Will Mahoney is a fitness chameleon. He has so many different interests that it is hard not to be inspired by just what you can do with some solid goals and putting in the work.

His fitness journey started when his Grandfather passed away. He realized that he was personally heading down the wrong path in life so he stopped smoking and drinking alcohol and took up running. He started with running one block, then one mile and eventually, in 2018, built up to his first half marathon in the mountains near Ruidoso New Mexico.

His proudest accomplishment in fitness was running the Prairie Fire marathon last year. That makes you think that Will is an avid runner, when in fact, he says that running is right up there with his least favorite fitness activities. “This has become an ongoing evolution of continuous change. For the past few years it [his favorite fitness activity] was running and this year it has become more weight lifting focused.”

“This year has become a new challenge thanks to Griffin's immense peer pressure to take on the new challenges of weight lifting.” In fact, he is considering the possibility of doing a powerlifting meet future and to find out how much weight he can lift. 

Will is a veteran that served our great nation all over the world as an Army Soldier for 23 years and the state of Kansas for 15 years. He’s also a dedicated father of two teenage girls that he loves taking adventuring, whether that is an outdoor activity like hiking or taking them on a road trip just to see what they can discover. He is an avid cook, but also loves photography, backpacking and refurbishing older furniture. 

_{(A little-known fact about Will. His super sleuth skills led him to be the 2020 Red Neck Murder Mystery Champ)}

Will loves the endless challenges of fitness goals and says that he exercises in order to maintain and improve my physical and mental health. His biggest fitness goal would be to complete a through hike across the entire country that would take no less than 5 months. His best advice to other athletes is to, “put the work in towards your goal (“getting it done”). Those goals have to be compared to your life and not focused on what others have done as most of us are not professional competitors so by competing against yourself you will be successful. Run your race.” 

 Great advice from a great dude.