Pre's Ghost
Not at all "excercised" about DK, just pointing out that Ultra Marathoners are only athletes in watered down competition. Try and relax, you reference Pre, so I'm sure you're an "elite", in your pussy, watered down, ultra races.
I have two words for you, f*** off...
I have seen some threads on this guy but didn't click them. Why do some of you hate him?
Thursday, April 7, 2005
For former Triton, this is no run-on sentence
JEFF MILLER
Register columnist
Today starts with a confession: This column is a woeful failure, coming up pathetically short in its attempt to paint a man's portrait.
But it's not our fault. Honest. The problem is, to accurately illustrate Dean Karnazes, this story would have to make reading "War and Peace" as easy as scanning the menu at an In-N-Out Burger. Depicting this runner's essence in words would require all the space in this newspaper.
And three more newspapers.
And the Encyclopedia Britannica, A to L.
Maybe M and N, too.
Dean Karnazes, in short, goes long. Very long. Ridiculously l----o----n----g.
To understand just how long, start on the 55, then take the 91, then hit the 15. Here to Las Vegas. Karnazes has run that far. In one stretch. And when he starts running, everything is stretched.
Day becomes night becomes day again. Single strides become multiple miles. A race becomes a 262-mile journey, through the desert, over the hills, into a man's very being. Karnazes has traveled all the way to his soul on nothing but his soles.
"I think in our society, we've thought that if we have every comfort available, if we avoid pain, we'll be happy," says the former San Clemente High runner. "We're so comfortable, we're miserable in a lot of ways. I never feel more alive than when I'm really challenged and really struggling to do something."
Like winning the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile highway to hell across Death Valley in which runners must tread on the pavement's white lines or risk having the bottoms of their shoes melt off.
Like completing The Relay, a 199-mile race meant for 12-person teams, by himself. Karnazes has done this - seven times.
Like running the Napa Valley Marathon in 3 hours, 15 minutes, after running 100 miles to reach the starting line.
So about now you're wondering, is this guy insane? Or just crazy?
He's neither, actually. He's a 42-year-old husband and father of two, a business owner in San Francisco and one of the best ultramarathoners on the planet.
He recently has appeared on David Letterman's show and "60 Minutes" and written a book detailing, among other things, how he can eat a large pizza without breaking stride, how he manages to continue running while asleep and how he once jogged around the world - naked.
Sure, that last one was just a prank. After finishing a marathon at the South Pole (OK, maybe he is slightly insane), Karnazes and a colleague stripped down to their boots and high-stepped around the barber pole there, circling the Earth at its smallest circumference. Not impressed? At the time, it was minus-40, cold enough to make Prestone Popsicles.
He has been at this for 12 years, since the night he turned 30 and, feeling less than fulfilled with life, drunk at a party in his honor, he left, removed everything but his jockey briefs and undershirt, laced up his yard-work sneakers and took off running.
The next morning he called his wife, Julie, and asked if she would pick him up. He was at a 7-Eleven, 30 miles away.
"I can think of worse things to do," Karnazes says, "when you're that drunk."
That was a rebirth, Karnazes again discoveringrunning and the primal joy of feeling your sweat bead up. He now runs up to 120 miles a week, bikes and windsurfs. He does 400 sit-ups, 200 push- ups and 50 pull-ups - twice a day. His 5-foot-9, 155-pound frame carries 4.8 percent body fat, about the same as a marble statue.
Karnazes is to multitasking what George Washington is to the $1bill - its cover boy. On long runs, he'll carry a cell phone and a PDA, making calls and answering e-mails, a 9-to-5 stiff going 10-to-15 (miles) just to get loose. He wrote much of his book on the run, dictating into a recorder.
Then there is his ability to eat and sleep, yes sleep, without stopping, significant talents when running 262 miles - the equivalent of 10 marathons back to back - a challenge Karnazes completed last fall in three days.
During one of his 199-mile runs, he consumed 28,000 calories, including a pizza, a cheesecake, three giant beef burritos, a Slurpee and a bag of Doritos. "This diet," Karnazes writes, "is not to be emulated."
Like you on a couch, he occasionally dozes off, his eyelids doing what his feet refuse to do, take a break. Unlike you, however, he faces the real possibility of drifting into oncoming traffic.
"It's spooky," Karnazes says. "But I've been asleep and running. I really have. The bizarre thing is that when you wake up you feel somewhat refreshed. You can get in a nice cat nap."
He has run through pain and past exhaustion, to the point where he once saw a gold miner, a classic-looking 49er, standing on the side of the road. Turned out to be rock. He says he has hallucinated "a handful of times," not counting the incident when he felt himself going blind.
This is where we should point out three things: (1) After his first 50-mile run, Karnazes returned to his Lexus and, cramping badly, vomited all over the dashboard; (2) one of his favorite sayings is, "The other side of pain is pleasure;" and (3) another of his favorite sayings is,"There is magic in misery."
"I'm not advocating that people run these distances," Karnazes says. "I'm just telling my story. Running is what has worked for me. What I tell people is, don't be afraid to push the edge and experiment. Maybe your passion is basket-weaving. Push that passion all the way. Finding out about yourself and your limits is a worthwhile pursuit."
Yet, this hasn't been about only one man and the exploration of his insides. Most of Karnazes' races are tied to charity. He has raised nearly $100,000 for organ donation, leukemia research and the Special Olympics.
And if he inspires someone along the route, you know, that's not a bad bit of assistance, either.
"If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not constantly demanding more from yourself, you're choosing a numb existence," Karnazes writes. "You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip."
He's right, but we've pushed this story as far as we can. Sorry to be so brief. We just knew we'd run out of room before Karnazes runs out of breath.
CONTACT US:
well, I'm not sure if anyone 'hates him' but there is a valid critique and this is that he's not one of the top ultrarunners in the country. Just because he runs long distances doesn't make him one of the best as the article states.
think about the sport of running. great running performances and athletes go uncovered by the media.
this guy, who loses ultra races to better runners (including a woman) who dont get media coverage, all of a sudden pops up on national media for doing something that better runners have already accomplished without fanfare? pam reed and scott jurek, to name a couple, have already kicked his ass at multiple races. and when he hears about pam reed's 300 mile feat, he cries and says he could have ve done it on a flat course.
there are real athletes out there to cover. he isnt one of them.
i dont hate him, but i was annoyed when he said when asked about his marathon time that he runs it "in about 2:30" when i don't think he's run sub 3. yeah and i run the mile in "about 4 minutes".
I think articles putting runners in the limelight is a good thing and although there are much better runners out there Karnazes encouragement to press and see your limits in anything you do is inspiring.
Also to give an example to Musicians, there are many musicians and bands that will never make that are more talented than many that have made it. Hats off to people that know how to market themselves and keep your head up when all the haters like this woman ulta runner that feels she or the people that she backs are getting there due respect, just know the are just jealous people that always arise with others success.
In the article he sounds like a freaking super hero...
Standing at 5'9', 155lbs with 4.5% body fat....
...able to run a 3:15 marathon after 100 miles!
...he can juggle a pizza, PDA, cell phone, a Buick, and your mom all while running for days no make that weeks on end!!!
He can sell himself well. That's why he's getting the attention. IF he did run a 3:15 marathon after running 100 miles I'd say he could run about 2:30-45 open. As much as he runs I don't see how he couldn't.
Alan
Runningart2004 wrote:
Standing at 5'9', 155lbs with 4.5% body fat....
...able to run a 3:15 marathon after 100 miles!
...he can juggle a pizza, PDA, cell phone, a Buick, and your mom all while running for days no make that weeks on end!!!
well, to paraphrase his own line in repsonse to pam reed's 300 mile feat.....
many more accomplished athletes could do that if they wanted to (on a flat course, fo course). so what's the big deal?
Here's a put up/shut up offer to Dean: my friend, have heard you've said you can run a 2:30 marathon. I say you can't. If you can do so w/in the next year, I'll buy you gas for your personal vehicle for a year. If you can't, you have to promise to go back to your overachieving, overdo it ultra world of running adventures and not tell a soul and just let your results speak for themselves.
Clarify this:
"...able to run a 3:15 marathon after 100 miles!"
a) Did he run the 100 miles to the race the night before, overnight, and then run the marathon (i.e 100 miles + 26 miles over 2 days)
or
b) Did he run 100 miles to the starting line, stretch, take a duece, and then launch into the marathon (i.e. 126 mile run with a 26 mile pick up at the end.)
Anybody know if it's a), b), or none of the above?
This 100 mile + 3:15 marathon thing is getting as legendary as Lindgren's 88 mile Sunday runs.
none of this has been verified. there's no search that says he's done a verifiable 2:30 marathon.
the only other marathon, on record, that he has run was done in 3:26 trail marathon. there are no other races to indicate that this man is capable of running a 2:30 marathon.
Do some of you realize how much you sound like jealous little bitches?
I didn't realize he said he ran a marathon in around 2:30. When did he say it?
Certain people on this board hate him because they will never in their entire lives approach the fame he has achieved through running, nor do they have the self-esteem and desire necessary to run hundreds of miles per week and achieve their goals. You probably knew that before you asked the question.
on national TV--david letterman.
More fuel for the Pam Reed/Dean Karnazes fire:
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - (November 8-9, 2003) - Pam Reed, 42, of Tucson, Arizona
took her first national title Sunday in winning the San Diego 1-Day Race,
which hosted the USA 24 Hour Track Championship this weekend at the
University of California San Diego. In doing so she took down the
12-year-old U.S. Track Record of legendary Sue Ellen Trapp, bettering
Trapp's mark by almost 3 miles with a final total of 138.96 miles/223,634
meters (Trapp still holds the U.S. Road and absolute Record of 145.28
miles).....
On the men's side, Joe Gaebler, of Longmont, Colo., at 26 barely more than
half Reed's age, made up for his heartbreaking last-hour loss of the U.S.
100 mile title in September by notching the #3 all-time U.S. 24 hour
performance. Gaebler's 162.2 mile/261,035 meter victory gave him an 8-mile
margin over 3-time National Champ John Geesler of St. Johnsville, N.Y., who
had been the top American in the World 24 Hour Run only 4 weeks previously.
On the all-time U.S. list, Gaebler's run trails only the standing American
Track and Road 24 Hour Records of Rae Clark and Mark Godale, respectively.
Dean Karnazes of San Francisco took the bronze medal, and multi-ultra record
holder and veteran Roy Pirrung of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 55, finished fourth
male overall with 136.53 miles/219,723 meters, a U.S. 55-59 age group track
record.
Karnazes was also named one of Outdoor Magazine's 10 Ultimate Athletes.
I think when you look at Ultra Runners you have a couple different categories. You have the 100 mile trail runners, the Jurek's and Transon's of the sport. They dominate the 100 mile distance. You have the marathoners who move up and can dominate the 50k-100k distances. Dan Held is a good example. Then you have crazy nutballs like Dean and Pam who do 300 mile jaunts, 162 mile races in Death Valley, 199 mile relays by themselves and other such nonsense. Those are THREE different types of runners. In the same way I wouldn't expect a sprinter to run well in the marathon or even most sub 4:00 milers to run well in the marathon. Different beasts. More power to Dean. He's selling this sport like 99.9% of us can't.
Alan
thanks for the info factchecker and Alan.
The answer is b)....he ran to the start in 18 hours just a few minutes before the start of the marathon...then cranked out a 3:15....
The guy is a top endurance athlete promoting the sport and himself...any of you turds would do the same if you had the talent, desire and mental drive to do it. If all of these posters are so shit-hot, enter Badwater, Leadville or Western States and give Dean a spanking.
This is not a 5 or 10k we are talking about guys...who cares if ya run a sub 14 or sub 30..that aint shit over 100 miles AND neither is a 2:30 marathon (which I wish I could do!!!!)
Trailrunner wrote:
This is not a 5 or 10k we are talking about guys...who cares if ya run a sub 14 or sub 30..that aint shit over 100 miles AND neither is a 2:30 marathon (which I wish I could do!!!!)
100 miles? 300 miles? That "aint shit" over 1,000 miles. I ran it "without stopping" just like Pam Reed. Of course, like Pam Reed, you'll just have to take my word and that of my people for it. Unbiased officials and their measured courses, who needs them!
Runningart2004 wrote:
IF he did run a 3:15 marathon after running 100 miles I'd say he could run about 2:30-45 open. As much as he runs I don't see how he couldn't.
So all it takes to guarantee a 2:30-2:45 is endless amounts of slow running? For anyone?
"Sure he could run 10.1 in the 100. With as many wind sprints and stairs as he does I don't see how he couldn't..."
This guy couldn't sniff 2:45.