You think 10km's is hard to run? Try 262 miles!

[JasonH]

Ultramarathoner pushes limits of the human body
Dean Karnazes, others like him, seek happiness through pain

Saturday, March 26, 2005 Posted: 10:59 PM EST (0359 GMT)

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Pondering life on his 30th birthday and finding something lacking, Dean Karnazes staggered home from a night out drinking with friends, put on his gardening shoes and went for a run. A 30-mile run. All night.

When he survived that, he set his sights on a 100-mile race. Then 135 miles. Then 199 miles. Then a marathon at the South Pole. Last summer he completed 262 miles non-stop.

"I wanted to see if I could make it 10 marathons without stopping," Karnazes said. "It took me 75 hours, and the conditions were really tough. It rained for about 20 hours of that."

Now 42 and running a natural foods company in San Francisco, Karnazes has just written a book called "Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner."

He started running home in kindergarten when he decided his mother was too busy looking after his new baby sister to pick him up from school. He ran in high school but gave up for over a decade through college, graduate school and his 20s when he worked in sales for a pharmaceutical company.

"The thing that sparked it was booze," he said in an interview, joking about his conversion to a way of life that seems to have done for him what religion does for many.

"I was in a bar drinking with a bunch of friends, feeling no pain. But I was feeling pain over the course of my life. I didn't feel very satisfied with my job and my career.

"The answer that night seemed to be walk home, put on my gardening shoes -- I didn't have running shoes -- and head south. So I put some money in my pocket and ran all night."

These days he runs 70 to 120 miles a week and regularly runs all night, sometimes putting the kids to bed on a Friday night, setting out for a hot spring 70 miles from home and meeting the family there in the morning.
Pizza on the run

"I'll just set out with my cell phone and credit card and run up to the Napa Valley," he said. The credit card is to help stock him with food since running burns a lot of calories.

"One of the things I love to do is in the middle of the night order pizza. I'll give them my coordinates, where I'll be at a certain time, and they'll deliver a hot pizza."

In his book Karnazes describes in gripping detail the pain and exhaustion of running his first 100-mile race in a mountain range with an elevation change of 38,000 feet -- equivalent to climbing up and down the Empire State Building 15 times.

"The first time I did it was really a journey into the unknown," he said. "I had no idea if I could withstand it."

Despite "pretty severe blisters, losing a toe nail as well as temporarily going blind," he made it.

"I realized when I crossed the finish line that I had learned more about myself in the past 21 hours than I had accumulated in a lifetime."

The next challenge was the Badwater race -- 135 miles across Death Valley to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States, in July, when temperatures can exceed 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

"You run down the white line on the side of of the road because your shoes will melt if you run on the asphalt."

Next a 199-mile race, which he has now completed 10 years in a row, and which is normally a relay for teams of 12 runners. In 2004 Karnazes went "the extra distance," so to speak. He ran 63 miles to the start and then ran the entire race solo -- for a total of 262 miles or 10 complete marathons.

"The estimate was I burned somewhere around 35,000 calories," he said. Typically he will eat a mix of power bars, salty snacks, pizza, cheesecake and gallons of water.

In 2002 he joined a group of runners to attempt a marathon at the South Pole. The 12-day trip turned into a month, but despite frostbite and ferocious conditions, he made it.

"I was just glad to get out of there alive," he said.
'Why?'

At 5 foot 9 inches and weighing 155 pounds, Karnazes is not built like a typical, lanky marathon runner. His upper body is highly muscular, and his body fat is under 5 percent. He attributes part of his ability to good alignment, which helps his gait and reduces stress injuries.

There are around 12,000 to 15,000 so-called ultramarathon runners in the United States, meaning they run distances of 50 miles and up. But Karnazes said it was difficult to pin down "world records," given each event was so different.

"There's not good documentation ... (but) 75 hours is certainly pushing the limit as far as anybody has gone, as far as the number of hours running," he admits when pressed.

Karnazes enters up to 10 races over 100 miles each year and is aiming for 300 miles. "If it happens, it happens. If not, it doesn't. And will I stop at 300 miles? I don't think so."

He is regularly asked the big question -- "Why?"

"It's just the supreme challenge of seeing how far the human body can be pushed," he said.

His wife, Julie, puts it more simply: "Just look at him: He's so happy."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/26/ultramarathonman.reut/index.html

Should throw that on the JTF-2 physical fitness test 

 

[Da_man]

75 hours running non-stop? thats insane 

 

[bossi]

Should throw that on the JTF-2 physical fitness test  

Ah, geez ... now we're gonna have to kill you for letting that out of the bag ...  8)
(actually, there's a story from North Africa about a fella who carried a chap on his back for quite a long distance ... maybe somebody else who's got more time than me could cross-reference it here ...?)

 

[Big Foot]

Man, I wish I had that kind of motivation.

 

[Alex252]

That guy is insane....i like the whole calling the pizza place and telling them his cordinates though

 

[Fishbone Jones]

No thanks! We did the Belgian Death March in the 70's and covered 60 miles in about 21 hours, that aced it for me. Never again, (unless I have to  )

 

[ark]

262 miles in 75 hours comes to about a pace of 3.5 miles/hour, which is about the speed of a good walk. It may not sound that impressive now, but doing so for so many hours even if only walking is certainly a great feat.

 

[winchable]

This is actually something of a new Phenomenon in the running community, I know I was talking to my friend who's working at the running room and she was telling me about a group of 5 people who came in the other day who were stocking up for a 100KM run.
There are actually people racing these distances (50-100KM) that's non-stop running and that's not at 3.5 mph.

There was one article in particular about a royal marine I came across who is running in the Ultra Distance (thats what it's called apparently) race for the England national team.

I've often contemplated running at a slow steady pace for as long as I can just to see how far I could get, not racing it or anything, but seeing how far from home I get before I get super fatigued and need to call in a casevac.

Anyone up for a challenge? Could be interesting to see some results.
Go for a run for as long as you can (no speed or time requirements) note your location and go back later and see how far you ran.
I bet there are more then a few people here who could also post some very respectable times.

 

[JasonH]

I'm up for that once I get my ass in better shape.  Right now I can only do about 4-5 kms (worken my way up for the fitness test but I have surgery in a few weeks so I've been slacken.  Don't hurt me  ).

 

[q_1966]

Sounds like something Forest Gump would do ;D

 

[jmackenzie_15]

I once jogged 23km when I was in high school.It was death and my feet were killing me =p

This guy puts us all to shame 

 

[P-Free]

Running those sorts of distances (50-100km) must wreak havoc on the body.

 

[ReadyAyeReady]

Indeed...it surely is impressive but can it be good for you in the long run (No pun intended)?

Seriously, I think it might be time to stop when you start going blind!

Kudos to the guy...but I'll put money down that his body has received some permanent damage from his excursions.

 

[vangemeren]

I still say Terry Fox was better. He ran 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles) in 143 days, roughly averaging a marathon a day, with one leg. He only stopped because his cancer came back.

Inspired by Fox, Steve Fanyo, also an amputee completed the whole trip on  May 29, 1985, covering 7924 km.

I believe that it is a combination of fitness and mind over matter.

http://www.terryfoxrun.org/english/terry%20fox/default.asp?s=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fonyo

 

[armyrules]

Man that guy was insane I wish I could run like that imagine what the army would think then?

 

[chrisf]

The guy got drunk and went for a 30 mile run... and then orders a pizza part way through a 70 mile run... are we sure this guy *isn't* in the army? Can he run with a smoke and a timmies coffee???

Still, incredibly impressive... wish I had the endurance...

 

[armyrules]

The guy got drunk and went for a 30 mile run... and then orders a pizza part way through a 70 mile run... are we sure this guy *isn't* in the army? Can he run with a smoke and a timmies coffee???

  lol nice post but isn't that nuts and I wonder if he stopped at a payphone or used his cell?

Still, incredibly impressive... wish I had the endurance...

The guy got drunk and went for a 30 mile run... and then orders a pizza part way through a 70 mile run... are we sure this guy *isn't* in the army? Can he run with a smoke and a timmies coffee???

Still, incredibly impressive... wish I had the endurance...

 

[dutchie]

A buddy of mine who does Ironman marathons was telling me there was a group trying to organize a Deca-Ironman in Mexico. Instead of the already-insane 2.4 mile swim/112 mile bike ride/26.2 mile run, it will be ten times that: 24 mile swin/1120 mile bike ride/262 mile run in one shot, over a couple of days.

Holy sheepshit, that is beyond loony.

 

[armyrules]

that is nuts I would like to meet this INSANE people

 

[Baloo]

I want to meet him in a few years when his knees and joints are utterly shot from all the high impact running.

Not knocking it, I certainly couldn't come close. Just can't see the benefit for the outrageous problems that could be associated.