Extreme Endurance Runner Dean Karnazes (www.endurance50.com) will running 50 marathons in 50 states. Here’s the skinny from the local paper, The Boulder Daily Camera:
“Running 50 marathons — that's 1,310 miles — in 50 days, one in each U.S. state, is, to say the least, a daunting prospect. But that's what Dean Karnazes, ultrarunning's first bona fide media celebrity, plans to do starting Sunday, including a Sept. 24 stop at the Boulder Backroads Marathon.
In truth, Karnazes, 43, isn't too worried about the running part.
After all, last year he ran 350 miles nonstop in 81 hours. This spring and summer, in preparation for his "Endurance 50" attempt (sponsored by The North Face), he casually reeled off an impressive training plan, winning the 100-mile Vermont Endurance run as well as running a passel of marathons and ultras, including Boston and Big Sur (which he ran twice, just for kicks), the Western States 100, the Leadville Trail 100, and the 135-mile Badwater stroll through blistering Death Valley in mid-July.
Also, he's been working with Lance Armstrong's Aspen-based coach, Chris Carmichael.
So no, Karnazes is not really worried about the running part.
But recovery, now that could prove nettlesome.
"The challenge will be to run at a clip so I can get to the next state in time, but not too quickly that I can't recover by the next morning," says the effusive Karnazes by phone from his home in San Francisco. "It's hard to say where that will wash out."
Where a sizable majority of citizen marathoners these days are hard-pressed to finish under 41/2 hours, Karnazes figures he can run his 50 marathons in a 3:45- to 4:30-pace, and "the next day get up and feel like I'm pretty recovered."
Then there's the question of logistics. Karnazes will be traveling mostly by bus with his family and a crew of drivers, so he'll have plenty of time to chill out. Even so, imagine finishing a marathon in Albuquerque at, say, 11 a.m. on Oct. 8, greeting fans, climbing on the bus, traveling 650 miles — so figure about 10 hours — to Tulsa, then waking up early to run another marathon there. Day after day, with variable trip lengths.”
Your Race Results
Recently I received this very nice email:
“My name is Troy Busot. I run a site called VirtuRace.com (www.virturace.com).
We have been compiling results mainly from North America from the past few years. We have nearly 6 million results in the system with the ambitious goal of providing complete coverage for all running (800 meter and above), swimming (mainly open water), cycling (crits and time trials), and of course triathlon/multisport.
If we are missing any of your results, please drop us a line and we will get them in there right away. We are adding some more social tools to the site over the next few weeks, but in the mean time, you can add photos from your events as well as manage your results directly.
By the way, I have been listening to your podcasts nonstop for the past 14 hours and I’m hooked. I just finished the Mark Allen interview – great job. I’ll be grabbing a copy of your book when things slow down a bit (no time to read as I’m sure you can understand!)
Great job again – keep up the good work.”
So I checked out his site and guess what? It has results from my long forgotten races…way cool! Check out your own former race results by clicking HERE.
Search Inside
And speaking of my book, Amazon just added the feature where you can look inside the book. Check it out by clicking HERE.
If you like what you see and you want a signed copy of my book you can get one from me by clicking HERE.
Not only will I sign the book for you, I’ll also inscribe it with your name. And unlike your computer, the book can be read anywhere without the use of a power cord, battery or Internet connection.