Ultra man! R
Dean Karnazes is more than a runner. The superhuman ultra athlete writes, swims, surfs, cycles and climbs, and raises millions for children’s charities. RF’s Lucy Fry talked to him between runs!
ecently ranked by a TIME magazine poll as one of the top 100 most influential people, ultra marathoner Dean Karnazes
(nicknamed ‘Karno’ by his friends and supporters) is both athlete and best- selling author. Born in Orange County, Southern California, 47-year old Dean now lives in San Francisco. That is, he lives there some of the time, when he is not (literally) running around the country raising money for children’s charities.
Running free
“I still, to this day, remember my first run,” Dean tells me. “I ran home from kindergarten when I was six-years-old. It was so liberating; sitting in class all day was painful for me as a young boy. After that I kept it up, finding different routes home and challenging myself all the time. Running set me free. I’ve always related to the world by being outside, moving.” As an adult, Dean has been for some
quite extraordinary runs. His most recent high profile challenge – 50 marathons across 50 different states in the US, in just 50 days – finished in 2007. And, perhaps typical of someone who always looks forward rather than back, his final and 50th consecutive marathon, the New York Marathon, was his fastest, just 3 hours and 30 seconds.
Ultra marathon man 44 n RUNNING FREE
It is hardly surprising then that Dean’s other nickname, and the title of his website (
www.ultramarathonman.com), is Ultra Marathon Man. It would be an understatement, of course, to say this
title is well deserved: Dean has completed, among many other runs, a 135-mile ultra marathon across Death Valley in 120 plus degrees, the Badwater Marathon (which he won, by the way) and a 200-mile run which he did on his own while everybody else did it as a relay in teams of 12. He’s not just a runner either; Dean has also swum across San Francisco bay and mountain biked for 24 hours non-stop. And he’s a great surfer and windsurfer too. In fact, to list all of Dean’s talents and achievements would not only take several pages, but might also distract from his biggest challenge yet – the small matter of a run across America.
The big one!
Starting in Disneyland, California and finishing in New York, the challenge started 25th February 2011 and should be completed in 75 days. “This challenge is both physically and mentally daunting because it’s about 50 miles per day, nearly two marathons put together,” he says. “I guess this is an over the top, blatant attempt to inspire people to get more active.”
A charity champion!
All Dean’s runs are for charities, typically focused towards children. In the past he has raised money for the international charity Girls On The Run but this time all funds raised go to US charity Action for Healthy Kids. Dean will also be stopping to give motivational talks to the students of around 30 schools along the way. “I’ve got two kids myself so I know the challenges a parent faces trying to get
them to be active,” he notes. “My kids are going to come and see me quite a bit on the road during this latest challenge, plus I will Skype them every day which is a bizarre reality check. I’ll be there, crossing the desert in Arizona and they’ll be sitting at the dinner table at home.” During these 75 days Dean will be accompanied by a film crew who will be broadcasting regular updates straight to the biggest morning television show in the US – Live with Regis and Kelly. “I want to capture the honesty of
running long distances,” says Dean. “I hope this will be more of a reality show than a documentary, demonstrating both the magic and the misery of trying to do something like this.”
Dean’s diet
During these 75 days Dean will be eating between seven and 10,000 calories a day, though he suspects he will burn anywhere between 12,000 and 14,000. His diet will be made up of a variety of foods including energy bars, gels, electrolyte replacement fluids (depending on the temperatures and his sweat-loss) and freshly cooked meals.
MAKING A
DIFFERENCE SPECIAL
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