American's Marathon Man Badwater How Running has Changed over the Past 50 Years

July 30, 2007: America’s Marathon Man Recap by Kelly Bails

On a warm evening on July 30, 2007 Second Wind members were treated to a visit by America’s Marathon Man, Jerry Dunn.  Almost 50 people filled the Fiesta Café to listen to Jerry talk about running and his life experiences.  Jerry hails all the way from Spearfish, SD where he keeps busy as the Race Director of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon and the Lean Horse Ultra-Marathon (100 mile, 50 mile or 50K).  With his Race Director duties alone, it is a wonder he finds any time to run.

Jerry’s first experience with running back in 1975 was by a lifeguard who convinced Jerry to run a ¼ mile on the beach in the Siesta Keys.  In 1982, Jerry ran his first marathon in Philadelphia in 3:32.  It was entertaining to hear the reason behind his decision to run the marathon.  Jerry made a bet with his girlfriend that if he finished the marathon, she would have to marry him.  Jerry finished the marathon and they did get married.  Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t last.  We learned that his first and second marriage failed due to an addiction to alcohol.  Jerry turned to his addiction to alcohol to an addiction to running.  He married again and this time the marriage fell apart due to his addiction to running.  Finally he met the women of his dreams.  Elaine Doll-Dunn has been married to Jerry for the past 14 years.  She is also an avid runner and is the Race Director for the Leading Ladies Marathon.

Jerry described running as his vehicle out of a bad lifestyle and he now lives by the motto “Don’t limit your challenges… challenge your limits.” Jerry kept challenging himself with greater and greater running distances.  First he tackled every distance between the marathon and 100 miles.  Later he focused on using his running talents to help others.  In 1990, Jerry staged a 150 mile race across Indiana by running 50 miles a day for three days to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.  In 1991, Jerry ran 1900 miles and biked 807 miles from San Francisco to Washington DC to raise awareness for Habitat for Humanity.  He has also raised money for homeless shelters and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Now to list a few of the other extreme things that Jerry has accomplished in his career.  To celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Boston Marathon, he ran the marathon course 26 days in a row.  In 2000, he ran 200 marathons and on his 60^th birthday, he celebrated by running 60 miles. No wonder he is called America’s Marathon Man.

August 27, 2007: Surviving Badwater Recap by Kelly Bails

Brian Kuhn at Badwater 2007	Tracy Thomas at Badwater 2007

The August Speaker Series featured an entertaining presentation by Brian Kuhn and Tracy Thomas on the Badwater Ultramarathon.  The location of this talk was the upstairs banquet room at The Great Impasta.  The room started filling quickly and the wait staff had to break down a wall and set-up new tables in order to accommodate all the people.  We had over 75 people at this event.

Brian and Tracy started with a history of the Badwater Ultramarathon.  Only 90 people are allowed entry into the 135 mile race, which starts 280 feet below sea level in Death Valley and ends at the Mt. Whitney Portals at 8360 feet.  After looking at the course elevation map, I was amazed that the race organizers could find 90 people that would even want to run the race.  Yikes!  Not only does the course have 13,000 feet of cumulative vertical ascent and 4700 feet of cumulative descent, but the temperatures during this race makes Illinois summers look cold. 

The photos of the race course were amazing.  The photos look as if they were from another planet.  There were also some great photos of Brian and Tracy during their good and bad times on the course.

Why did they enter the race?  Brian has a friend who ran the race a few years ago and since that time, Brian had an interest in running the race.  Tracy told us she entered the race to raise money for breast cancer research.  The last I heard was that Tracy raised over $12,000 for the Dr. Susan Love research foundation.

Training was another question that was on everyone’s mind.  Brian and Tracy ran stairs, up and down ramps, and sat in a sauna from 40 to 60 minutes a day in the month leading up to the race.  Brian average 40 miles per week and used long races as his training runs.  Tracy ran long runs up to 45-50 miles and had weekly mileage over 100 miles.  

Tracy and Brian each had a crew to support them during the race as there is no aid on the course.  Brian finished 21^st overall in a time of 37:25:52 and Tracy finished 22^nd overall with a time of 37:26:44.  Tracy was the third female finisher.  A total of 78 people finished the race.  Even though Brian and Tracy finished with close times, they did not see each other on the course because Brian started at 6:00 a.m. and Tracy started 10:00 a.m.  What an amazing accomplishment!

How Running has Change over the Past 50 years, Jan Seeley: 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 1, 2007

Remember Bone Fones? Long Distance Log? E.R.G. and popsicle sticks in the finish chute? Come learn all about them and other fascinating changes in long-distance running over the past 50 years. This Speaker Series will be held in the upstairs banquet room of The Great Impasta at 114 W. Church Street, Champaign. Jan Seeley, publisher and co-owner of Marathon & Beyond, will discuss the fascinating changes in long distance running. Please join other Second Wind members and their guests for another fun evening.  Event Flyer