Jackson Dovey accomplished a feat that very few inhabitants on Earth would dare even attempt on June 28 — he qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.

Ironman races are known to be one of the most grueling athletic challenges in the world. They consist of swimming 2.4 miles, a 112-mile bike ride and 26.1 miles of running with no breaks in between.

Dovey grew up in Federal Way and currently resides in San Jose, California. He attended Federal Way High School where he was on the swim and soccer teams. He learned to swim at Marine Hills.

Eventually, he went on to Santa Clara University to play soccer. After graduating, he wanted to find an outlet for his competitive nature.

“I always watched Ironman competitions,” Dovey said. “You could always find the World Championships that take place in Hawaii on TV.”

Dovey said that his swimming background was the biggest asset for him in starting to compete in triathlons. It is also his strongest event, though he says that he’s pretty balanced in cycling and running as well.

He began competing in triathlons in late 2010 and he quickly knew it was the sport for him.

For the past two years, he competed at half Ironman distance and in the championships. While he had done a couple full-distance Ironman competitions before, he began to focus on them this year.

He qualified for the Ironman World Championship by placing highly at the Ironman Coeur d’Alene event. While the distances are already a challenge to overcome, there was another factor that Dovey found even worse.

“The heat was the toughest part,” Dovey said. “We didn’t know until a half hour before the race what the distance would be because of the heat.”

The temperature in Coeur d’Alene reached a record-high as it topped 105 degrees on the day of the event. The fire department was worried about heat stroke and potential heat-related risks to not only the competitors, but to volunteers and fans as well. Still, the event went on as planned.

Ironman races have a 17-hour time limit. Dovey completed the race in 9:26:24. He finished the swimming stage in 51:48, the biking stage in 5:05:25 and the running stage in 3:24:14. He placed first in the 30-34 age group, 13th in his gender class and 14th overall. Over 1,300 individuals competed.

“Idaho was redemption for me after what happened in Texas,” Dovey said. “It was the race of my life. I was coached by an amazing coach and executing what I was taught was the name of the game.”

Dovey hoped to qualify for the World Championships in May when he competed in an event in Texas. He was one of the first out of the water during the swimming stage, but things went wrong in the biking stage as he flatted his tire and could not continue the race.

“It gave me six weeks to focus and tweak my training,” Dovey said.

He has increased his training since switching to the full Ironman distance. He now trains 20-30 hours per week.

“It’s gonna sound weird, but I like the pain of training,” Dovey said. “I love stressing the limits of what humans can do. I love triathlons because they are all on me, unlike the team sports I played like soccer.”

Dovey attributes a lot of his growth this year to his team, Every Man Jack. They have produced many of the top Ironman competitors in the world. He said he was shocked they invited him to join after he reached out to them because of their high rank. They have won the team Ironman championship the last couple of years.

He and his teammates took part in the Ironman 70.3 Vineman event in Windsor, California this past weekend. Members of Every Man Jack placed in five of the top 10 spots.

“I would have never been in the position I’m at without my support team and sponsors,” Dovey said. “I feel like I have the best support team in this sport with my wife, my parents and my team. It’s such an honor to race with guys so fast.”

With Idaho down, Dovey now turns his attention to Hawaii and the World Championship.

“In Hawaii, I’m looking to compete to the best of my ability,” Dovey said. “I’m excited to see what I can do with all the preparation and where I stack up against the rest of the world. This event always brings the most talented athletes in the world to one place.”

The Ironman World Championship takes place on Oct. 10 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.