Dean Karnazes: ‘One of the 100 most influential people in the world’, who runs a marathon before breakfast!

So

I guess then, what brought you back? Why did you suddenly make that decision that night to go out and start running again?

Bad tequila.

I don't know.

I mean, I think that I kind of follow the prescription for happiness.

You know, go to a good university, get a good corporate job, you know, get a nice paycheck.

I had a company car.

I had stock options.

I had all these things that were supposed to bring me happiness, and they brought me happiness.

instead like loneliness like i was so unfulfilled i was so empty inside and i missed that struggle that that fight that running used to bring to me so i think it all culminated at that night at my 30th birthday and i thought you know you're gonna wake up a successful businessman at 50 you know on your third wife driving a red sports car you know the beer rally and and bald are you gonna like live a real uh an adventurous life and that was the decision i made that night yeah And

looking back on it now, like, obviously, we've gone on to achieve some incredible things.

But as somebody who's, you know, high flying, doing very well in your career, to make that step, like, why did you then decide, I'm going to go all in? I want to really give everything I've got to London.

You know, I started becoming a runner, quote-unquote, so I thought I was badass.

I was running out to the Golden Gate Bridge every day from my house in San Francisco, and I was, you know, it was like five or six miles, like a 10K.

And I was always passing people, you know.

I prided myself, but no one ever passed me.

Come on, it's a jogging trail, big deal.

So one day I was running home, and these two guys passed me as though I was standing still.

I mean, these guys were like a different species.

And I thought, my god, who are these guys? I've got to talk with them.

But they just disappeared over the top of the hill.

And I got up to the top of the hill, and here are these same two guys that are doing push-ups.

So I'm like, okay, what are you guys doing? They weren't very talkative group, but they said, we're training for this race.

And I said, how far is the race? And they said, well, it's 50 miles.

And I said, hold it.