3,300 Miles, One Prosthetic Leg: Inside a Paralympian’s Coast-to-Coast Triathlon

Reading Time: 6 minutes

___

Summary:

• Paralympian Mohamed Lahna completed a 3,300-mile triathlon across the U.S. on a prosthetic leg in 47 days

• Born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, he swam 28.5 miles, biked 3,000 miles, and ran 300 miles

• Believed to be the first cross-country triathlon of its kind completed by an athlete wearing a prosthetic leg

• Two-time Paralympic medalist raised over $171,000 for Save the Children and the Challenged Athletes Foundation

• Next target: a first Paralympic gold at the Los Angeles 2028 Games

___

A standard triathlon is measured in hours. Mohamed Lahna’s spanned 47 days and covered 3,300 miles from coast to coast on a prosthetic leg. He swam 28.5 miles around Manhattan, cycled nearly 3,000 miles through 16 states, and ran 300 miles across the Mojave Desert to reach Venice Beach, California.

It was called the Triathlon Across America. And as far as anyone’s confirmed, no one wearing a prosthetic leg has finished a coast-to-coast swim-bike-run like it before him.

Born Without a Femur, Built for Endurance  

He was born missing a right femur. This rare condition is called proximal femoral focal deficiency. He had his first properly fitted prosthetic leg at 20, and five more years passed before he got on a bike.

Since then, Lahna has competed in events such as the Ironman World Championship, the Marathon des Sables, a swim across the Strait of Gibraltar, and is the only adaptive athlete on record at Norway’s Norseman Xtreme Triathlon. He has also secured two Paralympic medals: a bronze representing Morocco in Rio 2016 and a silver with Team USA in Paris 2024.

The Swim  

The Triathlon Across America began on June 13 with the 20 Bridges Swim, a 28.5-mile loop around Manhattan Island, which he finished in 7 hours, 44 minutes, and 58 seconds. Since the swim depends on tides, Lahna had only one opportunity. Missing this window meant waiting for up to a week for the tides to realign.

The rough waters in the Hudson caused Lahna to become sick during the first three hours; he was vomiting into open water until he had nothing left to throw up. In an interview with USA Triathlon, he described the swim as stressful, mainly because he had no second chance if he missed his timing.

The Bike  

From Manhattan, Lahna headed west on his bike for approximately 3,000 miles across 16 states, climbing over 100,000 feet. Unlike the swim, which condensed all its risk into a single day, the bike segment tested endurance over time: the toll of repeating the same demanding effort with limited recovery in between.

But he wasn’t alone on this ride. San Francisco cyclist Ryan Goldman, who knew Lahna through the Challenged Athletes Foundation community, joined him for parts of the journey. Goldman helped with the ride’s physical demands, such as taking turns to block the wind.

Two weeks into the ride, Lahna felt overwhelmed by the map; it looked like he had only completed a small portion of the journey. According to his account, this was when he stopped tracking the whole route and focused only on the day ahead.

The Run  

The final 300 miles—the run portion—went from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, with over 100 miles on dirt and off-road desert terrain, much of it through the Mojave during a summer heat wave. So, Lahna and his team divided the run into two-mile segments, but it wasn’t just for pacing. On a prosthesis, an untreated blister can progress to an infection fast enough to end the triathlon.   

This gave Lahna’s team a chance to catch a problem early: fluids topped off, the residual limb skin checked before a hot spot became a blister, anti-chafing creams reapplied, and the prosthesis confirmed to be sitting right. Boils were a recurring setback. They became frequent enough that the run became a cycle of stopping, dressing whatever had opened, refitting the prosthesis around it, and moving on.   

This system shrunk the day for Lahna. All he had to focus on was getting to the next stop, letting the crew handle what needed handling, and repeat. Over dozens of two-mile stretches, he finished the full 300 miles.   

The Finish Line  

By following that regimen, he completed the final stretch and arrived at Venice Beach just after 1 pm on July 29, marking the end of 47 days on the road.

Before starting the triathlon, Lahna told USA Triathlon that he accepted the possibility of failure from the start. If his running prosthetic leg failed, he planned to switch to crutches; if plans needed to change, he intended to adapt rather than stick rigidly to the original plan.

He cites fear of failure and fear of others’ judgment as major obstacles preventing many from attempting such a challenge. His approach was to control what he could, adapt to what he couldn’t, and avoid ending with regrets about the options he didn’t try.

His “Why”  

The triathlon served not only as a personal endurance challenge but also as a fundraising effort for two organizations that supported Lahna at different points in his life. Save the Children’s funding helped keep the school he attended in Morocco running, while the Challenged Athletes Foundation welcomed him into the sports community after he relocated to the U.S.

The Triathlon Across America raised money for both organizations—over $171,000 toward a $250,000 goal as of his arrival at Venice Beach. As of this writing, he has already raised $174,369.27.

Next, Lahna has his sights set on a first Paralympic gold at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, where the triathlon course will run through the same Venice Beach stretch where his crossing ended.

If you’d like to contribute to Lahna’s fundraiser, please visit his GiveStar page.

Related Reading:

Why Summer Heat and Sweat Put Prosthesis Users at Risk

Hot-Weather Running With a Prosthesis: 4 Tips to Stay Safe and Comfortable

What Your Residual Limb Skin is Trying to Tell You (Before It Gets Worse)

Why Prosthetic Salve Belongs in Every Amputee’s Skin Care Routine