Twelve-plus hours, 15,000 calories and one 39-year-old recovering drug and alcohol addict who wants to make a difference — it’s all part of the area’s first Indoor Ironman Triathlon, organizers say.

Gregg Ellis, a Carter Hope Center executive board member and a recovering addict from Calhoun, will perform the Indoor Ironman Triathlon to the same standards as an Ironman Triathlon sanctioned race on July 10 at the Bradley Wellness Center. He estimates the one-day endurance event, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon, will last between 12 and 15 hours.

A Dalton High School graduate, Ellis is working on the feat in an effort to raise money and awareness for the Carter Hope Center, a residential drug treatment facility in Dalton.

Director Chuck Smith said the center is struggling in the down economy.

“Without efforts like this, I’m not sure we would be able to keep the doors open further into the year,” he said.

The center is funded mostly by the United Way of Northwest Georgia and patient fees. The annual operating budget of $330,000 is about $15,000 short this year, Smith said. It costs about $5,050 for one person to go through the nine-month residential program.

Ellis said he has been clean 18 months after spending 10 years battling drug and alcohol abuse.

“I got tired of living that way,” he said. “I’d been to countless treatment centers and had plenty of legal problems. It had ruined just about all of my relationships, and I finally got to the point where enough’s enough. I got tired of losing everything good in my life, got tired of starting over.”

“It’s never too late to get it together, no matter how old you are,” he added. “There’s a better way to live ... I look back on that life now, and it’s amazing I ever lived that way.”

He has been training five days a week for several months in preparation for the Ironman. On one day, he trains by running, biking and swimming for six to seven hours. The other four days are three-hour sessions. His training partner is Randall Martin and the two frequently run or bike Fort Mountain.

“I can run up it (eight miles) in about an hour,” Ellis said. “Biking up it, we can do it in a little over 40 minutes or so.”

Smith said Ellis has participated in several marathons and other athletic events in an effort to raise money for the center since he’s been clean.

“He’s just the kind of person that you wish that everybody that came through your program at one time or another would be like him,” Smith said. “He’s the first person that has done anything like this to help raise money for the program.”

Smith and Ellis said their research indicates no one else has done an Ironman Triathlon indoors before.

“We wanted to do something different and get people’s attention but the real focus should be on Carter Hope Center and addiction and the work they do,” Ellis said.

He estimates he’ll burn at least 1,000 calories per hour and will consume energy bars, sports drinks, fruits and water during the triathlon. His only breaks will be to change clothes between sports or go to the bathroom, he said.

Sponsorship opportunities are available at www.firstgiving.com/indoorirondistance. Donations will be accepted in advance and call-in pledges will be accepted on the day of the event, which is open to the public.

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