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#184 - Rob Jones - "Put Your Legs On" | Paralympic Medalist & 31 Marathons in 31 Days on Defeating the Inner Terrorist 🎖️🏃‍♂️
Episode 18427th January 2026 • Built Not Born • Joe Ciccarone
00:00:00 01:13:30

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Rob Jones - "Put Your Legs On" | Paralympic Medalist & 31 Marathons in 31 Days on Defeating the Inner Terrorist 🎖️🏃‍♂️

He stepped on an IED in Afghanistan and lost both legs above the knee. He asked his teammates to kill him. They refused. Nine months later he won a bronze medal at the Paralympics. Then he biked across America. Then he ran 31 marathons in 31 consecutive days. Now he teaches leadership at Echelon Front.

What You'll Learn:

  1. The moment the IED exploded — and what went through his mind in the first 60 seconds
  2. Why he skipped the first four stages of grief and went straight to acceptance
  3. How he convinced Olympic gold medalist Brad Lewis to fly across the country and coach him
  4. The "inner terrorist" — the real enemy that almost defeated him
  5. Why extreme challenges are 90% mental and 10% physical
  6. How standup comedy makes him a better leadership instructor

Power Quote: "The blast took my legs, but it didn't take my mission. You don't need legs to stand up. You just need to decide you're not going to quit." — Rob Jones

Timestamps: 🎖️ 0:00 - Introduction

📖 4:30 - The book that made him join the Marine Corps

💣 12:15 - What it's like to patrol knowing every step could be your last

🔥 22:00 - July 22, 2010: The IED explosion

🏥 35:45 - Waking up two days later in Germany

💪 42:30 - First rep in rehab: lifting his stumps off the bed

🦿 48:00 - Getting fitted for prosthetics — and the pain of learning to walk again

🥉 55:20 - Emailing Brad Lewis and making the Paralympics

🚴 64:00 - Biking 5,181 miles across America through the Rockies in February

🏃 72:30 - 31 marathons in 31 days — and the back injury that almost ended it

🎭 78:00 - Why standup comedy is scarier than biking across America

👹 82:00 - The "inner terrorist" — the real antagonist of his story

💡 86:00 - One lesson: Act in the best interest of other people

Featured Book: "Put Your Legs On: One Man's Journey to Survive, Recover, and Live" by Rob Jones (Foreword by Jocko Willink)

Connect with Rob Jones:

  1. Website: RobJonesJourney.com
  2. Instagram: @robjonesjourney
  3. LinkedIn: Rob Jones
  4. Echelon Front

Subscribe for more conversations with elite performers who've overcome the odds.

#RobJones #PutYourLegsOn #EchelonFront #Marines #Paralympic #Leadership #ExtremeOwnership #BuiltNotBorn #Podcast #Veteran #Resilience JoeCiccarone

© Joe Ciccarone - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

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