Lionel is a fitness coach based in Seattle, USA. He has already competed for a Spartan Race in our Luminox team and has also produced some videos for us, such as the launch video of the Jolly Rogers Limited Edition.

I think my life as a whole really exemplifies that motto to never give up. A lot of what I’ve accomplished has been an uphill battle against the odds. I believe I’ve achieved more than most people would’ve expected of me. I’m a person that tends to put his head down, not talk too much and just do the work. Everything I’ve achieved has been way harder than I thought it would be, but because of my work ethic and my ability to just keep going, after a while things tend to work out for me. The motto of never give up is just something I live by, I’ve always believed that if you never quit then you can’t fail, things are bound to improve. Positivity and belief that things will work out has made me what I am today.

With Luminox in mind, I can’t help but to think of one story of not giving up. Luminox flew me out to compete in the Spartan world championship race in Lake Tahoe in September of 2019. This is the toughest race from Spartan, It’s up and down a mountain twice with grueling elements, a true test of will and determination. This race is very challenging and a lot of people don’t actually finish it. Near the very beginning, on one of the first obstacles, 1 mile into this 13.5 mile race on a mountain, I took the biggest fall I’ve taken in at least 10 years. I was swinging on high bars during a sandstorm on the mountain, the bars were dusty and because of that I had no grip, I ended up over swinging and taking a huge fall from about 12 feet up. I landed directly on my elbow which landed into my rib. It knocked the wind out of me, I thought I broke my elbow and I definitely thought I cracked my rib. I could barely use my arm and couldn’t breathe correctly for the rest of the race and the following two months. For a week after the race I couldn’t even lift a pillow with my elbow. When I told the story to my clients at my gym, they were surprised that I didn’t stop the race at that point. I told them it honestly didn’t even cross my mind. This challenge is hard and meant to be hard, just because I injured myself didn’t mean I would stop. The pride of being with the Luminox team and seen such great examples as the race winner Robert Killian and all the adversity he faces, made me not even question if I should continue or not. I buckled down and got the work done, I finished the following 12.5 miles over multiple hours. It was a definite challenge and was way harder than it needed to be, but the reward of finishing made it all that much sweeter. Never give up is a motto that all winners follow; pain is temporary, but quitting will last forever.

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