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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, May 7, 2010

Endurance hardly describes this trek


Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Jason Lester, left, and Richard Roll ride Kalaniana'ole Highway between Waimānalo and Enchanted Lake on the bike leg of their O'ahu triathlon.

RICHARD AMBO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Two endurance athletes plan to be on Moloka'i this morning for the third leg of a five-day, five-island test in which they will attempt ironman-distance triathlons daily.

Jason P. Lester and Richard Roll call it the Epic5 Challenge. On Wednesday they completed their first iron-distance triathlon — a 112-mile bicycle ride, 2.4-mile swim and 26.2-mile run — on Kaua'i.

Yesterday they were on O'ahu for the second leg of their endurance test

The two will be on Maui and the Big Island in the coming days. People can follow their progress at www.epic5.com.

The Epic5 Challenge is a fundraiser for Lester's Never Stop Foundation.

Proceeds from Epic5 events will go to foundation's hopes of developing a performance center in Kailua, Kona, where Lester has lived for the past several years.

The Epic5 website says the challenge was Lester's vision.

Despite total paralysis in his right arm due to a childhood injury, Lester has competed in several Ironman and Ultraman competitions.

Last year, he won an ESPY award for Best Male Athlete With a Disability.

Roll is a former world-ranked swimmer from Stanford University. Now 43, he was named one of 2009's "25 Fittest Men in the World" by Men's Fitness Magazine.