The Most Crazy Thing

Hello! Happy Friday from Washington, DC.

It has been swelteringly hot across much of the US over the past few days, with record-breaking temperatures expected over the long weekend. Poor conditions for running – but a nice excuse to take a breather and read July’s edition of Footprint.

✉ Thanks to everyone who got in touch after last month’s interview with Steve Mura of New York Road Runners. The community around this newsletter grows one runner at a time: if you know someone who might like it, please pass it on!

As the sun came up over New York City on Tuesday, six runners set out on the long road to Washington: 250 miles to mark America’s 250th birthday. The Chasing Democracy 250 team is due to arrive in the US capital tomorrow, with semiquincentennial celebrations in full swing.

Among the runners is Harvey Lewis, one of the world’s top ultra athletes, who recently marked an anniversary of his own.

Lewis, 50, was in his late teens when he found himself watching a friend of a friend take on the FANS 24-hour race in Minneapolis. The premise of the race is as simple as it is arduous: run as far as you can in 24 hours.

“This is the most crazy thing,” he recalls thinking. “I would never do this.”

But then his life changed. His mother had a stroke. He became a father, while at college. He found himself juggling studies with working in a factory, learning how to parent and navigating the early years of marriage.

“I didn’t have any personal time at that point in life – I was just busy all the time, between work, school and being a young father,” he told Footprint in a recent interview.

A thought cropped up as Lewis ran to and from the factory, and college, again and again. “At that point in time,” he said, “I wanted a mountain to climb.”

And then he remembered. “You know,” he thought, “I might do that crazy 24 hour race in Minneapolis.”

A little over three decades ago, on the first weekend of June in 1996, Lewis found himself on the start line of his first ultra marathon. Many more would follow. But he remembers this one vividly.

He jogged over with his father, who warned whatever lay ahead would likely damage his knees. He set a goal to keep moving, even if that meant walking, for the full 24 hours allotted. And he set off.

Lewis would ultimately run 81.3 miles that day, “a gargantuan distance for me, at that time.” His clearest memories are of an exhausting slog through the night. He had never run so far, or felt so tired. Doubts inevitably started to materialize, as fatigue set in. “You’re fighting to the next lap.”

But the very last hour brought “a real epiphany” that remains “a real wow moment in my life,” he said. “I just felt this added energy of adrenaline.”

He learned a lesson which he has carried during each and every ultra that followed. “You just do your best to keep your mind focused on the lap you’re in, the mile you’re in, the next horizon,” said Lewis.

“It’s sort of a metaphor for life,” he suggested. “It’s nice to look back on things, look forward on things. But it’s also really important to stay present with what’s in your life.”

Lewis rode a surge of “primal energy,” unlike anything he had felt before, which carried him through the final stages of the race, before an electric crowd of cheering spectators. “It was like discovering treasure.”

His first ultra set the stage for an extraordinary career in the sport, during which he has clinched victories – including FANS in Minnesota, the fiendish Badwater Ultramarathon, and Big Dog's Backyard Ultra – and broken the backyard ultra world record. But Lewis credits his first ultra with helping him navigate the rest of life.

Finishing “made me feel like everything was going to be okay,” said Lewis. “Things with my mother. Being a young father. Balancing financial responsibilities, working and also going through college.

“All those things [were] going to be alright. If you put enough energy into it, you’re going to get to the end.”

Three pieces worth your time this weekend…

💭 When Lifelong Runners Are Forced to Quit • Running is rarely just exercise for many runners, Liz Krieger writes in the New York Times, but therapy, meditation, community and identity – often all at once. What happens when the body finally says no?

👀 The Most Remarkable Western States 100 Ever • Champions Vincent Bouillard and Jenn Lichter rewrote the course records at America’s most iconic – and competitive – 100-mile footrace, Brian Metzler reports for Trailhead Media. The broader field also shone, with the highest finishing rate in the event’s history

⛰ Midlife Is The Perfect Time To Start Trail Running • An increasing number of people are finding trail running relatively late in life – and they’re reaping the health benefits, Sarah Lavender Smith writes in the Guardian