HTA-0596: Marshall Ulrich — Running Across America

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Summary

Henry interviews ultra-endurance athlete Marshall Ulrich about his run across America starting from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Full Transcript

00:09
It was a couple of years ago that Marshall Ulrich set out across the Richmond-Sand Rafale Bridge and headed east.

00:19
How far east? How far east was that, by the way?

00:22
How many miles?

00:23
All the way to New York.

00:25
3,063 miles.

00:27
He ran all the way across the U.S. in what was a remarkable feat for a man, I don't want to say of his age, but in his late 50s at the time.

00:38
But this was just one of so many, many feats because Marshall is an ultra marathoner.

00:45
And he's written a book called Running on Empty, an ultra marathoner story of love, loss and a record setting run across America.

00:54
Pretty remarkable.

00:56
Marshall, just for starters, you've climbed mountains.

01:00
You've run, what, across Death Valley how many times now?

01:05
Twenty-what?

01:06
Twenty-three times.

01:07
Right.

01:08
What the heck are you doing?

01:09
I mean, why are you doing this?

01:12
Well, you know, initially, my first wife, when she was 28, she got cancer.

01:16
And the doctor said you're either going to have to go on some sort of medication or do some sort of exercise.

01:22
And so I chose running.

01:24
So running literally brought my blood pressure down to a level where I could survive.

01:29
So I was running for survival, essentially, and that's why I got into it initially.

01:34
But that doesn't sound like the healthiest motive.

01:36
It isn't, but it allowed me to survive and also my sanity.

01:41
Because mentally I was falling apart and it just helped me hold myself together.

01:45
Okay, but over time you were running away from something, but eventually you had to turn a corner and run back.

01:51
I mean, you get alienated. You were alienated from your family for a while, right?

01:54
Yeah, and it was by my own hand that I alienated myself.

01:59
And I didn't know how to connect with them.

02:02
And I was so afraid to really learn how to love again,

02:07
I went through a couple of marriages and couldn't connect with that other person.

02:11
My fear was that if I connected with another person, that I'd lose them too.

02:16
So I kept running and running, and this went on for 25, 30 years.

02:19
So I was literally running on empty.

02:21
And that's the loss of the story.

02:23
The good news is, is you're right, you know, to learn how to run towards something.

02:28
And my current wife, who, you know, of eight years, taught me how to love again.

02:33
She was patient with me.

02:34
She knew that I was troubled.

02:35
And I was trying to fill this hole in with all this stuff, all these activities, climbing Everest, doing all the eco-challenges, you know, running all these ultras.

02:44
And so finally, you know, I opened my heart up to her and it was out of a need.

02:50
And I'm glad that I got to that point.

02:52
This historic run that we're looking at, the one all the way across America, it took a toll on your body.

02:59
I mean, a permanent toll.

03:02
Well, what it did do is I still don't have any feeling in my big toes, take for instance.

03:07
And I'm just starting to feel back to normal.

03:09
I ran a marathon about three weeks ago and ran a pretty decent marathon, considering I'm 60 years old.

03:16
But it took me a full three years to recover, and I'm still recovering somewhat from it.

03:21
So it was tough.

03:23
Essentially, what I was doing was running close to 60 miles per day for 52 days straight.

03:29
So it's equivalent of running 117 marathons over the course of 52 and a half days.

03:35
Now, so just finally, real quickly, Marshall has taken on a minor challenge now that, how old are you?

03:40
I'm 60.

03:41
Now that he's 60, a minor challenge in Death Valley, what are you going to do?

03:44
Well, in the future, what I'd like to do is a circumnavigation of Death Valley.

03:48
It's about 700 miles around the exterior.

03:51
And you have to do it in July or August.

03:53
Of course you do.

03:54
Of course.

03:55
It wouldn't count if it was in January or February.

03:57
Marshall is in town for the San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon, which just set off minutes ago.

04:06
And they're having a health and fitness expo that's going to be going on all day today at the McInerney Convention Center.

04:12
And you can find Marshall there at the Injinji booth.

04:16
And you can go to his website, marshallulrich.com, for what is his fascinating story.

04:21
Thank you very much for joining us. You can run along now.

04:24
Okay. Thank you. You come with me.

04:26
We're going to take a break.

04:27
Marty, Isabel.

04:28
Thanks, Henry.

04:29
It's great.