Super Marathon Man: Dean Karnazes the Greek American

On June 29, Greek American ultra-marathon runner Dean Karnazes started his 12 day 326 mile marathon along the Silk Road part of an ancient trade route through Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, a trek he’s undertaking for the U.S. State Department’s sports diplomacy program.

But Karnazes is no ordinary runner, he is a marathon phenomenon, with the ability to outrun anyone to the ground. The 53-year-old Californian has run a marathon to the South Pole, completed 50 marathons in 50 days, one per US state, run on every continent and finished 350 miles in 80 hours and 44 minutes without sleep, without experiencing a cramp or any muscular discomfort.

Karnazes is regarded as one of the top long distance runners in the world, along with Yiannis Kouros, the Greek who later adopted Australia as home, and is sometimes called the “Running God,” or “Pheidippides Successor” because of his similar style of just not stopping.

To fuel himself, he said he’ll take nutrition products, electrolyte powder for water and rely on local foods – along with his secret munchie, the Greek treat of pasteli, honey and sesame seed he said he first tried in Greece. “I thought, wow, this is better than any gel pack I’ve ever had, and it’s more sustaining,” said Karnazes.

You can follow Karnazes’ trip at https://eca.state.gov/ultramarathon. The US State Department will be posting updates on Twitter at twitter.com/sportsdiplomacy, and on Instagram at instagram.com/sportsdiplomacy)