Adrienne Anderson

*Published first in the Clear Creek Courant Oct. 29, 2008. www.clearcreekcourant.com

By Adrienne Anderson

It's day 46 of running for Marshall Ulrich. Day 46 and mile 2,400-something. Marshall's last-tracked location was logged via satellite at 10:40 p.m. Monday night somewhere near Canton, Ohio. He is running as this story unfolds. He is running with an injured foot. He is running 17 hours a day. He is running on fumes. He is running across America.

Marshall, 57, is the only person in the world to complete the Triple Crown of Extreme Sports: world class ultra runner, record setting adventure racer, and Seven Summits mountaineer. His specialty is
competing in extreme conditions including desert and adventure racing, as well as mountaineering.

Now he will be among only a handful of men to run across America.
Marshall Ulrich: Marshall Ulrich after completing the Badwater Ultra Marathon in 2001. Ulrich is currently running across the United States. Photo provided.

This, he says, is one of the last things on his list. In all reality — there might not be a more challenging experience in the world for Marshall to tackle. And while Marshall completes a goal of a lifetime, Nehst Studios is filming the experience for a documentary that will follow the St. Mary's resident and elite adventurer Charlie Engle on their record-breaking run from San Francisco to New York.

"There's really not that many exciting things that have happened," Marshall said. "But I have been able to experience America in a really beautiful and up-close-and-personal way."

Sure, not that exciting.

40-degree weather: Marshall runs.

Rain, snow and sleet: Marshall runs.

Attacking dogs and near collisions with cars: Marshall runs.

Plantar fasciitis, a painful sprain on the bottom of the foot that makes walking painful, let alone running: Marshall runs.

A torn tendon on the right foot that doctors say won't heal until he stops: Marshall runs.

Marshall started this challenge with the intent of breaking the 46-day speed record for running across the United States and planned to run nearly 70 miles each day for 45 days. Their journey began Sept. 13 in San Francisco and will conclude in New York City.

"We started doing 70 miles a day," Marshall said. "We broke ourselves down. Charlie was unable to recover and dropped out in Utah."

Now Marshall tries to average 60 miles a day, but sometimes the pain is too much and he has to settle for less.

"Injuries have continued to plague me," he said while running across Ohio. The man won't even stop for a phone call. He sleeps, he eats, he runs. "The physicality of it is extreme. It's hard. It's time consuming. I'm just working through it. What else do you do?"

If you are Marshall, you just keep running.

Marshall has completed over 116 ultra marathons averaging over 100 miles each, 12 expedition-length adventure races, including all nine Eco Challenge adventure races — something only two other people in the world have done -- and reached the summit of each of the Seven Summits, including Mount Everest, all on first attempts.

Ulrich organized the “Run Across Colorado,” a 310-mile jaunt from the Wyoming border to Raton, N.M., that he completed in 88 hours and 14 minutes.

In addition to the documentary, people are signing up along the way to run with Marshall as a fund-raiser for United Way and an awareness campaign for child obesity.

"The run is the conduit or thread that ties things together," Marshall said. "But this is so much more. We are getting back to the basics of what makes this country great, showcasing America."

From a farmer who philosophizes about Plato in Indiana to the man on the streets, Running America hopes to tie people together in a time when Marshall says the country needs it most.

And none of this would likely be possible without Heather Ulrich, Marshall's wife. She is communication manager and crew chief.

"She rocks," Marshall said. "She's my soul, my inspiration. She feeds my emotional soul. That's a huge part of it as much as the mental and physical game."

Heather has been blogging daily about the run. In one of her recent posts, she wrote, "Marshall has completed just over 2,250 miles running across America. This is his 40th day on the road. One of our friends joked last night and said that even Jesus came out of the desert after 40 days..."

Marshall has three states left: Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

"I think about stopping, quitting a few times today," he said. "But I refocus. We put our heads down and try not thinking too far in advance. I can't think I have 500 miles to go. I have to think I have already ran 2400 miles."

Run Marshall, Run.

You can track the rest of Marshall's run at www.runningamerica08.com.