Strangers

Dan Westergaard is perhaps a name you might not have never heard before. While many runners in our country have read Ultramarathon Man and the all mighty Dean Karnazes' account of his running the Badwater Ultra-Marathon, they all know who Dean is.  Often times, we find it hard to believe that anyone, not even Dean can run the race in Death Valley, and then a guy by the name of Danny Westergaard comes along.

I did a little research on Danny to find out who he was. After all, as the regular readers of this blog may have caught on, I find it discouraging that the runners with the REAL stories are often times forgot in our sport, tossed aside to make room for the front runners, those who are considered "fast" and "talented." What I found out about Danny is that he seems like a pretty average runner. Running Ultramarathons since 1990. Five Angeles Crest finishes, fourteen Avalon 50 mile finishes and four Badwater finishes during that time. He's even rode his bike in the Furnace Creek 508 three times. He's no stranger to these endurance events. No body has ever uttered his name, his times are al mostly mid-pack... your "average" runner. Then on Monday, August 2, 2010 his name rang out through the internet forums. Danny Westergaard had completed running the Badwater Ultramarathon route... six consecutive times. Thats 876 Miles of scorching July Death Valley heat in 20 Days, 5 Hours and 42 Minutes. He has no book, no website, no Indulgence film. He's just your average athlete... who completed an amazing journey... and his name has all ready disappeared back into the abyss.

So it got me thinking about those other folks I know about, who get little or no recognition for what I have always thought are achievements far greater than those who win a race.

Who Is Joe Desena?: Joe lives in Vermont, the place he decided to settle his family after retiring from the busy life of New York city and running the 300 miles into Vermont to his current home town. No one talks about the man who in one year completed over 12 Iron-man triathlons. The same man who ran Badwater the flew to Vermont to run the VT100.. buckling in both and then heading to Lake Placid to compete in the Iron Man, all in the same week. In 2008, Joe rode his bike over 3000 miles to Death Valley California from his home in Vermont.. then competed in the Furnace Creek 508.

Who Is Sam Thompson?: In 2006 Sam ran 50 Marathons in 50 States in 50 Days becoming the first person to do so. During the same time Sam was on the road, Dean Karnazes was working his media machine talking about he was going to be the first person to accomplish the feat. Sam didn't have a big ass bus or even a sponsor. The only thing he had that he often times ran with was a 2x4 as a way to send the message across America to help the victims of Katrina. Even though Sam beat Dean.. Dean continued to cruise coast to coast claiming to be the first. Sam would eventually become sponsored by The North Face... but you seldom hear his name.

Who Is Terry Hitchcock? It was 1996 when Terry ran 75 marathons in 75 consecutive days from his home in St. Paul Minnesota to the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympic Summer Games. No it wasn't 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states... but 75 marathons in 75 days.. find me a man who has done something similar! This guy was a single father running to raise awareness for other single parents and their children. He had never run much of anything prior to his journey and get this.. he was a doctor!

This got me thinking about some of my fellow Grand Slammers. Like Keith Straw who ran Western States, then finished Badwater in under 40 hours only to arrive in Vermont that same week to run in and finish the Vermont 100. Keep in mind, he did all of this in a pink tutu! How about Jasmhid Khajavi who ran in and finished the Hardrock 100 in the SAME WEEK as the Vermont 100 and finished Vermont as well?!

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of stories like the one's I've listed above, yet publications continue to focus on the runners who come in first or second, the men with the chiseled-tan body, those runners who can bring some cash to their paper or magazine. No one cares about those who simply work hard, stay under the radar and continue to, in my opinion, out perform those at the top. Out perform because they don't train with their legs, they train with their heart.

Happy Trails
SJ