Storms were moving in when Dean Karnazes arrived at the American Airlines center in downtown Dallas. Running 50-marathons in 50-days covering all 50-states is staggering, but Karnazes is the man Men's Fitness called "the fittest man in the world."
“I read his book,” says Mike McMullen of Dallas “I loved it, so I thought I'd come out to meet him and run with him.”
Near the starting line, Karnazes address the 75-runners who have registered to run the race with him. “This has been the most amazing experience of my life,’ he says. “Incredible, and its not about me, its about you guys joining together so, thank you so much for being here. We've got a hearty group. We've got some weather, its going to make it all the more interesting.”
“I think he's crazy, but I think his mission to educate us on the inactivity of our youth, is an awesome mission,” says Andi Smith of Dallas. “It was great he could come to Dallas so we could do this.”
Karnazes finishes his talk to the small crowd as lightning strikes in the distance. “Lets go have some fun, let's eat, let's laugh, and let's do a marathon. So thank you all,” as cheers erupt from the runners.
Kanazes starting running his 50-marathons in a row on September 17th so Dallas was his 24th marathon in a row. For the first 15-miles or so, it rained hard, making the run even more challenging.
“The rain felt really good actually,” said Karnazes. “In fact, I talked to a lot of runners. I never heard one of them say I don't like the rain.”
To prepare for his 50-marathons in 50-days, Karnazes used ultra marathons to prepare for 50-marathons in 50-days.
“I've run a number of 100-mile races, 200-mile races, I once ran 350-miles, to train my body in order to do a marathon without too much damage,” he explains.
“Beyond a head cold, I feel like my body is getting stronger every day. It’s remarkable. I feel like my legs are getting stronger, I'm getting conditioned to doing this in a way, its almost spooky.”
Karnazes has inspired runners across the country with his mission of extreme fitness. Most of those running with him, have read his book Ultra Marathon Man.
“Inspiraion is a two way street,” he says. “People say to me, I inspire them, I hear some of the stories out here, and it brings me to tears. I'm just a runner. I'm just a normal everyday guy, that is passionate about what I do, and I think anyone could be doing what I'm doing. I really don't think I'm gifted in any sort of way. I'm just passionate about it, and I feel like I’m the luckiest man on earth,” Karnazes explains.
“What I want to do is inspire this country to get more active, to make physical activity a priority in their life. That is as important as any other activity. We have a huge health problem in this country and I think if we can collectively turn things around, we'd all be happier. I think together as a group, we're touching a lot of people in a very positive way,” Karnazes says.
Karnazes left Dallas with 26-more marathons to go. “Ha Ha Ha,” Karnazes laughs. I'm not doing it. When I signed up to do this, they told me there would be no math, so I'm not doing any math here.
That’s fine, but he’s still got a long way to go, and barring injury, he will run make it. By the way, 7-marathons a week adds up to a cool 183.4 miles. The 50-marathons in 50-days adds up to an amazing, 1310-miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment