the Way of the Turtle

DEAN RUNS 50 IN 50 IN 50... AND THEN RUNS HOME
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

A while back I stumbled across a book called Ultramarathon Man, by Dean Karnazes, basically an autobiographical account of how he got back into running and began running longer and longer distances. Now I have to admit - I'm not sure I totally believe all of his stories. And at times he comes across as a bit full of himself. But his adventures are right up my alley, and his reasons for doing the runs are ones I can understand and relate to.

Neddless to say, Dean has become a running icon, and this past summer it was announced that he would be doing an Endurance 50 this fall - running 50 marathon courses in 50 states in 50 days. His reason? To encourage people to be active and live healthier lives. (I suspect its also to assist his charity fundraising efforts... and just because he can!) He started on September 17 in St Louis, MO and completed the 50th marathon in New York City, NY, on November 5.

The next day he went out for a relaxing 21 mile run... just because he could.

And then he started his next "big thing" - now Dean is running across the country from NYC to his home in San Francisco. Yow.

In the videos I've seen of him, he comes across as a pretty nice guy. I know some folks don't like his self-promotion and the fact that so much attention is focused on him. But I think he's pretty darn impressive, and I wish him the best of luck in his long journey home.

I wonder how long it would take to run across New York State...

(...but I think I'll bike across it first... someday!)

-JMH

P.S. If you want to find out more about the Endurance 50 and Dean's Home Run, Runner's World has tons of coverage.