The audience wore running shoes — as if by unanimous decision — last Thursday when “Ultramarathon Man” and Cal Poly alumnus Dean Karnazes spoke at Cal Poly.
Karnazes, who gave an hour-long presentation in the Business building, covered everything from how he’s able to run tremendous distances to how he reacts to the media attention he’s received since publishing his first book. He also gave local runners advice on topics such as choosing shoes (“Listen to everyone; follow no one”) and being a successful distance runner (“Don’t give up”).
Runner and international business senior Bridget Zapata organized the talk while planning for her senior project, the upcoming Global Networking Conference. She originally invited Karnazes to speak there, but he had schedule conflicts.
He emailed her back several weeks later, though, and said he would be at Cal Poly checking out the school with his daughter. Zapata immediately organized the talk, inviting students and local running clubs.
“He’s a celebrity in the running community,” Zapata said.
Karnazes himself expressed surprise at the talk’s turnout. Though he has written best-selling books and given interviews to the likes of David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel, Karnazes said he never really thought of himself as famous.
He said he was completely surprised by his success after his first book, “Ultramarathon Man,” was released.
“I thought, ‘Okay, I wrote a book. If 10 buddies read it, I’ll be lucky,’ and it became a New York Times bestseller,” Karnazes said.
Karnazes never set out to become a famous marathoner. Instead, he just wanted to find a way to break out of the complacency of his life as a businessman.
At 30 years old, Karnazes had a “corporate cushion job” and was “pudgy and out of shape,” he said.
The night of his 30th birthday, he decided to do something to change that.
“At 11 o’clock at night I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to go running,’” Karnazes said.
His friends told him he was drunk, but Karnazes insisted that he was going to run 30 miles that night to celebrate his 30 years. He got up, left the bar, started running and didn’t stop until he had finished all 30 miles.
After that, Karnazes was unstoppable, he said. He ran marathons, then ultramarathons — any race more than 26.2 miles — starting with a 50-mile race, and then a 100-mile race. Since his 30th birthday, Karnazes has run across the United States, completed the 50-50-50 challenge (50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days) and completed the 199-mile Saturn Relay by himself, among other achievements.
Part of what enables Karnazes to run such extreme distance is his body’s ability to clear lactic acid faster than it produces it, preventing his muscles from become fatigued when he exerts himself. The other part is his refusal to quit.
“Don’t give up,” Karnazes said during his presentation. “It’s the difference between those who succeed and don’t.”
Karnazes has found his own success by refusing to give up. He no longer works his “corporate cushion job,” but runs and writes full-time. For Karnazes, his life is a dream come true.
“If you do what you love, you can find a way to make it work,” Karnazes said.
Audience members certainly enjoyed Karnazes’ talk. Many of them, runners as well, laughed and applauded as Karnazes made jokes, showed video clips and answered their questions.
Distance club member and business freshman Connor Blalock came because he was already familiar with Karnazes and wanted to learn more about him.
“I’ve read his book; I’ve seen his movie; he’s just a crazy athlete,” Blalock said.
Blalock, who has run marathons but hopes to run longer distances in the future, left with a deeper understanding of how to go about that, he said.
“I learned more about what it takes to go to the next level and run 100-mile days,” Blalock said.