He became the 270th person to swim across the English Channel on his fourth try in September 1985 with a time of 22 hours, 15 minutes.[1][2][3] Although Fossett said he was not a good enough swimmer "to make the varsity swim team", he found that he could swim for long periods.[5] Fossett competed in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii[4] (finishing in 1996 in 15:53:10),[42] the Boston Marathon, and the Leadville Trail 100, a 100-mile (160 km) Colorado ultramarathon which involves running up to elevations of more than 12,600 feet (3,800 m) in the Rocky Mountains.[7][6]