184 Marathons

Almost Famous

2009-02-17T11:57:00.001-06:00

I got my DVD in today. "UltraMarathon Man" has finally been released. I was thrilled to find that I was on it. They didn't show any of the interview that they did with me, but they did show clips of me running in Fargo.

To get a copy go to http://www.journeyfilm.com/

Lean Horse 50

2008-08-23T23:46:00.002-06:00

Time: 10 hours 19 minutes 34 seconds

Fifty miles...I must have been out of my mind. The race started out pretty easy. It seemed like no time until I reached the first aid station around mile 5. Shortly after, the first hill showed up. I was devistated. I started running up it until I noticed everyone else had slowed to a walk. Over the next eleven miles I realized just why they were all walking up the hills. There were a lot of them. It was brutal. After I reached the 16 mile mark everything really leveled off. I was surprised too that I was really able to run as much as I did. At the turn around point, mile 25, I was still going strong. I changed shoes a few miles later, more to check for blisters and to see how many toe nails I had left. To my surprise, everything was a o.k. I pressed on from there and everything was fine until mile forty. By the time I reached mile forty, I was begining to break down. I was spending as much time walking as I did running. I reached the forty mile mark in under eight hours too. I thought "Great! I'm on pace to bust ten hours." It wasn't ment to be though. I really struggled over those last ten miles and it took me almost two and a half hours to finish from there. I don't care though! It was fun (if you are really into pain). I can now say that I completed fifty miles!

7 down, 177 to go!

:>)

Fargo Marathon 2008

2008-05-17T18:45:00.000-06:00

Time: 3 hours 58 minutes 57 seconds

Painful would best describe today. I had a pain in my left foot for most of the race. I was able to push through it but it really slowed me down over the last five miles and cut my time down too. This one really ends so cool though. Getting to run into the stadium at the finish with everyone cheering you on is fun. As always, the people of Fargo line the streets and cheer you on as well. This is a great town to run the marathon in and the weather really cooperated today.

This one makes 6 marathons completed with 178 left.

Bismarck Marathon

2007-09-15T21:07:00.000-06:00

Time: 4 hours 11 minutes 53 seconds

Pacesetter was the word of the day today. I meet a 65 year old man named Dave Hurley at the start of the race. He was running his 50th marathon today. As I normally do, I got towards the back of the pack to start the race and mingled with several different people. As I passed some of the slower runners, I caught back up with Dave. While running with him for a few miles I discovered that not only was today his 50th marathon but he was trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. He had qualified on several other occasions but had not been able to qualify for the last three years. I made a decision at that point that if I could help him along, I would. We ran the first half of the marathon in 1:57. This meant that he was well on pace to make the 4:15 he needed.

We continued on together for the next four miles with no problems. By this point we were at mile 17. He was well on pace to make it. By this point though, I was struggling. I have developed a mild case of tendonitis in my right foot and it was really getting painful. He offered to stop and remove one of his ankle braces and let me use it the rest of the way. I refused! I had helped him along this far, I was not going to do anything to slow him down at this point. I even told him that if he needed to take off without me to go ahead. He too refused. I helped get him this far, and he did not want to leave me now. It was a real case of role reversal. I pushed him in the first 17 miles, now he was helping to push me.

We got to the 20 mile point in just under three hours. I was very happy. I was very confident that we could get the last six miles done in an hour and fifteen minutes. Dave continued to push me along over the next three miles, but at this point, the pain in my right foot was too much. I had to take some walking breaks.

When I got to the finish line in under 4:15, having never passed Dave up, I knew that he had made his time. It was a lot of fun to swap stories with Dave over the twenty or so miles we ran together and I am really thrilled that I could help him qualify for Boston. Good luck Dave, and if you qualify for 2009 and 2010 maybe I’ll see you there.

This one makes 5 marathons completed with 179 left.

One Note: I get plenty of e-mails of encouragement from everyone and I thank you. Instead of sending me an e-mail though, click on the comments link at the bottom of this post. You can leave your comments there for everyone to read and it will still send me an e-mail with your comments. Thanks.

Local Celebrity

2007-09-11T22:38:00.000-06:00

We remembered 9/11 today. I cannot believe that it has only been six years since the attack. It really feels like an eternity since it happened.

At around 8:30 this morning I got an interesting call from Pam. She told me that a local TV reporter wanted to talk to me. I called him and he wanted to do a story about me and my running that morning. I got permission to leave work and meet him down at the park about two hours later. Along the way, I picked up Pam and Lydia as well. He did his interview with me, had me run some, and then interviewed Pam. I thought that story would be one that they put at the end of the news broadcast as just a little filler at the end. Boy was I wrong. Pam ran an errand later in the day and came back to tell me that they were running ads on the radio about the story. When the news started at 6 that evening, I was the top story of the day. Below is the link to story for all those that don’t live in Minot. Just click on the picture of Lydia and me at the top to play the video. You will have to sit through a television commercial at the beginning, but the story will follow.

http://www.kxmc.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=161144

Estes Park Marathon

2007-06-17T20:45:00.002-06:00

6/17/07
Time: 4:43:20 Estes Park Marathon

Breathtaking is the word of the day. Not only was the view throughout the race breathtaking, but running at a much higher altitude was breathtaking as well. I found that I could only run about five miles and then I had to take a little walking break to catch my breath. As the run went along this got worse and worse resulting in my worst time yet.

I wasn’t so much worried about my time in this one. It was one I simply wanted to do. It was a really nice Father’s Day present to me. It was really nice to meet my wife and daughter at the finish line. One great father’s day.

4 down, 180 to go...

Fargo Marathon

2007-05-19T20:40:00.002-06:00

5/19/07 Fargo Marathon
Time: 3:46:56

I have started a new tradition after Minot. Giving each run a one word description. This one would have to be rockstar. I think the mayor of this town must have kicked everyone out of their houses for the day and made them line the streets until the end of the race. For such a small little town there were plenty of people there to cheer you on. At various points throughout the race there were kids just lined up wanting a high five from the runners as they went by.

The fact that this race was so flat made the run really easy. It is also the same course that I ran with Dean on during his Endurance 50 last September so I was already familiar with the course.

When I crossed the finish line for this one and got my medal something interesting come to mind. I have set out to do 184 marathons in five years, I can’t do 184 live ones though because of money and vacation time. I really want to do 184 live ones though. Does this have to be done over 5 years? Do I want to make this something I carry out over an even longer period of time? Questions I must answer for myself as I continue on I guess. Anyone with comments please tell me what you think.

3 complete...181 to go!

Trestle Valley Marathon

2007-04-28T20:36:00.002-06:00

4/28/07
Time: 4:02:21

Brutal! After finishing this race someone asked me to describe the race and that is the one word that came to mind. The temperatures were not terribly cold but it was really windy. Factor in the wind and road kill hill at mile 22 and it was brutal. I started out the race at a little too fast a pace and really started feeling the burn by the half way point. The cool part was I knew several of the relay teams that were running the race and every time I approached a relay point, there were several people there cheering for me. It was a real confidence boost. Once I reached the hill at mile 22 I had little left though. I had to take several walking breaks from that point on.

The cool thing about running a small marathon like this one is that you have a greater chance of getting an award. After the race, I checked the leader board and saw that I was listed like third or fourth in my age group. Since they were only giving awards to the top two finishers in each age group I had decided to go home. As I took all my stuff out to my car, I decided I needed a little something to drink on the way home. I went back in and grabbed a drink and took one more look at the leader board. When I looked at it a second time I realized that not all the times were listed in proper order. This gave me a little hope again that maybe I had won something. I checked it again and sure enough, I was second in my age group. Awesome!

2 done, 182 left

Happy Birthday, To Me!

2007-03-11T13:58:00.002-06:00

Time 4 hours, 48 minutes, 23 seconds.

I have not quit on my quest. I just took a little break. I took the break because I have been rather depressed lately. I believed I knew that it had more to do with my quest than anything else. I was right. That doesn't mean that I am quitting by any means, but if I have to take a little extra time off from time to time I will.

Today is my birthday! I celebrated by running my age, in miles. 33 miles is long. The time I listed is the time it took to complete a marathon distance. Not my best time but I was saving a little something so I could go the extra 7 miles. This was also my first run outdoors for the year. It felt good to be out in the elements. It made the challenge that much harder.

My run started off with a little hitch within the first half mile. The headphones for my new MP3 player that I got for my birthday (Thanks Pam, I love it) would not stay in my ears while I ran. I could go the next 32 and 1/2 miles without it but why. I turned around and went back for a pair that I would have the same problem with. The extra 5 minutes or so that I took getting them probably didn't help my time much because I was going up a hill when I decided to head back. This would be only the first of several little problems.

One I got back on the road, everything went fine for the next 8 miles. My times were considerably slower than usual but it was 35 degrees, a 10-20 mph wind, and I had to dodge snow and ice all over the place. Once I got to the trail that I wanted to take I knew that I would have to dodge plenty of ice. At times I could not avoid it because it covered the entire trail. When that happened I would just slow to a walk and get passed it. Around mile 9 I came upon what looked like a solid sheet of ice. When I stepped on it, it began to crack. I got a few steps into it and broke through. It was only a couple inches deep but it had a nice deep puddle under it. I gave my left shoe a very good, very cold baptism. Since I still had quite a distance left to cover I thought about calling Pam to see if she could bring me a dry pair of shoes and socks. Since it was only 6:30 a.m. I decided to let her sleep. I pressed on and with the wind the shoe dried out within just a few miles.

The other hitch was the road I was on. I had driven it before and knew that everything was fine for the first 13 miles (I plan to use it for some of my future marathon distances). I had not driven the other three and a half miles though. Two miles later the road takes a serious turn and goes up hill for 3/4 of a mile. Nothing that I can't conquer but it was hard, particularly knowing that I still had the other half of my run to go.

When I got to the top I could see a very decent sized little town off in the distance. What was going on? There was no town the size of Minot for at least 100 miles. When I pulled up the map on my GPS watch, I realized that I had run a circle. A couple miles down the road I would hit some of the roads I was on earlier. This meant that I would have to go down the same path as earlier. I adapted to it and pressed on.

I really enjoyed being out doors again. It may sound stupid, but as I ran along I came upon some horse manure. While it stinks, it is a smell that I would not experience running down in my basement. It also made me think of my Aunt Betty and Cousin Jason in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. They would always say "Smell that fresh air" when we would pass the same thing there. It was funny (at least to me).

I called Pam to let her know when I was a mile out so she could get a couple pictures of me when I came in. The second one that I have posted here of me standing on top of a bunch of snow was taken just before I took a step and went through the snow. I was knee deep in it. I didn't care. I had finished my run in 5 hours, 58 minutes, 58 seconds. One really long run.

Fargo Marathon

2006-09-28T00:50:00.001-06:00

Fargo, ND
Time: 4 hours 21 minutes 40 seconds

I lived a dream today! Today I got the chance to run with Ultra Marathon Man Dean Karnazes. He is running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. Today he ran in Fargo and since it is just a few hours away from my home I had to go run with him. While it is only 11 days since my 1st marathon I felt great. The first couple days after the Air Force Marathon it was uncomfortable to walk though.

The run today with Dean was not a competitive marathon. It was really just a fun run. We started out a a leisurely pace and didn't really take off from there. Most of the day we were running around 10 minute miles. Just like the Air Force Marathon everyone was talking and having a good time. I thought that everyone would want to just talk to Dean along the way. That was not the case. We all spent plenty of time sharing stories with each other. It was a good time had by all. Dean had a crew with him that is making a documentary while we were out on the run. They constantly had a camera on Dean but took a few minutes to interview me as well. They asked me about my experiences at the Pentagon while I was on the run. Not sure how that will turn out. While they were asking me questions I was trying to replace the band aids over my nipples. Kind of funny.

I stayed with the main group until we got to within a couple miles of the finish. My legs were getting stiff on me just like they did at the Air Force Marathon. This time they were not as bad and I was able to run the entire distance. I got to the finish line about three of four minutes behind the main group.

No medal for this one, so I won't count it!

Air Force Marathon

2006-09-16T23:26:00.000-06:00

Wright-Patterson AFB, Oh
Time: 4 hours 5 minutes 8 seconds

I completed my first marathon today. It was an awesome experience!

At smaller racing events, when the gun sounds everyone takes off. A marathon can be a little different. I was about three quarters of the way back in the field because it was my first marathon and I want to stay out of the way of any serious runners. When the gun sounded, everyone just stood around where I was. There was really no where to go. We had to wait about a minute and a half before we could even get up to the start line.

Once I got moving I was a little nervous. The little guy in my head kept on telling "What if you can't go 26.2 miles." After getting the first couple miles done with he finally shut up and I found my groove. Something that I didn't expect was that so many of the runners are talking to each other while they run. I struck up a conversation with people from time to time and now that it is over, I have to say the conversations made the experience even more special.

I got through the 1st 23 miles with no problems. I was running at a faster pace than I had expected as well. At that point I was on pace to run a 3:45 marathon. Sometime after I passed mile marker 23 my legs began to seize up on me though. I couldn't quit though. Even though I had to take walking breaks for the last three miles I wouldn't let up. By the time that I got within sight of the finish line my legs felt a little better and I started to jog. It hurt, I can't deny that. I did it though. I crossed the finish line at 4 hours 5 minutes and 8 seconds. I wanted to run it in 4 hours flat and only missed the goal by a little. I will have plenty of other opportunities to get one in under 4 hours though.

183 left.

Getting Started

2006-09-01T12:02:00.001-06:00

Over the next 5 years I plan to run 184 marathons or ultramarathons. The real killer is that on September 16th I will run my first marathon of my life. Sounds crazy but I have spent the last two years training for this first marathon. I hope to complete the marathon in around 4 hours.
Now comes the question of why run 184 marathons in five years. On Sept 11, 2001 I was inside the Pentagon when the plane struck the building. To make a long story short, I was diagnosed with Post Tramatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Part of the treatment for it was diet and exercise. I lost 30 pounds over the last two years by running a lot and watching my diet. The real suprise for me was that the running actually keeps my PTSD in check.

Once I got in shape, I decided to run a marathon. While training for the marathon I entered a few smaller races. I won a medal for placing 1st at a 3k race, 1st in a 5k race, and 2nd in a 10k race. I decided to dedicate each of those medals. The first to myself for getting through what I have gotten through, the second to my wife for helping me through it, and the last one to my daughter, who had God not granted me the ability to walk out of the Pentagon on 9/11 would not be with us today. I will dedicate the next 184 marathons and ultramarthons to my coworkers that perished on 9/11.