Dean Karnazes - A Runners High: Older, Wiser, Slower, Stronger

DEAN KARNAZESis an icon in the running world. He was named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. An internationally acclaimed endurance athlete, hes the winner of an ESPN ESPY, 3-time winner of Competitormagazines Endurance Sports Athlete of the Year, and recipient of the Presidents Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Lifetime Achievement award. And to boot, hes run around the world naked (true story!). He lives in San Francisco with his family.

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Allen & Unwin

First published in the United States in 2021 by HarperCollins Publishers

Copyright 2021 by Dean Karnazes

The moral right of Dean Karnazes to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.

Allen & Unwin

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Hardback ISBN 978 1 83895 381 2

Trade paperback ISBN 978 1 83895 382 9

E-Book ISBN 978 1 83895 383 6

Printed in

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to my mother and fatherto the times weve had, the memories weve created, and the joy weve shared. Its been a fantastic journey. Together forever.

CONTENTS

1

ENDURANCE NEVER SLEEPS

Running an ultra is simple; all you have to do is not stop.

Im lying catawampus splayed ass-to-the-dirt in the trailone leg tweaked improbably beneath mestaring up at the afternoon sky seeing sparkles of light flickering before me like circling fireflies and wondering what the hell just happened. A sharp ringing in my ears perforates the otherwise complete stillness, a lazy film of dust rising indolently around my idle carcass. Inside the motor room my muscles and bodily organs register a dull tenderness, but it is the nausea that is most pronounced, a queasy sensation of being punched hard in the gut. What just happened?

Moments ago I was in perfect harmonic flow, bounding along nicely, cool and in control, step, spring, step . . . Then everything changed. I vaguely recall flight, weightless soaring, a defiant middle finger to gravity as time briefly suspended; my wings spreadfly, be free . . .

Until impact. Kaboom! Everything just exploded, like a skydiver whose chute failed to deploy. Now Im heaped on the soil like Icarus, a lifeless, charred exoskeleton smoldering in ruin and wondering what just went down. A ticker tape of questions scroll across the screen of my mind: Is anything broken? Will someone find me? Where am I?

To answer that final question we need to dial back the clock to yesterday morning, a time when I had a sinking premonition: I shouldnt be doing this. I REALLY shouldnt be doing this. I know better. Then I shut the door behind me. I was doing it.

At least the timing of my departure seemed good.