Superhuman runners

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TRAINING for a marathon is no easy task - as Stars Editor Cath Bennett is finding out. Swapping the pub for the gym and guzzling sports drinks instead of beers she is hoping to complete the Auckland endurance race this November. That is if blisters, chaffing, dodgy knees and the lure of a bottle of vodka don't get to her first.

I JUST heard the craziest thing.

My friend's cousin decided ONE WEEK before the Sydney marathon that she wanted to take part to beat her husband.

So with no preparation she entered, ran 42km four minutes faster than him and is still alive to tell the tale.

To be honest it makes me want to ditch my resolution to give up alcohol until the race, forget training and sit on the couch until November 2 eating pizza.

I can only think this girl must be superhuman...and talking of which I saw Forrest Gump this week.

Well, obviously not the real one - because he's not real - and not Tom Hanks either, but the nearest a person could get to one of the greatest characters to grace a movie screen.

His name is Dean Karnazes but he is better known as Ultramarathon Man and possibly should be called Superman.

His achievements include a 350 mile non-stop run, a 135 mile race through Death Valley and a marathon to the South Pole in minus 40 degree conditions.

So he's quite fit.

He was in New Zealand to promote his book 50 Marathons 50 Days, which is based on his experience of doing just that.

Which kinds of blows the mind.

Here I am worrying about not being able to walk/breathe/transform back from a bright red colour after running 42km and this is a guy that ran that distance every day for 50 days - each time in a different state of America.

During a talk he gave in Auckland, Dean spoke about his experiences, shared some tips for running and answered questions - some of which were helpful, others which weren't (you've got to wonder about the guy in the audience who asked Dean who does his washing.)

The main thing I took away from it was his advice for when you hit the wall (the metaphorical wall - not a real one...although while running a great distances I suppose it's possible you could stumble into an actual wall...which could be quite unpleasant.)

Anyway, his tip for breaking through that point when you just want to give up is to take it just one step at a time, don't think about how far you've gone or how far you've got to go, just concentrate on keeping moving.

Which sounds good - I'm hopeful it'll work.

Another thing I got from the talk was the realisation that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

Dean isn't ten foot tall or made of iron, he doesn't wear a blue suit with a red "S" on it, and, to my disappointment, he doesn't even say (in a Forresty voice) "I was just running."

He's just a regular guy who has focused on achieving what others deem to be impossible...like running non stop for three days and nights.

And when you compare completing 50 Marathons in 50 days to jogging just one, suddenly the Auckland marathon doesn't seem such a monstrous challenge after all.

- © Fairfax NZ News