Dean Karnazes (given name is Constantine Karnazes) is a Greek-American ultramarathon runner, and author of Ultramarathon Man (ISBN 1585422789) which sheds light on ultra endurance running for the general public.
Dean Karnazes
Among his accomplishments, Karnazes has:
continuously ran 350 miles in 80 hours and 44 minutes
swam across the San Francisco Bay
won the running division of the inaugural South Pole Marathon in sneakers
mountain-biked for 24-hours straight
run 146 miles across Death Valley in the middle of summer to the top of Mt. Whitney
completed the 100 mile Western States Endurance Run ten times
won the 2004 Badwater Ultramarathon
run the 199 mile Providian Satun Relay - single-handedly - six times
Karnazes is a controversial figure in the ultramarathon world. Many ultrarunners consider some of his listed accomplishments to be contrived (for example, the 350-mile run, which is a category of one and not athletically significant in the face of the accomplishments of Yiannis Kouros and other multi-day runners). Moreover, he does not compete on the same level as 100-mile ultrarunning greats such as Scott Jurek and Karl Meltzer. Nevertheless, his self-marketing dynamism has given him exposure in the public eye not usually associated with the unassuming sport of ultrarunning. This contradiction (mediocre ultrarunning performance combined with great fame) makes him a puzzle, and target, for many ultrarunners who would just as soon keep their sport free of marketing and major sponsorship.
He holds graduate degrees in Science and Business. Karnazes, 42 years old, resides in San Francisco, California, with his wife, Julie, and two children, Alexandria and Nicholas.
Dean is a sponsored athlete of The North Face.