“When two of his closest friends are diagnosed with MS in the span of two weeks, an endurance cyclist sets out to do what no human ever has: ride a Guinness World Record around all five Great Lakes, turning 4,105 miles and 100,000 feet of climbing into a five-year act of devotion.”
Phil Fox was in high school when two of his closest friends were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis within two weeks of each other. He could not fix it. What he could do was ride. What followed was a quest no human had ever attempted: the Guinness World Record for cycling around each of the five Great Lakes, 4,105 miles and 100,000 feet of climbing, becoming the first person in history to complete the full set. But this was never about one man on a bike. Every record belonged to the crew around him, the drivers, navigators, and nutritionists who held the line through sleepless nights, including a crew chief whose own wife lives with MS. The journey ends on its longest and most punishing ride, Lake Superior, 1,050 miles and 79 hours around the largest freshwater lake on earth. This is a film about endurance, but more than that, it is about why people endure for each other, and what it takes to do something no human has ever done.
Scroll to uncover the route.
Scroll to climb it. Every foot Phil gained across the five records, measured against landmarks you know.
Five lakes, five records, and a finish line in Marquette at first light. The story has its ending. What's left is the edit, and that's exactly where you come in.
Five years on the road, wrapped June 2026.
Guinness World Record. The full set, first in history.
Post-production starts now. This is where partners come in.
Five Great Lakes is entering post-production. We're assembling the finishing partners, the editor, and the platform to take this the last mile. If that's you, I'd love to talk.
The expensive uncertainty is over. The record is set and the footage is in the can. Finishing support carries edit, color, sound, and music, and it puts your name on a story with a built-in headline: the first human to ride all five.
Start the conversation →Five years of verite material with an ending you couldn't write. We're looking for an editor who cuts feeling first and structure second, and who wants to live inside an endurance story for a while. A reel and a few lines about why this one is all it takes.
Send your reel →A completed Guinness World Record, a five-year arc, and a human story that plays far beyond cycling. If you program adventure or human-spirit documentary, this belongs on your slate. Screener and deck on request.
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