Beldick Pushes Himself with Ultraman Triathlons

Even Jacob Beldick can’t help but laugh about the irony of his running career.

It was merely two years ago, as a senior at Riverwood High, that he admittedly “got very disaffected with the sport” and called it quits after a three-year career in track & field and cross-country. Quite simply, he grew tired of running competitively, even though the races were never particularly grueling as they maxed out at five kilometers, and he was perfectly content doing one or two weekly runs spanning several miles on his own time.

But now, in spring 2025, as a sophomore at Georgia Tech studying biomedical engineering, Beldick, who played basketball and ran track for The Epstein School last decade, isn’t just running marathons — make that double marathons — but doing so as part of three-day triathlons, such as the Ultraman Florida he completed last month to become the youngest participant (19) in the history of this particular 320-mile event. Over three sultry days in central Florida, Beldick swam 6.2 miles; biked over 260 miles; and finished things off with a 52.4-mile run.

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“I feel like for most people [participating in triathlons], they have this deep love of the sport,” shared Beldick, who estimates that over the past year he has put in 20-30 hours of training every week in order to get in tip top shape for this marquee triathlon held outside of Orlando. “I do enjoy the competition, and I think triathlons are a great way to stay in shape. But I actually didn’t have this super burning love of triathlons. For me, it was far more about just curiosity in seeing the person I would become as a result of doing the race and getting involved.

“Being in an environment where people are willing to push themselves that much, for me that was a big thing, too.”

For Beldick, he had to push himself through a series of unanticipated obstacles in his first-ever Ultraman (back in September he completed an Ironman, which is a long-distance triathlon consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run, in order to qualify and polished off a 50K ultramarathon in November 2023). During the Day 1 swim, which preceded a 90-mile bike ride, high winds made for exceptionally choppy waters; subsequently, every time the Georgia Tech undergrad came up to gasp for air, he got slammed in the face with an unforgiving wave of lake water. Meanwhile, communication issues with his kayaker guide, with whom he had never trained, only exacerbated the weather-related issues, tacking on nearly two miles, or 1.5 hours, of swimming to the itinerary. As if that logistical nightmare wasn’t taxing enough, as the first day neared its end, on Mile 85 of his bike trek — one that was not cleared of motorists, unlike in some races — Beldick got a flat tire while his seat also became virtually unusable. Battling agonizing lower back pain while unsure if he could even compete the next day due to the mechanical issues, Beldick persevered to reach the Day 1 finish line.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” acknowledged Beldick about withstanding the extreme mental and physical exhaustion to stay composed, bounce back for the Day 2, 171-mile bike ride (on a repaired bicycle), and finish the trifecta of events with the Day 3 no-break double marathon, a portion of which was run on the rather inhospitable terrain of clay roads.

Though there were unexpected roadblocks, Beldick’s unflagging year-long commitment to pushing his body through the rigors of Ultraman training made for adequate preparation.

“Even though it was very difficult training, a lot of it was me learning how to build mental toughness in the face of extreme physical and mental exhaustion,” explained Beldick, who never trained with music streaming through his AirPods, because participants are barred from using audio equipment on race day.

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

“When there’s no music, you can’t really distract yourself from the physical and mental pain. It’s more just figuring out how to push through. While I was going through a really hard workout, some of the extra suffering would just be because I was upset that I was suffering. Accepting the fact that it was going to be difficult – that alleviates a lot of the suffering.”

Being able to tolerate the excruciatingly painful cardio workouts was only half the proverbial battle; the other primary obstacle was developing the optimal nutritional plan for months on end, and more specifically, being ever mindful of maintaining proper glucose, blood sugar, and electrolyte levels. By the time Ultraman Florida rolled around, Beldick estimates that he had gone through a dozen different nutrition plans. As for the competition itself — when one is burning over 10,000 calories a day — it’s vital, not just for finishing, but for surviving, to consume a very particular selection of substances (namely, sports nutrition energy gels, high protein foods).

Despite the solitary nature of a triathlon, Beldick believes his accompanying crew, which consisted of his parents, Robert and Allison Beldick, as well as Ultraman veterans Mike and Sandy Morrissey, was a true difference-maker as they — and in particular Mike, who has a 500-mile bike race to his name — made all the right calls for his caloric intake throughout the three-day whirlwind of races.

“Mike was very good at helping me manage my nutrition and overall status, because he’s been there,” credited Beldick, who, as part of his entry in Ultraman Florida, raised funds in support of Save A Child’s Heart, a noble Israel-based humanitarian organization that provides cardiac healthcare to children worldwide and one to which his family has long contributed.

As he wraps up his sophomore year completing a rigorous course load at Georgia Tech while engaged in an active campus life, Beldick is looking ahead to his next extreme physical challenge. In fact, The Epstein School alum has already qualified for the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii, to be held at the end of November. Though the rigors of the Hawaii course would be the same as those of Ultraman Florida, Beldick is unsure if he has the bandwidth over the next seven months to prepare for a competition that requires the mastery of multiple sports. That’s OK, because he has found a new challenge on this year’s slate of amateur running competitions to check off the list: his first-ever 100-mile race that would take somewhere between 20-36 hours — with not a single break, that is.