CUMMING, Ga. — Atlanta native Joshua Forester is no stranger to adventure.
“I've been involved with a sport called adventure racing which is a multi-disciplinary sport,” Forester said. “It involves all non-motorized traveling in the wilderness with a map and compass. You have things like mountain biking, ropes work, paddling, trekking, and running, special challenges of different sorts, but mainly orienteering-based stuff.”
He’s accomplished things that many people will never even attempt, and his most recent adventure involved kayaking more than 400 miles of shoreline in Lake Lanier. The feat has been appropriately dubbed “The Lanier Lap.”
“I conjured it up about 10 years ago and the seed was planted,” Forester said. “I was out here paddling on Lake Lanier with some friends for an adventure race that I was looking to participate in, and we did a circle around the main body here, about 50 miles, and I thought to myself at the time - I wonder what it would be like to actually paddle this thing around the entire shoreline and how many miles that would be? It wasn't until 10 years later and so this year that I thought you know what I should do this now, I think it's time.”
Throughout his months of rigorous training, Forester picked up some sponsors for the event.
“Epic Kayaks has been a huge support for the entire run, and also RailRiders clothing,” he said. “They've both been pivotal in supporting us. The RailRiders clothing stood up the entire time I was there, and the epic kayak was pretty phenomenal.”
Forester finished the kayaking trip around Lake Lanier's circumference in six days, 14 hours, and 32 minutes. He’s now recovering from the nonstop paddling.
“In terms of damage, my muscles are all pretty fatigued,” Forester said. “I've heard it takes about a week of recovery per any day of expedition that you're doing like full-on. I've got nerve damage from my shoulder down to my fingertip, and I've got numbness in my hands.”
Forester is preparing for some other adventures, like hiking Mount Rainer in July. But he’s staying tight-lipped about an even bigger experience later this year.
“ I can't really announce the details of it yet, but in September there's a very big event coming up that the Lanier Lap is actually part of the training for,” Forester said. “It's an international event, and I'll be able to announce that later.”
To keep up with Forester and his adventures, CLICK HERE.
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