Ricky Bowry

The why behind @_work_week

Putting in a shift from sunrise to sunset 🌅

What happened in Vegas: July 24, 2021

WORK WEEK 2026 | DAY 03 | Kayak - 29 miles | Arches National Park, Utah Seven days. Seven marathons. The fatigue starts to settle in. Day 03 takes the athletes onto the Colorado River for a 29-mile kayak through the landscapes surrounding Arches National Park, Utah. Long stretches of water. Constant paddling. Rapids breaking up the silence. No shortcuts downstream. But this day started long before anyone touched the river. After a brutal 100-mile ride the day before, the team faced a five-hour drive across Utah before grabbing barely three hours of sleep. Then came the alarms. Pitch black skies. Freezing temperatures. Standing beside the river before sunrise trying to wake bodies that were already running on empty. This was the moment the week started to change. The adrenaline of the opening days had faded, replaced by physical fatigue and mental exhaustion. Every rapid demanded focus. Every mile demanded energy the athletes weren’t sure they still had. Some found rhythm in the water. Others were simply trying to hold on. This is WORK WEEK. An endurance event built on the belief that hard work creates real change — physically, mentally, and far beyond the river ahead. Over seven days, athletes take on seven marathon-distance disciplines across some of the most unforgiving terrain in the US. Day 03 wasn’t just about endurance anymore. It became about resilience. Follow the journey as we traverse Utah — from alpine peaks to desert canyons — in support of mental health and causes bigger than ourselves. — Support the mission: /campaign/workweek2026 Follow WORK WEEK: Instagram: /_work_week/ Website: https://work-week.co/ #WORKWEEK #Kayaking #ColoradoRiver #ArchesNationalPark #Utah

Win the ultimate WORK WEEK performance bundle worth $400 🔥 Anyone who donates to the WORK WEEK @justgiving page between now and midnight on Sunday will automatically be entered to win. Donation link in our stories and bio. Double your chances by resharing this post. The prize bundle includes: • Gymshark x WORK WEEK Tee • Firefly Recovery Bands • David Running Cap • David Protein Bars • Precision Energy Gels • Skratch Energy Bars Every donation creates access to sport for disabled children and raises awareness for suicide prevention and mental health. Winner announced next week. Good luck. 🤝

WORK WEEK 2026 | DAY 02 | Road Bike - 100 miles | Salt Lake City, Utah Seven days. Seven marathons. No recovery window. Day 02 sends the athletes onto the roads surrounding Salt Lake City, Utah for a 100-mile ride through canyons, climbs, and long stretches of exposed road. Legs already heavy from the mountain. Bodies still trying to recover. No one fully fresh. And then the route changed. Halfway through planning, construction in Provo Canyon forced a complete rethink of the course. What was already going to be a brutal day suddenly became even harder, with more elevation, more climbing, and even less room to hide. For some athletes, this is familiar territory. Years spent in the saddle. Long endurance rides. Knowing how to pace the suffering. For others, it’s a completely different story. Climbing for hours under fatigue. Fighting crosswinds. Watching the road bend upwards again and again. Learning very quickly that 100 miles in the mountains feels very different to 100 miles anywhere else. This is WORK WEEK. An endurance event built on the belief that hard work creates real change — physically, mentally, and far beyond the road ahead. Over seven days, athletes take on seven marathon-distance disciplines across some of the most demanding terrain in the US. Day 02 was never meant to be easy. But it became something even bigger than planned. Follow the journey as we traverse Utah, from alpine peaks to desert canyons, in support of mental health and causes bigger than ourselves.

Each WORK WEEK 2026 trophy is a one-of-one Navajo sandstone arch, dating back to the Early Jurassic. Once a vast desert that covered most of Utah, it now shapes the landscapes we move through across WORK WEEK, from Zion National Park to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. It’s a reminder that the most powerful changes aren’t visible in the moment. A symbol of the forces that have shaped you, across the week and the months that led to it. In the training blocks. In the early mornings and late nights. In every sacrifice. Every doubt. Every breakthrough. This trophy holds the idea that they happen slowly. Quietly. Over time. Invisible to track to day by day. Because in the end, it wasn’t just the terrain that tested us. It was everything that led us to the finish line… And the post race McDonalds feast!

WORK WEEK 2026 | DAY 01 | SKI — 26.2 MILES | SNOWBIRD, UTAH Seven days. Seven marathons. One relentless start. Day 01 drops our athletes into the mountains of Snowbird, Utah — where the challenge begins not with a run, but on skis. 26.2 miles of vertical, speed, and control. Thin air. Burning legs. No easing in. But not everyone arrives the same. Our athletes come from a wide range of abilities — from experienced skiers to complete beginners with only a few hours of lessons behind them. Which means for some, this isn’t just endurance. It’s survival. Learning on the fly. Falling, getting back up, and facing the mountain again. This is WORK WEEK. An endurance event built on the belief that hard work creates real change — physically, mentally, and far beyond the mountains. Over the next seven days, athletes will push through seven marathon-distance disciplines across some of the most unforgiving terrain in the US. But first, they have to make it down the mountain. Again. And again. And again. This is the tone setter. The shock to the system. The moment it all becomes real. Follow the journey as we traverse Utah — from alpine peaks to desert canyons — in support of mental health and causes bigger than ourselves.

The power of sport for all ♿️

As all 12 athletes crossed the seventh and final finish line in Zion National Park on Sunday afternoon, @_work_week 2026 was officially complete. It’s taken me a week for my body to recover, reduce the sleep debt, and truly process what just happened. On paper, this year was always going to be tougher. Longer distances, higher elevation gain, complex logistics. But what I was most curious about wasn’t physical; it was mental. Would it feel harder to go again, or easier because I’d already been there? Would the experience still hit the same - the adrenaline on a downhill? The nerves at the start line? The bond that forms when a group of people pushes through something together? Last year, beyond the $100,000 we raised for charity, my proudest accomplishment was proving that I could turn an idea into a business and put something into the world with a purpose bigger than myself. This year, I kept finding myself thinking deeply about the people in my community. The athletes, the crew, the family and friends, and the partners who placed their trust in me and in WORK WEEK. They showed up fully. They gave everything they had. They made sacrifices. They pushed through tough moments, and did it all with a level of kindness and selflessness that I’m deeply thankful for. As WORK WEEK continues to evolve, I know my relationship with it will evolve too. I’m excited to continue on this journey, together. With gratitude. RB 🫶🏻

WORK WEEK was featured in a prime-time news segment with @amynaynews on @fox13now News, filmed at the start line of our seventh and final marathon. We’re incredibly grateful she took the time to spotlight our story. Her genuine enthusiasm and kindness gave the team a real lift just moments before we set off for the biggest test of the week.

Let’s talk about the first four women to ever participate in WORK WEEK. @chloe_hauenstein . Natural athleticism and the willpower to push through anything, she was well-prepared for the late nights and early mornings, having spent the last year building an early-stage startup. She brought that hustle to every challenge, and her infectious laughter made it more fun for everyone along the way. Her marathon was a particular high point, leading the pack for stretches of the run. @elizaluckhurst . Traveling all the way from Bangkok to participate, Eliza brought the vibes and the outlandish questions (if each of your fingers could dispense one liquid forever, what would it be??). Back home, she’s a PE teacher and living proof that sport teaches you discipline, grit, and how to show up when it’s hard. She quickly became the glue that held the group together with her electric spirit and wild athletic ability. She might train alone, but she thrived in a team. @elliedoyle722 . WORK WEEK was Ellie’s first-ever endurance challenge. She didn’t own a bike, so she borrowed a friend’s. No prior marathon? No problem. She’s the kind of person you want in the trenches. A wide-toothed grin, a silly song, and the ability to make everyone around her believe they can do hard things. And with two perfect little girls at home, she showed them each day what it means to be a “big strong girl” - proving she was even stronger than she could have imagined. @katiiiedonham . Want to hear about the first time Katie clipped into a road bike? It was last Tuesday, before she completed a grueling 100 miles. Full of spirit and heart, a fall or a missed turn never deterred her from reaching the finish line. A style icon with the perfect fit and playlist for every discipline, she showed just how much grit and determination she was made of. Now that’s a girl group to aspire to! Thank you for raising the bar. Who’s next??