Ultramarathon Man

[Another entry from an older blog which was written in March 2006]

No, that's not me, not by a long shot. Not yet anyway... It won't be until this fall that I'll attempt my first ultramarathon. However, this entry is about one of the world's premier ultrarunners, Dean Karnazes.

I've been a casual fan of Dean for over a year, and a few weeks ago I finally decided to get his book from the library and read it. It's definitely a good read, especially if you're fascinated by people who obsessively push themselves to their limits as Dean does. After reading his book I poked around on Dean's website and noticed that he was scheduled to visit Grand Rapids last weekend on a book tour! I returned my library copy and bought one from the bookstore since he would be signing books that Saturday.

What makes Dean so famous in ultrarunning circles? He usually places among the top finishers of major ultra races, usually at distances of 100 miles or more. But several elite runners can do that. Then Dean decided to enter a 12-man relay race that covers 200 miles - but he ran it solo! Later he ran a marathon ten times over in one shot - 262 miles! And last fall he ran 350 miles non-stop! It took him three days and three nights, 80+ hours total.

The week before the book signing I happened to be shopping for running shoes at Gazelle Sports and the store had a sign advertising the book signing. It mentioned that Dean would be signing his handiwork at Schuler Books, then he would run about 12 miles to the other Schuler's to sign books there. I wonder if people could run with him? The running store didn't know, and neither did the bookstore.

Saturday morning Amanda and I helped set up for Vicky's Pet Connection adoption event at PetSmart. We ran some errands and later that afternoon picked up our foster dog Zoe who we had dropped off earlier. One person seemed a bit interested in her, so we'll see if that pans out. Then it was back home where I tried to figure out what to wear to the book signing. No, I'm not vain. I was, however, trying to be prepared in case Dean invited people to run the 12 miles between stores with him. The forecast said 44 degrees with possible thunderstorms, but it was easily 60 degrees that evening. I found a pair of running shorts that I could wear under my jeans, put a running shirt underneath my turtleneck, and put on some running socks. This way I could change quickly out in the open parking lot.

Amanda and I showed up at Schuler's and had to wait as Dean was running late. There were at least 50 people there waiting for him, including a local TV news anchor with his camera. Finally Dean arrived and he spoke to the audience for about 20 minutes, mostly recanting stories that were in his book. Then we all lined up for him to sign. While he signed my book I asked if I could join him on his run to the other bookstore. No problem! There was already a small group planning to run with him. He pointed them out to me and went on to sign the next book.

The other group was led by the race director for the Grand Rapids Marathon, a guy named Don Kern. Don actually met Dean on a south pole expedition - a touristy adventure where both of them wanted to run a marathon to the south pole! Dean's book and Don's website tell that story well, including how they ran around the world naked, complete with photos. :)

Anyway, Don was the guy who brought Dean to Grand Rapids on the book tour and a few friends from Don's running club were planning to run with Dean that night. Don assured me that they were only going to run a 9-10 minute/mile pace, something I could handle. So I dashed off to the parking lot and changed into my running gear. I walked back inside to wait as Dean finished signing and chatted a bit with some of the other "fans" hanging around.

At last Dean was ready and we headed outside. I realized that I was one of just seven runners, including Dean! This was beginning to feel like having Derek Jeter join some of my softball buddies for some batting practice! Off we ran, and right away the pace was closer to 8-minute miles than 9 or 10. Well, I would keep up as long as I could. Nobody talked a whole lot - we were trying to breathe, after all - but I still was able to chat with some of the folks. I asked Dean about life on the road for his book tour, and he asked if 60-degree nights were common for March in Michigan.

Our route took us through downtown Grand Rapids, which was a total blast. It was about 10pm at night and the streets were full of nightlife, forcing us to weave among all the traffic and pedestrians who routinely honked, waved, shouted encouragement, and one guy who said "Now that's what I call a bar crawl!" We ran past the Calder, ran past the fish ladder, and made our way to a bridge where some of Don's buddies had set up a mini aid station (gatorade and beer). Dean was behind schedule so we pressed on. And really pressed, because now Dean was flying trying to make up lost time. Don was the slowest runner of the group and fell behind, so I hung back with him since he's about my ability level anyway. Don's girlfriend Francine is also slow like us so she stayed behind while Dean and the other fast runners took off.

Don, Francine, and I continued to plod along at a more comfortable pace. Just minutes before we were in a crowded downtown, but now we were running through a virtual ghost town of an industrial area. Now that we weren't pushing the pace so hard, we could actually spare some oxygen for a little conversation. Before we knew it we had arrived at the bookstore in 1 hour 51 minutes of running. Dean and the others had arrived just 10 minutes earlier, so we didn't feel too bad. I thanked Dean for the run and headed home.

How did I get home? Well Amanda had driven to the bookstore and waited over an hour for me to arrive. She read an entire photo essay book about dogs (Dogs 24/7, I think) and even managed a trip to Target to buy us some Pringles for the drive home. Quite a fun night! It's not every day you get to go for a casual run with a world-class runner. And I have the t-shirt to prove it!