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One Recipe for Happiness? Run 262 Miles
Yahoo/Roto Reuters ^ | Thu Mar 24, 9:10 AM ET

Posted on 03/24/2005 12:33:33 PM PST by Fierce Allegiance

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pondering life on his 30th birthday and finding something lacking, Dean Karnazes staggered home from a night out drinking with friends, put on his gardening shoes and went for a run. A 30-mile run. All night.

Reuters Photo

When he survived that, he set his sights on a 100-mile race. Then 135 miles. Then 199 miles. Then a marathon at the South Pole. Last summer he completed 262 miles non-stop.

"I wanted to see if I could make it 10 marathons without stopping," he said. "It took me 75 hours and the conditions were really tough; it rained for about 20 hours of that."

Now 42 and running a natural foods company in San Francisco, Karnazes has just written a book called "Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner."

He started running in kindergarten when he decided his mother was too busy looking after his new baby sister to pick him up from school, so he ran home instead. He ran in high school but gave up for over a decade through college, graduate school and into his 20s when he worked in sales for a pharmaceutical company.

"The thing that sparked it was booze," he said in an interview, joking about his conversion to a way of life that seems to have done for him what religion does for many.

"I was in a bar drinking with a bunch of friends, feeling no pain. But I was feeling pain over the course of my life, I didn't feel very satisfied with my job and my career.

(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...


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KEYWORDS: forrestforrestgump

1 posted on 03/24/2005 12:33:34 PM PST by Fierce Allegiance
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To: Fierce Allegiance

It takes a lot of gumption to run like that.


2 posted on 03/24/2005 12:36:50 PM PST by zygoat
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To: Fierce Allegiance

He runs in slacks and button-down shirts?


3 posted on 03/24/2005 12:38:19 PM PST by Randjuke
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To: Fierce Allegiance
"The thing that sparked it was booze,"

So there's still hope for me.

4 posted on 03/24/2005 12:39:03 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Randjuke

That's Forrest Gump. click the link to go to the story to see this guys face.


5 posted on 03/24/2005 12:39:35 PM PST by Fierce Allegiance
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To: Fierce Allegiance

what does he do after running all night? what about sleep? running i can sort of comprehend...but not sleeping 70 hours....that is a bit extreme


6 posted on 03/24/2005 12:39:55 PM PST by ConservativeDude
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To: Tijeras_Slim

Yeah, I do it often in hopes of finding my inspiration to greatness as well.


7 posted on 03/24/2005 12:40:36 PM PST by Fierce Allegiance
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To: Fierce Allegiance
That's Forrest Gump. click the link to go to the story to see this guys face.

Sorry, I'm a little slow. Like Momma always said....

8 posted on 03/24/2005 12:44:00 PM PST by Randjuke
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To: Fierce Allegiance

Run Forrest, Run!


9 posted on 03/24/2005 12:45:53 PM PST by johnb838 (Thy Will, Not Mine, Be Done; No abortion, no euthanazia. NEVER!)
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To: ConservativeDude

extreme, yes. Precisely.


10 posted on 03/24/2005 12:46:27 PM PST by johnb838 (Thy Will, Not Mine, Be Done; No abortion, no euthanazia. NEVER!)
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To: ConservativeDude

He eats shrimp.


11 posted on 03/24/2005 12:46:37 PM PST by Fierce Allegiance
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To: ConservativeDude

No sleep, he runs straight thruough. Ultra-marathoners are a breed unto themselves, very strange lot. It's 90% mental, and the other 10% is in their heads.


12 posted on 03/24/2005 12:47:06 PM PST by ProudVet77 (It's boogitty boogitty boogitty season!)
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To: ProudVet77

what do they do in the morning? go to work???


13 posted on 03/24/2005 12:48:39 PM PST by ConservativeDude
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To: Fierce Allegiance

And I am just ponering doing a 5k run for the first time- this guy is amazing.


14 posted on 03/24/2005 1:59:14 PM PST by ThinkingMan
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To: Fierce Allegiance

I'll stick with 26.2 miles.


15 posted on 03/24/2005 2:11:34 PM PST by Carpe Cerevisi
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