Running with Dean Karnazes

Dean Karnazes, the ultra runner, is currently at the tail end of his Run Across America. He started his trek at Disneyland in California and has been running 40-50 miles per day. At some stops along the way he has organized a local 5K and has invited runners to join him. Regis and Kelly are one of the sponsors and along with Dean are encouraging kids to get moving. Today I decided to join him for part of that run.

A few years back Dean ran 50 marathons in 50 days culminating with the New York City Marathon. They day before NYC, he ran the Jersey Shore course and I joined him for 8 miles of it. I ran along side him for a few miles and asked him a bunch of questions. He is really a nice guy and a great ambassador for the sport of running.

His final miles during Run Across America were going to be in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York. He planned a 5K in Philly on Cinco de Mayo which I missed because I got the date wrong. I was hoping to that one and the one on Staten Island today. The Staten Island run was at South Beach which is an area, I had never run before. In fact, I have never run a race on the Island before although I signed up for the popular Staten island Advance race many years ago. Not sure why I didn't run it.

Dean showed up 5 minutes before the start of the run, talked a bit about his experiences and set us off. The morning was cool and the course was run on the boardwalk out and back. The return gave us a great view of the Verrazano Bridge which is the second time in two weeks , I got to see the bridge from the Staten Island side.

This wasn't a timed run , but more of a fun run. I started off slowly but picked it up a bit and finished in 24:32, of course taking pictures along the way. Dean ran real slow with a pack of runners and then talked a bit with a reporter then spent some time with all the runners. He then was escorted back to his cool looking bus. As I was leaving, I got to meet his parents which were very proud and really cool.