Marathon Minute - Leadership

A conversation with three-star General David Huntoon during the Bataan Death March Memorial Marathon was a lesson in leadership.  He's an awesome leader, who leads not only by virtue of his rank, but by his EXAMPLE!    Listen.  

Don't Rehearse The Wrong Stuff

Our brains react to whatever we put into them over and over.  So why is it that when we do something wrong, we run it over and over through our head?  Shouldn't we be rehearsing the RIGHT STUFF?  Listen.  

The Hotdog Factor

It's amazing how much easier your own efforts get when you're a Hotdog.  You know, the guys who just seem to be screwing off all day, while they just happen to be running a marathon?  Being the Hotdog makes the whole effort a lot less of a chore.  Maybe you can hook up with someone and coach them through and take your mind off your own problems.  Listen.  

It All Started With A 15-Minute Walk

It all started with a small amount of resolve and an act that only took 15 minutes.  That 15 minutes changed Denise's life.  Now she's out motivating others to do what she did.  Truly, one of my heroes.  Listen.  

Marathon Minute - Motivation by Aggravation

You know how your friends like to be giving you crap all the time?  You announce you're going to do something and they give you that "Yeah, sure, like you're gonna do that!"  Maybe that's just their way of helping you out..  I like to call it, "Motivation by Aggravation."  Take a listen.  

The Marathon Minute - Leadership

During the Bataan Death Memorial Death March I met three-star general David Huntoon.  He's the kind of guy who leads by example.  During the couple miles we spent together we had a chance to discuss leadership as we made our way along a very tough marathon course.  Let me share a little of that day.  Take a listen.  

The Marathon Minute - Intelligent Life?

So, we've landed a new car on Mars, and we're looking for signs of life.  You know what I think would indicate intelligent life on a planet?  Take a listen.  

The Marathon Minute - The Wizard of Oz

It's time to start another season of The Marathon Minute!  You remember the Wizard of Oz?  Other than finding out that things can get really weird if you find a dead witch under your house, there are some great lessons in that movie.  Take a listen.  

Aren't You Afraid?

Aren't You Afraid?

Early in 2011 I was talking with the lovely Francine's brother Randy at Happy Hour one Friday evening, when he told me about the Rev 3 Ironman-distance triathlon he had just signed up for.  They even still had openings.  I managed to hold out until Tuesday before signing up.  Then, as I keep telling people to do, I told everybody I was doing it.  

A couple weeks later on a Saturday morning run from John Ball Park, a friend came up beside me and said, "I'm really proud of you."  "OK, what did I do?"  It was about signing up for the triathlon.  

Then she asked me a question that surprised me:  "Aren't you afraid?"  

"Huh?"  

"What if you fail?  What if you can't do it?"

Wow.  I hadn't considered that.  I suppose there's that possibility, but what if I did?  

Truthfully, I've had things that didn't quite work out before.  I had already tried to break the world record for running the seven continents TWICE.  Still hadn't done it.  I was going to be a millionaire by the time I was 30.  And 40.  And 50. Maybe I'll make it by 60.  But what if I fail?

Some people have questions like that going on in their minds when signing up for a marathon. There's a possibility that you'll fail. But you probably won't.  

What Do You Say to a Marathon Runner

A friend of mine was staying at my house one time as I was getting ready to head out for a marathon weekend.  "What do you say to someone about to run a marathon?" he asked me.

"Huh?"

You know, if it's an actor, you say, "Break a leg.  What do you say to a marathon runner?"

"I don't know.  Go f*ck youself?"

It was good for a laugh at the time.  But later that day as I left for the airport, his last words yelled as I walked out the door were, of course:

(Do I have to say it?) 

Groundhog Day Marathon

Yesterday Ken Lusk and I went out and measured the Groundhog Day Marathon course.  It's BEAUTIFUL.  Even in the winter it will be great, but we're thinking that we need to run something out there before that, just to let people enjoy the beauty.  Cool course, just under 4.4 miles long--six laps to a marathon.  Would make a great marathon relay course.

People Die During Marathons!

Sometimes people die during marathons. Then the headlines are all over it, and people are saying "I'm not going to run a marathon, people die doing that." Try Googling "Do people ever die during sex?" and see what you learn. Yeah. I'm not going to quit doing that either.

2012 Ideas

A month and a half into the new year, and I'm finally posting something like this.  I'm thinking that this year I'll do a series of videos of "Bucket List" type items.  Some of them were on my list, some weren't but could well have been.  Some I'll do again just because I think it's a cool thing to do.  So far, I jumped into a lake in January, saw Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day.  I'm working on a list of adventures to have:  Go kayaking. Sleep out in the snow. Start a fire without matches.  Learn to ride a unicycle.  

Some are a little more drawn out, like physical fitness stuff.  In January, I weighed 187.  I could do three pullups.  I ran three miles in 27:58.  I'm thinking 180, 10, and 25 would be a lot better for those numbers.  I'll see how it goes.

More to follow.....

Mommie's Carrot Bread Recipe

Hah!  I found it in an old scrapbook!  This is a family tradition that Mommie (Pronounced "Mummy"), my great-grandmother Gladys Fults, always brought to family functions:

2 eggs
1C. White Sugar
3/4 C Mazola
1 1/2 C Carrots grated
1 1/2 C. Sifted flour
1 t Soda
1 t Cinnamon
1/4 t Salt
1/4 C Chopped Nuts
1/2 t Vanilla

That's it.  No mention of a temperature or time on the sheet.  I'm going to go with 400 degrees for 20 minutes and see where it gets me.

Most of the time, I believe she used black walnuts that she gathered from the two trees in the front yard and spent HOURS picking the meats out of.  She baked it in little loaves.  We spread margarine on it, since back in that day people in my family hadn't decided they could afford butter.

Don't know that anyone in the family has made carrot bread since Mommie died back in 1971.  Time to restart the tradition, I think.

Gladys (Dean) Fults -- Ilene (Fults) Cramer -- Julaine (Cramer) Kern -- Me.

I Love Living in 2012!

Life is way convenient in this day and age.  A couple weeks ago, while waiting at a busy intersection to turn the corner, a lady had a slight lapse in something and hit the back of my van.  No whiplash or anything, but a nice dent in my back hatch door.  I whipped out my iPhone, took pictures of the damage, her license & proof of insurance and license plate, the street sign on the corner, and got phone numbers, etc.
On my way to my next appointment, I called Rod Smith, my agent, and told him what happened.  I pulled over, sent him all the pictures and a quick email.  About a week later, I stopped by Hansen Collision for an estimate. (The location that's just down the street from the Hideout Brewery) and they sent it to Rod.

Today I dropped off the van, Enterprise picked me up (just like they say on TV).  They don't have a car in yet, so they dropped me at Biggby Coffee for an hour or so where I'm drinking coffee and getting a bit of work done.  All this stuff and no lost time to speak of.  Pretty cool. I was planning to drink coffee and get some work done anyway.  

Running Marathons

This is from my newsletter back in October:

16 years ago I ran my first marathon in Chicago.  It was a day that changed my life.  Drank my first Sam Adams Cherry Wheat at the expo.  Bought the race photo ahead of time.  Ran the first 16 miles with Aziz Uras, a fellow Dead Runner from Chicago.  Ran the last 5 miles with Nancy, who was my best friend for an hour and a half and who I've never seen since.  My long run had been 22 miles.  Hers had been 20.  At 23 miles her sister and one of my best friends, Mike Schwartz met us and ran the last 3 miles with us.  I could see the FINISH LINE in my head long before I got there.  I knew I was going to finish, and I knew my life would never be the same.

 

And it wasn't.  Now I could run 26.2 miles.  Limits were no longer something that got in my way.  Since then, I've seen the world, met hundreds of new friends, learned more and more about myself and what I can do.  

 

I'm a "normal" guy--not a "gifted athlete."  But being a marathon runner has opened up the world to me.  

 

If you're running your first marathon, or your first half (you can bump up to 26.2 next year) you'll discover things about yourself too!  You'll find out that your limits are gone!  Your attitude will change.  Someone might tell you that you can't do something, and you'll respond, "Right.  Stand the f**** back and watch this!"  Awesome people run marathons, and you're one of those people!

Videos from Seven Continents Trip

Video Links
Michigan Runner magazine gave me a few bucks and a video camera for the trip, and I managed to get a little footage together here and there.  There's a video of every one of the races, plus a few others by other people I'll post here:

Introduction
Soweto, South Africa
Ticino, Switzerland
Curitiba, Brazil
Fukuchiyama, Japan
Bethels Beach, New Zealand
Cocoa, Florida
Antarctic Ice Marathon
Antarctic Ice Marathon - Extended edition

Video from Antarctic Ice Marathon

Press Info

World Record for Marathons on Seven Continents!

In a third attempt to break the world record for running marathons on all seven continents in the least amount of time, Don Kern, of Grand Rapids Michigan has successfully run marathons on each of the seven continents, finishing on Thursday, 1 December 2011.

During the time from 6 November to 1 December, the following marathons were completed in a span of 25 days, 18 hours, and 10 minutes.  The previous world record was set by Richard Takata in 2007 and was 29 days, 16 hours, and 17 minutes.  

The marathons run in the course of this record were these:

6 November - Soweto Marathon, South Africa

13 November - Maratona Ticino, Switzerland

20 November - Maratona CAIXA de Curitiba Curitiba, Brazil

23 November - Fukuchiyama Marathon , Japan

26 November - Speight's West Coaster, Bethel's Beach, New Zealand

27 November - Space Coast Marathon, Cocoa, Florida, USA

1 December - Antarctic Ice Marathon, Union Glacier Camp, Antarctica

"In my freshman College Prep English class, I ordered a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records.  I always thought I'd be in there someday.  That was over 40 years ago."  

Planning to break this record began in 2006, while already signed up for the 2007 edition of the Antarctica Marathon held on King George Island.  At that time, the world record was a mere 99 days.  The plan was put together to run all seven in 35 days, which Kern successfully ran in February-March 2007, only to find out afterward that Takata had run all seven in just under 30 days.  Later that year, in another attempt to run in 25 days, the Antarctic Ice Marathon trip was delayed by weather for eight days, so while bettering his personal record to just under 33 days, the world record still belonged to Takata.  Still,  2007 it is believed that this was the only time anyone has run marathons on all seven continents twice in the same year.

Background information on Guinness World Record criteria:

Fastest time to complete a marathon on each continent (male).

The current record (current as at the date of this letter) is:
The shortest overall time to complete a marathon on each of the seven continents is 29 days 16 hours 17 minutes by Richard Takata (Canada) from 4 February - 6 March 2007. 

Here's a sample of what Guinness needs:

1. All marathons must be officially organised and well publicised, in other words
must not be organised specifically for the purpose of this attempt.
2. Guinness World Records should be informed of the planned marathons prior to
the attempt.
3. The official race results from each marathon and one independent witness
statement from each race, stating that the participant completed each race,
must be provided. A hyperlink to the official marathon website’s race results will
be accepted as evidence of the official race results. If the official website does
not publish the race results then a letter from the race organisers stating the
participant’s official time is required.
4. The dates, times and location of each marathon must be included in the
documentation submitted for verification.
5. The time begins from the start of the first marathon and the clock does not stop
until the completion of the final one.
6. For the purposes of this record, the continents on which a marathon must be
completed are: North America (the border is at the Panama Canal); South
America; Europe (includes mainland Britain, i.e. England, Scotland and Wales);
Africa; Asia; Australasia and Antarctica.

Post Race - 1-2 December 2011

I think about the places I've been the last few weeks. Crossed the Atlantic 3 times, the Pacific once. I've circumnavigated the globe. USA-Canada-South Africa-Switzerland-Ireland-USA-Brazil-Germany-Japan-Australia-New Zealand-USA-Mexico-Chile-Antarctica. A couple hundred hours of travel. Almost 50 hours of running.

In 2006 I first hatched the idea to complete this world record. In 2007, in 35 days I smashed previous record of 99 days, but Richard Takata denied me the record by doing it in just under 30. He held that record until today. In late 2007, I was on schedule for 25 days, but we were delayed by eight days coming to Antarctica. My friend Bob Camp put it in perspective: "I don't feel sorry for you. You got to travel around the world twice in a year, and now you have an excuse to do it again!" Love ya, Bob! Finally, on 1 December 2011, more than five years after the goal was first conceived, the mission is accomplished. Another few days and I'll be home, back among my friends and my loved ones. Home is what makes the journey complete.

As the night went on, everyone drifted off to their various tents.  I was still pretty pumped, so going to bed wasn't anything that happened very early.  The guys who were getting ready to run the next morning though, were trying to get really rested up!  100K to run!

Of course, Brent was involved in this one.  He's one of those guys who travels the world finding extreme things to do.  What I like about him is that he makes me look tame.  Richard, meanwhile, intends to run 100 miles in honor of the 100th anniversary of Amundsen and Scott reaching the South Pole in 1911. Clement Thevenet, the Belgian who just finished winning the marathon, is heading out again.  And Marc de Keyser, the weather man here at Union Glacier will be joining in as well.  Marc runs this event every year.

As the day progressed, some of the marathoners from the day before would go out for a 25K loop (NOT ME!) for a little extra support.  I stayed up until about 2:00 a.m. to make sure that Brent got finished and had something to eat.  About 5 hours later Andrew came in.  Now Richard was the only one out there, and in just over 24 hours he finished running 100 miles!

It was a great adventure, with a 100% success rate.  Everyone did what they set out to do.  And then we got the word.  The flight was on the way from Punta Arenas, and we'd be heading back to Punta Arenas on schedule as well.

At about 9:00 p.m. we were loaded on a big sled and hauled out to the runway.  By 5:00 a.m. we were back to the Diego d'Almagro Hotel in Punta Arenas.  After about three hours of sleep, I got on the phone and moved my flights from Monday back to Sunday, shared a taxi with my tentmate Ray to the airport and was on my way HOME!  One more night sleeping on airplanes.

Antarctic Ice Marathon Report

We're scheduled to run at 11:00 this morning. At 10:30, we'll be loaded up and taken out to the starting line, approximately 5 miles from base camp. The course is a loop, with a six mile leg on the far side to checkpoint 1, five miles back to camp for checkpoint 2, then back out to where we'll start at checkpoint 3.

It's about minus 14 Celsius, about 7 Farenheit, with a clear sky and lots of sunshine. The clear air here with 24 hours of sunlight means that any exposed skin needs to be protected with sunblock. We're making sure we have all our gear together, making all the last minute adjustments. Bins with personal items and food have been taken to checkpoints 1 and 3 in case we need anything out there.

I didn't send anything out to the checkpoints. I just put some extra gloves, hat, neck gaitor, and a couple snacks in my waist pack. My plan was to start with my windbreaker but to take it off as soon as I started to sweat. Sweat is a killer in cold climates, and I figured that with between 7 and 8 hours out there I don't need to be soaking wet all the time.

11:17 a.m. and the starting whistle went off. This is real! 26 miles to the record book. Before long most of the runners were ahead of me--I knew I'd be running by myself most of the day. Even with the ideal conditions, we were still running on groomed snow trails with footing that was tough in spots. I didn't know how far the back section of the course was, but I did know it was a straight shot to the first checkpoint. Mile 1 was about 15 minutes. That would be my fastest of the day.

The scenery is pretty much unchanged for the whole course of the race, just a track with litte red flags every 200-300 feet. The lack of landmarks made the miles feel really long. Even the mountains in the distance never seem to get any closer. The other thing that happens in the clear air is that distances are very hard to judge. When approching checkpoint 1 at the 6 mile mark, you could see it from a mile away. Any time you're running toward something, it seems to take forever to get there.

The checkpoint was well stocked, and I stopped for about 3 or 4 minutes to drink several glasses of liquid, and eat a few snacks. I caught up with Sebastian from Argentina as he was leaving the aid station, and Anand from India came in right behind me as I was getting to leave. We were the last three through the first checkpoint. Time to start segment 2. I estimated it would be five miles back to camp and the next station. It's a right turn, then almost 3 miles to another right turn, then a long gradual left bend back to camp.
The miles leveled out at a little over 17 minutes, with about 5 extra minutes at the checkpoints. A few yards before checkpoint 2 back at camp, I caught up with Rebecca and Linh as we came into camp. Eleven miles down. Sebastian was still at the aid station, and went off for a pit stop. Now there were three people behind me as I left the camp for segment 3. Only 25K to go.

Segment 3 was heading back out to the start, a little over 4 miles. I could look off into the distance and see runners far ahead of me, but I had no chance of ever catching them, the distance being probably a mile or so. Still, it was reassuring to see them out there. As I finally reached the 15 mile mark, I followed the curve around to the right to where we started

Eleven miles to go. I'm in familiar territory too, as I start the back stretch the second time. Even though I'm moving steadily, the lack of landmarks make the miles seem longer. Slowly, the 16 mile mark. I feel great but really looking forward to being done. 17 miles and I'm down to single digits. As I approached the final checkpoint just past 21 miles, I started thinking, I'm 179 miles into 184 miles of running. Only 5 to go. I'm trying to do the math, converting to Greenwich Mean Time so I can get the net amount of time it has taken me to finish the continents. At somewhere around 25 days, 18 hours. Stay vertical for a little while longer, and the record is mine. Before 24 I make the right turn and I'm heading for home. The sun had made the snow a little softer the second time around, and I was working to be sure I was finding the best footing all the time. As I approached mile 25, they drove the big tractor with the sled behind it right onto the course ahead of me to regroom the trail.

That would have been fine, but when first groomed, it takes a few hours to firm up, so all they did for me was make the last mile more difficult. I was kicking up snow so my shoes were getting covered as I hit the 25 mile mark. I could see the camp far in the distance, slowly getting closer as I struggled to find good footing. 20 minutes to go.

People started to come into view, and soon I could see the finish line. 26 miles, everything is in focus and I'm in PARTY MODE! At 7:10 p.m. I crossed the finish line with a finish time of 7 hours 53 minutes and 38 seconds. That's 22:10 GMT. My old friend, race director Richard Donovan was there to put my medal around my neck. One of my best friends, Brent Weigner was there with a small bottle of Johnnie Walker for me. New friends from this trip were there to share the moment as well.

From my start, at 6:00 Johannesburg time (04:00 GMT) on 6 November, it was exactly 25 days, 18 hours, 10 minutes. A new world record.

We celebrated with some of the best lamb stew for dinner, along with the beer and wine. A few brought out special bottles for celebration as well, and we toasted our success. Everyone who started today finished! Still, it was incomplete. I went to the communications tent to buy a satellite phone call. The one person who I needed to share this with is the one who made it possible for me--the lovely Francine. Sharing the victory with the one who means the most to me is what really made the record complete.

It's a couple days before we'll head for home, assuming that the plane gets here without delays.  It's great to know that shortly I'll be home, running, eating, drinking with my friends, hanging out in my usual places.