Ultramarathon Man

I entered my name into a raffle at the library and won a VIP ticket to see Dean Karnazes, and also gained entrance to the reception before the presentation.  I was totally excited.  I have read his book and seen the documentary that is advertised below.  At the reception, I waited in a long line and finally got the opportunity to take a picture with him.  He's kind of a short guy.

After the reception, Mom and I were waiting for the presentation to start and were taking pictures.  An usher saw us and noticed our VIP tickets.  She showed us to some much closer seats reserved for us.

Dean Karnazes has now written two books.  I have read "Ultramarathon Man."  I have seen the documentary that the other book is based on.  I plan on reading "50/50" once I get ahold of it through the library.

Can I say that the lighting at this presentation was awful.  Dean was in the dark much of the time.  

Now that is a runner.  Running does well for him.

I took some video at the presentation, but it didn't turn out very well.  I mostly liked his spot on the David Letterman show.  You can see it at his webpage.  The video below is also from his website.  Check out the site.  It is pretty cool.

Most of what he talked about was stuff I had read in his book, but it was really cool to see him in person.  He is a very inspirational person who advocates for healthy living.  I would write more about it, but I can't really remember what he said.  I should have brought something to take notes in.

One thing I do remember is:  He had everyone in the audience who had run a race raise their hands.  I ran a one-mile turkey trot race a few years back, so I raised my hand proudly.  Haha!  Then he asked everyone who has run a marathon to stand up.  He proceeded to say that 1/4th of the people in the US have a mental illness, and these must be those people.  Haha!  I thought that was pretty funny.

There have been many people who have inspired me to start running.  Dean Karnazes was one of them.  Also, thank you to Hannah Hopkin, Mindie Wirth, Rochelle Brecek, George and Kamian Gille, Heather Tanner and my mom.