What Drives Karnazes?

 When people ask Dean Karnazes why he is pushing his body to almost unimaginable limits of physical endurance, they often speculate he is "running away from something." And when he actually has time to sit and ponder the question, Karnazes admits the tragic death of his younger sister, Pary, is a driving force.

It was the eve of her 18th birthday and Karnazes, now 44, was still in college at Cal Poly. A priest knocked on his door the following morning to tell Karnazes the terrible news: Pary had lost control of the convertible she was driving and was thrown from the car as it rolled. Karnazes and his little sister were best friends. Now, the void left in his life was "unbearable," Karnazes says, and the rift it created in his tight-knit Greek family "seemed bottomless."

More than two decades later, Karnazes, who has single-handedly run 199-mile relays intended for teams of 12 people, says he still feels the pain of that loss. Today, he runs not only to test the limits of human endurance and inspire others to get off the couch, but also to keep the memory of Pary alive.

"To be honest, a lot of runners are running from something and I have friends who are running from addictions and behavioral issues," said Karnazes. "But for me, it's my way of honoring my sister. I'm just committed to live my life to the fullest in honor of her."

For this chiseled husband and father from San Francisco, that has meant a long list of body-torturing endurance events.

He once continuously ran 350 miles in a little more than 80 hours. He has raced 135 miles across Death Valley in the middle of the summer. He has mountain biked 24 straight hours. And he has swum across San Francisco Bay.

And now, Karnazes is attempting something even more stupefying - even to his fellow "ultra runners" (runners who compete in races beyond the marathon distance of 26.2 miles). Starting Sept.17, he began a cross-country journey called the Endurance 50 where he is attempting to run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states.

Wednesday, Karnazes notched No. 39 by completing the Tecumseh Trail Marathon course in Bloomington, Ind., where there was a 3,500-foot climb and a 3,800-foot descent. Then he got on his tour bus with his support crew and drove to Finchville, Ky., to run a road marathon course. He hopes to finish the Endurance 50 on Nov.5 at the ING New York City Marathon.

Today, Karnazes will try to make it 41 straight marathons by completing the hilly Atlanta Marathon route. Saturday, Karnazes' bus stops at Clearwater's Coachman Park for the Clearwater Halfathon, a half marathon course he will complete twice to get his full marathon distance.

A capacity field of 50 local runners have already signed up to officially run with Karnazes in Clearwater but there's nothing stopping folks from hopping in along the course and joining Karnazes for a few miles, organizers say.

Be warned, however. Karnazes is not walking. Considering he's done 40 of these things so far, it's impressive he has run his marathons anywhere from 3 hours, 20 minutes to 4:45. The bulk of the runs have been in the 4-hour range, or 9-minute miles.

Speaking from his bus by cell phone Wednesday night, Karnazes made you wonder if he's part Terminator cyborg and part genetic mutant when he claimed, "My body seems to be getting stronger each marathon." For anyone who has done 26.2 miles at any speed and recalls having to walk down stairs backward the following day because of leg soreness, you're tempted to say, "Yeah, right, Dean."

"I know it sounds bizarre but every day, I'm waking up feeling a little better, a little rejuvenated and a little stronger," Karnazes said. "I'm even surprising myself."

Sure, he prepared for this event with some of his notoriously long runs and races, including five events of 100 miles or more between April and August. He has a coach and is eating a fairly strict diet in the 5,000-calorie range each day. And he is motivated by the fact the whole point of doing this is to remind children and adults that our country needs to get in better shape and lose some weight.

But because of the demanding schedule of cramming 50 marathons in 50 days across the nation and the postrace demands of runners, media and others, he's only getting about four to five hours sleep each night. And he admits there have been some "low points," days where it was tough to crawl out of bed and get to the starting line with the 50 or so people waiting on him.

Those times, he says, he is fueled by the memory of his sister, the numerous family members who have joined him in the journey (including his wife, children, mother and father) and the never-ending desire to "push the limits."

"I have a deep curiosity to see how far the human body can be pushed and find out where the breaking point is," said Karnazes, who has failed to finish his share of ultra marathons and races at altitude. "I just think our bodies are such incredible machines and we're so much better than we think. We can go so much further than we think we can."