52 Marathons | 52 Weeks (Nov 2021)
The Beginning
I woke up on October 10th, 2020 on a farm, in a small Dutch town called Littele. It’s a quiet place, home to 580 people, in the middle of the Netherlands. Lucy, my fiancee, and I were escaping Amsterdam for the weekend, staying-in a little trailer that didn’t have heat. I was freezing.
I scooted out of my warm sleeping-bag, peered out the window, and looked onto a vast green field. The morning dew twinkled on-top the grass. I wiped away condensation on the window so I could get a better view of the rising sun. A few cows glared back, then went back to their business. I put my feet on the floor, and grabbed my running shoes.
“Good day for a run,” I thought to myself.
I ran 26.2 miles that day. I didn’t know it then, but this was the beginning of an adventure. And like most good adventures, I fell into it, without intention, and then just kept going…and going…and going…
Marathon #1. Impromptu in the Sallandse Huevelrug national park in the Netherlands.
In October 2020, the Netherlands went into a country-wide lockdown due to the rise of COVID-19 cases. All essential businesses, restaurants, and stores were closed. Not knowing if the lockdown would get any more strict (e.g. if we would not be able to leave our apartment), Lucy and I rented a car and escaped to nature—about 2 hours East of Amsterdam.
After I ran the first impromptu marathon, I thought to myself: “that was fun! Maybe I should do another next weekend…” So, I started dreaming-up a project.
I had been inspired by Michael Ortiz’s “game of hundos”: 100 100-milers in 100 weeks (I happened to meet Michael for a brief moment during the Javelina 100). I drew solace in the fact that Michael was an ordinary guy doing extraordinary things. He isn’t a professional runner. He has a full-time job, things to deal with, but made no excuses in his pursuit of his goal.
My project only scratches the surface of what Michael achieved, and without any crazy race logistics. Nonetheless, the best part about doing a personal running project is you are the referee. You design the rules, you enforce them, and you hold yourself accountable.
My rules that I outlined in October 2020:
I must run 52 marathons in the next 365 days.
I will aim for one per week. If, by chance I am injured or sick, I can do a “make-up” marathon. “When” I complete is less important than completing 52 marathons in 52 weeks.
The marathons do not have to be official, organized races. This would be challenging regardless because most races are cancelled due to COVID.
If I run more than a marathon distance (e.g. 50 miles), it only counts as 1 marathon.
The marathon must be in a single, consecutive run attempt (for example, I cannot do 10 miles in the morning, have lunch, then go and do an additional 16 miles).
Overall, looking back, these rules went well. I got sick in March 2021 (non COVID illness), and missed two marathons, which I made-up. Other than that, I had no substantial injuries, and was able to complete the 52 marathons. Saturday mornings became my de-facto marathon time, and I cherished every moment. I should mention that for the first half of 2020 I was also training for the San Diego 100, (which ultimately got cancelled) but my marathon project doubled as a training mechanism for that race.
Below is the story and the details of how the year progressed.
This was the first windmill I ran past during my year-long project. Throughout my 52 marathons (42 of which I ran in the Netherlands), I ended up with hundreds of windmill photos. There’s something crisp, eloquent, and timeless about these structures.
🍂 Fall 🍂
Every Single Canal
With a year of marathoning, you need to keep things interesting. In fact, this goes for any runner of any distance. Stuck in a rut? Change your route, change your music (or turn if off), run with a friend, change your speed, run somewhere new or run around your neighborhood.
The best runners are often the most routined and disciplined. Yet, even the most successful runners need variety.
I had been introduced to the concept of city-street-running by Rickey Gates’ #everysinglestreet project, a chronicle of his run-venture through every. single. street. in San Francisco. I was intrigued by the photos, the experience, and the creativity of the challenge. I’ve lived in Amsterdam for over two years, but how well did I really know the city? How much have I explored, or had I shied away from the lesser-known parts? Have I seen every canal? How many millions of bikes could I encounter? These questions starting flying through my mind.
For those familiar with Amsterdam, there is an “inner ring” and an “outer ring”. The inner ring is the more picturesque and famous area, decorated by beautiful canals, lights, and a colorful trees. It’s also home to the Red Light District, and the mischievous unberbelly in Amsterdam’s city-center. For my project, I decided to run “every single street”, (which I personally renamed to #everysinglecanal) of the inner-ring of Amsterdam.
The Fall of 2020 will forever be a month of zig-zagging through Amsterdam, holding a map and highlighter. It was an experience I’ll never forget, that took me to every nook-and-cranny the city offers.
❄️ Winter ❄️
As darkness descended on Amsterdam in the winter, my project continued. Mostly with a headlamp in the dark. I kept-up 5-6 days of running per week, typically placing my marathon on Saturday mornings.
As Christmas vacation came, Lucy and I decided to rent a van and drive to Switzerland. En route, I continued the marathon streak, and finally got to play around in the mountains I desperately missed!
One of my favorite photos from the whole year. Marathon #12 in Interlaken, Switzerland. Photo taken on my iPhone X.
🌼 Spring 🌼
Coming back to the Netherlands after our van trip, I missed the mountains, but it was time to hone-in my training for the San Diego 100 (which still hadn’t been cancelled, yet).
As a tune-up run, in March, I decided to attempt the Fastest Known Time of the Schipbeekpad, starting in Germany, and ending in The Netherlands. This is a 50-mile trail, which follows alongside a beautiful man-made canal, which actually used to be a cheese transport route between the two countries. It was a great day, a solid effort, and I ended up setting the FKT. It’s a very fast, flat, and runnable route, so I’m sure it’ll get broken soon. The route is not competitive, and it’d be great to see what times the elites could put down. A hidden gem in NL if someone is looking for a fun route!
After the Schipbeekpad, I continued my prep for San Diego, and also continued the marathon project. I was excited to come away with the FKT, so I set my sights on another route called the Krijtlandpad in the Netherlands, which covers 57 miles (92km) and 8,200 ft of gain. The route starts and ends at the train station in Maastricht; in the southern part of the country, this boasts some real “hills” and covers a world-famous cycling area. It was a great run and awesome route, but the execution didn’t go as well. I was undertrained for the hills, and ended up dropping at mile 44, still smiling from a strong training run.
☀️ Summer ☀️
As summer rolled-in, the sun was setting later, and the miles ticked-by. My fitness was strong, and the marathons became routine. The marathons were easier than ever, and I wasn’t sore after. Finally, I got notice the SD100 was cancelled, so I set my sights on a local ultra in the Netherlands called the Veluwezoom. This was a 2-day event through the Veluwezoom national park: 11km Saturday morning, 25km on Saturday afternoon, and then 60km on Sunday.
Veluwezoom 2-day & 3-race event. Ended up with the overall W! Fun to be racing again.
3 Sisters Loop:
In August, we made our way to Oregon (where Lucy is from). I put my focus on preparing for another adventure run: The 3 Sisters Loop, a magnificent 60 mile circumnavigation through some of the Paciifc Northwest’s most beautiful terrain. It boasts 8,000 feet of gain and travels through 5 different burn areas. I was blown away at the tranquility, tragedy, and rebirth happening in these burn areas. As an East coaster, this was new and different — something I’ll never forget. I was lucky enough to be crewed by a great support team — Lucy’s family, who drove a collective 6 hot hours with no cell service, just to give me a coca-cola and a hug at the halfway point. Both felt great and picked-up my spirits.
Other highlights:
The summer adventuring wasn’t over. In the next few months, I completed marathons in France, Spain, Belgium, Denver, and Boston! For many of the runs, I was solo. For others, I was joined by friends and family. No matter where I was, I found new trails, new roads, and a whole lot to be grateful for. For each run I could tell a full story, but the pictures speak for themselves:
#52
Like all good stories, we come full circle. I woke up on October 9, 2021, in Amsterdam. It was a chilly morning, eerily similar to the one a year prior, although I wasn’t surrounded by cows. It had been a year of a pandemic and a year of running. I saw many new places, new things, but it certainly wasn’t a thrill every minute. But, looking back, it’s something that I’d like to build on. This seems like more foundation-building for something bigger. Maybe 50 50-milers is next?
I put my feet on the ground, and grabbed my running shoes.
“Good day for a run,” I thought to myself.
Here's a comprehensive list of all 52 marathons. Strava links included:
What I learned:
When I zoom-out and look at history, (read: I’m talking about the 4.5 billion year history of Earth) I’m not all that impressed with what I’ve achieved. I don’t mean that arrogantly, but if you put our human history into perspective, we’re actually relatively “new” in this world. And running 52 marathons in a year is laughably microscopic if we look at history holistically.
To paint this vividly: Imagine the history of Earth as a calendar year. Homo sapiens arrive on December 31st at 23:36:
Source: https://biomimicry.net/earths-calendar-year/
So, humans are new in this world. This is actually incredibly exciting to me, and shows the power of the human potential is only beginning to be unlocked. If you’ve read Sapiens or Human Kind, this isn’t new information for you. But it’s important to remember.
As an exercise, try to remember what you were doing on a random day and time earlier this year. Let’s say January 15th between 10:04am - 10:28:am. Do you remember any of it? Who you spoke to? What was said? Probably not. Well, that’s the entire history of the human race. Poof. That’s it. It’s an eerie reminder of how temporary our lives are, within the broader spectrum of time.
Now—let’s keep going and think about just the history of humans on Earth…the 400,000 years we’ve existed. In truth, we’ve been running forever. It’s not like running was created after the industrial revolution or something. If you’ve read Born to Run or Road to Sparta you’ll know this as well. It’s natural for us to run. Yes—even ultramarathons. We, as humans, run for survival, for food, for communication.
So when I reflect on my own runnings, I simply feel lucky to be born in a generation where I’m not spending my days hunting/gathering, fighting as a soldier, or ultrarunning as a means to deliver a message. The fact that I can run is a privilege and an opportunity. I get to run for enjoyment. Not for survival.
I often think of all the great achievements of runners, so far: the 4-minute mile, the 2-hour marathon…the list goes on. I will not be coming close to any of these records. And that’s okay. When you compare yourself to the history of Earth…or the human race, it can get daunting. But, after all, we can only operate within ourselves and our own potential. That’s what I’ll stay focused on.
The Best of:
Favorite Audiobook: “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer
Most-played song: “Scarlet Begonias --> Fire on the mountain” by the Grateful Dead live @ Barton Hall May 8, 1977
Most scenic marathon: Tie between #12 in Interlaken, Switzerland and #40 in Oregon.
Most challenging marathon: Marathon #45 in Amsterdam. This was my third marathon in 3 different countries in 1 week, and did it on a Sunday evening after 7 hours of driving. I was tired.
Treadmill marathons: 1
Most memorable marathon: Marathon #35 in Mallorca, Spain. I had planned on proposing to Lucy at the end of the run, and had the ring in my ultra pack. She ended up getting into a moped accident (she’s okay), but I’ll never forget when she FaceTime’d me at mile 20. It threw-off the plan, but we ended up getting engaged the following day!