Colin O'Brady

Early life

Colin Timothy O'Brady was born on March 16, 1985 in Olympia, Washington, but was raised in Portland, Oregon.

He attended the Franciscan Montessori Earth School, Mt. Tabor Middle School, and graduated from Lincoln High School in 2002.

O'Brady was a youth soccer star and Oregon State Swimming Champion. He was recruited for both collegiate swimming and soccer in high school. He accepted a recruitment to swim for the Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving team where he competed on the NCAA Division I Varsity Team in the 100 and 200 meter Breaststroke.

He graduated from Yale University in 2006 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

In 2007, O'Brady began what was planned as a year long backpacking trip around the world. In January 2008, while on the island of Koh Tao, he suffered a devastating burn injury. O'Brady participated in the local custom of fire jump-roping and was tripped by the burning kerosene-soaked rope. Although he instinctively ran into the ocean to extinguish the flames, he suffered second and third-degree burns to nearly 25% of his body, primarily damaging his legs and feet. 12 hours after the accident, he was transported by truck and boat to a hospital in Koh Samui. After a week and 8 surgeries he was transferred to a larger hospital in Bangkok. The doctors warned him that he might never regain the ability to walk normally. He took his first step the following month. "I was determined to beat the odds and focused all my energy on one day completing a triathlon to prove to myself I could make a full recovery," O'Brady said in a 2016 interview.

Professional career

O'Brady moved to Chicago where he took a job as a commodities trader following the accident. He learned how to walk again, and for a year focused on physical rehabilitation. He began to train for triathlon; swimming, cycling, and running.

In May 2009 he won a sprint-distance triathlon in Racine, Wisconsin and in August 2009 he placed 1st overall amateur in the Olympic-distance Chicago Triathlon. He then placed in the age-group nationals in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which earned him a position on Team USA at the 2010 World Triathlon Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In late 2009, encouraged by his mentor, financier Brian Gelber, O'Brady quit his job to pursue a career as a professional athlete. With Gelber as a sponsor, he moved to Australia to train in a more temperate climate. O'Brady has since completed more than 50 triathlons, ranging from sprint distance to Ironman competitions.

O'Brady completed Ironman Japan in August 2015, his final triathlon race and placed 6th in the Pro division.

BEYOND 7/2

Following his retirement from triathlon, O'Brady maintained the urge to push his physical limits, but this time for a larger cause.

O'Brady and fiancée, Jenna Besaw, created BEYOND 7/2, a not-for-profit world record journey to inspire active, healthy kids. "He got to a place where he realized that endurance sports are pretty self-serving," Besaw said in an interview with The Washington Post. "We looked around and thought, can we use his endurance and ambitions to create a greater impact in the community."

O'Brady aimed to conquer the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree), an adventurer's challenge to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and complete expeditions to both the North and South Poles in world record time.

O'Brady and Besaw financed the Grand Slam attempt through sponsorships from Gelber Group, Nike, Columbia Sportswear, and Mountain Hardwear, among others. All costs related to the challenge were covered through sponsorship, and all money collected through donations made at BEYOND 7/2 benefited the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

His BEYOND 7/2 project raised funds and awareness to benefit the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a non-profit organization that works to empower youth to develop lifelong healthy habits in response to the growing childhood obesity epidemic.

O’Brady left Portland on December 25, 2015, flying to Chile and then Union Glacier in Antarctica. In January 2016, O'Brady began the Explorers Grand Slam.

Explorers Grand Slam

O'Brady became the fastest person (male) to complete the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree) when he reached the summit of Denali in Alaska on 27 May 2016 and set a new speed record of 139 days. He bested the previous male record of 197 days set by Richard Parks in 2011. O'Brady is the 36th person to complete the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree) and the current record holder. O'Brady completed 10 expeditions in total to fulfill both the Bass and Messner lists.

Additionally, he became the fastest person to complete the Seven Summits in 132 days, as well as the Three Poles Challenge.

O'Brady was joined on parts of his BEYOND 7/2 journey by various climbing partners and expedition teammates including polar explorer Eric Larsen (explorer) and fellow mountaineer, Maria (Masha) Gordon.

Seven Summits

O'Brady completed both the Bass and Messner lists for the Seven Summits speed record.

Three Poles Challenge

O'Brady documented his journey on a daily blog, Facebook, and Instagram. He used Snapchat to reach the younger audiences he was hoping to inspire and became the first person in history to Snapchat from the summit of Mount Everest.

He was featured by national media outlets including CBS Sunday Morning, The Washington Post, Men's Journal, Outside Magazine, VICE Sports TODAY, People, PARADE, USA Today, The Huffington Post, The Hallmark Channel, The Oregonian, Portland Tribune, Willamette Week and many others.

He was invited as to be a guest speaker on 10% Happier Podcast with Dan Harris, The Rich Roll Podcast, Finding Mastery with Michael Gervais, among others.

Other Climbs and Expeditions

As well as numerous other climbs around the world and USA.

O'Brady proposed to fiancée, Jenna Besaw, on the summit of Cayambe, Ecuador's third tallest mountain, on 27 October 2014.

World Records