Long-distance runner finds 'magic in misery'

But then he says he’s never more alive than when he is in great pain.

“Hardship? Suffering? Bring it on!” Karnazes says in his new book “Run! 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss”, which chronicles his adventures and misadventures while endurance running through some of the most inhospitable places on the earth.

“There is magic in misery,” Karnazes contends, and a man whose mega-endeavours include completing 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days should know.

Karnazes, aka the Ultramarathon Man, has tackled the Australian outback, Antarctica and the Sahara. In California’s Death Valley he sweated through a 217-km marathon in 49-degrees Celsius temperatures.

For a cause

Now, he is on the road again, in the heat of a 75-day coast-to-coast challenge designed to raise awareness of childhood obesity and rouse Americans off the coach and onto the trail.

“We have every comfort available to us,” said Karnazes from the Arizona desert on Day 13 of the run that will end in New York City.

He runs an average of 40 to 50 miles per day—the equivalent of two marathons. Along the way he invites local runners to 5K “Run with Dean” events that benefit Action for Health Kids, a non-profit volunteer network that fights childhood obesity, and drops in on local schools, where he is greeted like a rock star.

“I am very encouraged. It is not about one guy running across the country. It is about bringing the word that physical activity can be fun and the outdoors a wonderful place,” said Karnazes, whose own love of running began with racing home from kindergarten.

“I loved to get out of that classroom and move,” Karnazes said. “It was how I experienced life. It was hard to sit and listen to a teacher all day.”

He still prefers books on tape to a stationary read. He said “Run!” which draws inspiration from sources as diverse as artist Leonardo da Vinci and the fictional character Forrest Gump, was mostly dictated into a recorder while he pounded the trails.

To prepare for his latest feat, Karnazes said he ran 80 to 120 miles a week. “I tried to do a lot of back-to-back running to simulate what I would be doing under real conditions,” he explained.

He consumes an astounding 7,000 to 10,000 calories a day. “I eat as I am walking. It is all about relentless forward motion,” said Karnazes, who admits a life of perpetual motion is not for everyone.

“It takes a tremendous level of commitment and dedication and focus,” but he says many high-achieving athletes share his love of struggle. “We take our air conditioned cars to our elevators, and we sit at our desks all day,” he said. “We thought that a total lack of pain would bring us happiness, but we have become so comfortable that we are miserable.”

After barrelling through Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Washington, Maryland and Pennsylvania, Karnazes is due to end his race in New York City in mid-May.

“That is the plan, of course, but it is been tough. The heat of the desert has been unexpected. It has put a strain on me physically,” Karnazes said. “I could collapse tomorrow.”