ON OUTDOOR SPORTS: Karnazes finishes marathon – twice
By JAMES NOKES
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sports@daily-chronicle.com
CHICAGO – For Dean Karnazes victory is crossing the finish line.
At the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, the author of “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner” had a pair of victories because he ran the course twice as part of a Volkswagen promotion.
That’s 52.4 miles in one day; 7 hours, 49 minutes and 45 seconds worth of running.
“I’ve still got the proverbial runner’s high going,” Karnazes said Wednesday. “I’ve got a lot of good, positive energy going.”
Karnazes has run 50 marathons, in 50 states in 50 days to raise awareness for youth obesity and to inspire Americans to get active.
He’s ran the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile run across Death Valley in 130-degree temperatures, a marathon to the South Pole in negative 40 degrees, a 200-mile relay solo, racing alongside teams of 12, and has completed in a non stop 350-mile run.
“99.9 percent of the people in the world won’t achieve finishing the Chicago Marathon,” Karnazes said. “If the notion to ever run a marathon exists though, you have to do it. It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.”
Because of the daunting physical and mental challenge, Karnazes said crossing the finish line is a life-changing experience.
“Crossing the finish line is an accomplishment you can carry in your heart the rest of your life,” Karnazes said. “The sense of accomplishment is tremendous. You can prove that you are better than you think you are. You can go further than you think you can. The whole experience is about self discovery.”
Even though the accolades have poured in, he was named to Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” list, labeled “America’s Greatest Runner” by Outside magazine, and won an ESPY for “Best Outdoor Athlete” in 2006, Karnazes is humble in nature.
He talks about running with an infectious enthusiasm.
His pre-double marathon training regimen called for running 80-120 miles per week with an occasional marathon distance run on back-to-back days. He eventually would like to repeat the format and open it up to other runners.
In the second leg, a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI and Golf TDI that run on clean diesel fuel served as pace cars as he passed through the streets of Chicago. A Volkswagen crew followed as Karnazes ran alone.
Passersby perhaps thought he was the very last contestant and offered words of encouragement.
But eventually, runners familiar with the dual-marathon event found Karnazes and wanted to join him in the quest.
It’s that grass-roots passion that drives Karnazes on the quest to expose a nation to running.
“This is bigger than me,” Karnazes said. “My first marathon I wanted to go for that medal. But I started to make running about something bigger. There is a deeper meaning. Unlike some team sports, runners participate in an open community. It’s a great activity that had the ability to unite people.”
Growing popularity of marathons
Alan Brookes has organized races for 20 years. The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon director has seen the marathon blossom into a major event.
“Running is a basic fundamental thing that people can do,” Brookes said. “You can’t control what’s happening in the world with the sky falling with savings, pension or mortgage. But you can control what you eat and how often you get to the gym.
“In the last couple years, marathons have grown into shows and festivals with bands every mile where neighborhoods all come out. Over $10 million was raised for charities in Chicago.”
On a weekly basis live-marathon coverage is streamed to personal computers around the world.
All the majors are on the Web and even minor events usually have some form of Internet coverage; even if it is a single camera mounted on the back of a truck that precedes the leaders.
Essentially, the Internet has done for elite level-marathon runners what NBC-TV did for Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the late 1980s; it provided a forum to make them into stars.
“The marathon has grown as a mass-participation event,” Brookes said. “The creation of the world majors has helped take the marathon to another level. The plan was to turn the likes of Sammy Winjiru or Hailie Gebrselassie into Tiger Woods or the Williams sisters. They might not earn as much as the golfers but they are there with the tennis players.”
Shipping up to Boston
John Atchison, the former president of the NIU TriDogs Triathlon club finished the Chicago Marathon in 2:57:22. That was good for 615th place overall and a spot in the 114th Boston Marathon.
Atchison said he will make the trip to the world’s oldest annual marathon on April 19, 2010.
“It was amazing,” Atchison said. “Last year I ran it in 3:05. I wanted to qualify for Boston and be under three hours this year. It was a cold day but the race was great.”
• James Nokes writes a weekly outdoor sports column for the Daily Chronicle. Write to him at sports@daily-chronicle.com.
