Penguin Directing Traffic

Dean Karnazes, Lisa Tamati, and Badwater: What Else Do We Need?

Karnazes Kraziness

Forbes: Dean, what does a typical training week look like for you?

DK: I like to get up early around 4 or so and if possible run a marathon before breakfast. In the afternoon, I’ll do some shorter speed work–maybe some tempo work with an eight to ten mile run. The next day I have a favorite loop I do on the ElliptiGo that is two hours and it is pretty sustained. It is climbing and I spin out my legs. I rotate typically one day run, one day ElliptiGo. Sometimes I mix it up with morning run and afternoon ElliptiGo. I do a lot of cross training with resistance also.

I’m doing a 135 run across Death Valley in July. I have to do a couple of 75 or 100 mile training runs. It sounds absurd, but you have to do it to condition your body. I go through a lot of audio books.

Running the Sierra in the Winter

Tim Twietmeyer craved pancakes, eggs and bacon, with a milkshake on the side. Bill Finkbeiner looked forward to anything but more Gu and Clif bars. And Dean Karnazes dreamed of a hot tub and a beer.

Considering what they had just accomplished, how could anyone say no?

5 Marathons in 24 Hours . . . on a Treadmill

The Self-Transcendence 3100 mile

Think 100 miles is long way to run? The Self-Transcendence race in Queens, New York, is a whopping 3,100 miles. Participants have 52 days to complete the distance.

Two long dark braids sprout from the base of her skull, which is covered by a mesh cap and a head-lamp. With her rugged-looking Montrails laced tight and triple-knotted for good luck, she flicks on her light. She looks like she's prepared to go spelunking in a cave but instead sets out at a brisk trot, sticking to a trail that traces the south face of the Boise Foothills. It's 5 a.m. and darker than the inside of a cow, but Joëlle Vaught's eyes glisten with an alert focus that keeps her on her feet.

The Badest Foot Race on Earth: Karnazes v. Reed

Cross-Training is Not a Crime

Many of us run through injuries. We run through illness, fevers and all.

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.

A Little Karnazes for Fun

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. _ Dean Karnazes had finished a marathon six hours before. He would run another in 12 hours. But as his 40-foot-long tour bus raced through central Michigan last week, Karnazes paced back and forth through a small kitchen. ``I hate being stuck on here,'' he said. He bounced up and down. Then he started to jog in place.

Inactivity annoys Karnazes. Sitting down, well, he just doesn't do that. The 44-year-old from San Francisco has about one week left in what is, literally, a marathon tour: He's running 26.2 miles on 50 consecutive days, completing each marathon in a different state. Sunday, Karnazes will run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C., probably finishing in about 3 hours 30 minutes. Then he'll climb back onto his bus and ride to another race in South Carolina.