While a mobile game is getting people out of the house to search for elusive Pokemon characters, author and ultramarathoner Gary Dudney has been hitting the pavement for decades. The 63-year old runs eight 100-mile races per year in all sorts of rugged terrain and his latest book, The Tao of Running, offers a glimpse into how and why he does it.
A longtime columnist for Ultrarunning Magazine, Dudney will speak about his running adventures and sign copies of his book at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy on Saturday.
“I started running in 1982-83, when I first got interested in running for a marathon,” he recounted over the phone last week.
After 10 years of running marathons and shorter races, a friend introduced him to ultrarunning, and he started to prepare for his first 50-mile race in the early ’90s.
“Once I started doing long trail runs, it began to dawn on me that running was a big part of my life and who I was,” said Dudney. “Not only is it a great stress reliever, but it contributed to my self-esteem.”
Like mindful meditation, he saw how running helped him focus on the present, with acceptance.
“Running is a great vehicle for focusing on the present,” he said. “With the rhythmic motions it becomes very easy to monitor your thought process. You are not distracted by daily things like working and chores.”
In the book, Dudney shares details of some of his 100 mile races.
“You get to that point of pain and exhaustion where everything is telling you to stop, but then you tap into those resources you never realized you had,” he said. “You get in touch with yourself mentally and physically, you learn how much water or how much of that sandwich you will need to keep you going for another couple hours.
“You learn to use your determination to keep going,” he added.
But it’s not all long-distances and quick bites from an energy bar in the wilderness.
“Every time you go out and run there is something out there for you,” he said, noting that when he was working as a project manager in a small office, handling crisis after crisis, there was no better feeling than at the end of the day, when he would take off his tight suit and tie and put on a pair of silky shorts and a technical running shirt in preparation for a night run.
“When you walk out the front door and take your first steps it’s like being launched—it feels so liberating.”
Gary Dudney will discuss and sign copies of his new book, The Tao of Running, on Saturday, July 30 at 2 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 6825 Camino Arroyo, Gilroy.
