49 DOWN, 1 TO GO…

New Jersey Marathon, New Jersey
Number of Runners: 250
Elevation: 5
Time: 4:09:02
Weather: 58 degrees, sunny

Today was unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Hundreds of runners, all ages, all abilities, all filled with incredible nonstop energy. We told stories, laughed, high-fived, hugged, wept, and basically celebrated an incredible moment for us all. The collective spirit between the group was totally monumental.

The biggest bummer for me was that I was ushered away so quickly. I only wish that I could have stayed at the finish for hours, not precious few minutes, but my crew had to get me to NYC as soon as they could. I wanted to savor this day, to treat myself to a long afternoon surrounded by terrific people, reminiscing about the adventures over the past forty-nine day, and dreaming about the future. Instead, the splendor of it all was compressed into one beautiful diamond of a memory, something small and compact, but worth cherishing for a lifetime.

New York City, here we come,
The Endurance 50 Family

P.S. The “finish party” in New York City will be on November 5th from 12:00-4:00 PM. The location is at The North Face retail store: 2101 Broadway (at 73rd), New York, (not far from the NYC Marathon finish). Phone number: 212-362-1000

All Endurance 50 participants (at any of the 50 marathons across the country), guests and fans are welcomed. So please swing by if you can. We’d love to see you!

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Comments

[Patrick and Calvin]

Hello Dean,
You were looking pretty good on CNN today. Sure you don't wan't to do this again next year....

[Jeremiah]

I smoked for 8 years straight at 2 packs a day. I read his book, i quit the next day. I have not had a smoke for about year. The book was so motivating. The most inspirational part of the experience was running with him in Long Branch and telling him that he is the reason I no longer smoke, He said that inspiration is a two way street and slapped my hand in a congratulatory manner. I could not have asked for a better experience with the man that i look up to the most.

[Eric B.]

Thanks for the lifetime memory today Dean! I was an honor and privledge running with you and the entire group. I met several people today that had great stories to tell and I heard a lot of people share them with you.

What you're doing is special on so many levels. I hope you enjoyed your brief visit to NJ. Best of luck and continued success.

[Chris F]

It was a great honor to run with you today, only if for the last 3 miles. I was broswing through your book this afternoon and it was like 'Wow, I just shaked hands with this guy today!'
Good luck and have fun in NY - I'll be cheering from the sidewalks!

[Jen Rocha]

Dean, this has been an absolutely incredible time. I hope that prayers and well wishes from afar have helped you achieve this goal. Tomorrow (Nov 5)is my birthday, and I just wanted to wish you the same. This dream you had was conceived many months ago and now has been carried full term over our wonderful country's roads and trails, and tomorrow in NYC, you celebrate its birth...a new love for running and people that has touched thousands of lives, not just that of you and your family.

My four year old sees your picture on the computer and in RW magazine and wants to know when Mommy's "friend," Mommy, and Grandpa can go running with him at Wolf Run Trail! Today he put a race bib number on for the first time. See what a little spark your achievements have made!

Hoping you will indeed return to Missouri so that we can show you that running is going on strong here!

[Laura Maclay]

Ya'sou Dean! I've been reading the blog every day since you were here in Albuquerque for number 22. This has been truly incredible for your readers, too. Thanks for taking the time to keep us all informed.

[Rich]

Dean!

Congratulations on an awesome adventure--New York is just around the corner, and you have already made so much happen!

I ran #47 (DE) with you, and thought that would be cool because I just turned 47 the day before Chicago--which I ran with my wife (so that's very very cool!)

Somewhere along the way, I picked up your book--because if you've been running as long as I have, going all the way back to junior h.s. or something, with a first marathon way back when...well, hey! How could you not pick up a book with such a great title as "Ultramarathon Man"?!

And then I read it, and thought, "that is one crazy dude!" And I found the website--and the whole concept of the E50...well what is there to say, except wild, wild wild!

So how could I not take the opportunity to be a part of the adventure? And I'm living just outside Philadelphia, so Wilmington looked like a nice chance to run a course that I've never run before.

Well the support was great, all of the comraderie was terrific and you were one very nice, gracious--and really inspirational guy! Being at the finish and cheering for some of the others who finished further back was never as good before, as it was then! So many people out there running their first marathons--and so many great and unique stories!

So I thought I would run half of Philadelphia the next day with you--I love the course, and the Art Museum halfway point would make it easy to meet the group as they came through--and lo! I dropped my kids off at daycare and my wife at work, ran to the U of Penn bookstore to buy a couple of shirts for your kids (what a class trip they're on!!), and headed out to meet E50 #48--for my first run ever on the day after completing a marathon--and wow! I find the group just starting out, so go for the whole darn 26.2 thing!!

Dean, for me the Delaware finish was sweet, and Philly was even sweeter--because every single step was a new adventure on local turf that never ever looked as good to me as it did on Friday. And I was even more psyched, because my buddy, David, was able to ride along and cheer for everyone, and that was awesome, because his "journey of a thousand steps" (more like a bike ride around the world!!) almost didn't look like it was going to happen because of a car that ran a red light one month ago...

Looking at you at the end of that run, Dean, surrounded by fans and well-wishers--and knowing that you were off to New Jersey, then to NYC--you go!!--well, it was just just very awesome and awe-inspiring--I've covered a lot of ground in 47 years, and that just does not happen everyday, but it sure clicked on Friday.

It's very rare that we "mere mortals" get to be so close to outstanding performers or to be present at outstanding performances, let alone to be a part of them in any way. Dean, you may put one foot in front of the other to run, just like the rest of us, but after running #47 and #48 with you--just two--I have had my own very small taste of what it is like...and the physical requirements, not to mention logistics--bravo and kudos!! to all of your fine support, some of whom I met over the two days--make what you are doing very very BIG! Well, now I understand what you are doing as something bigger and better than I even did while just reading about it. The cause is great, and your family is with you every day--there's just so much about what you're doing that is meaningful in so many ways to so many people. I love the comments that are pouring in to the website.

All the best, Dean, and thank you, for sharing this adventure and the spirit with me and so many others. Just keep running--and writing!--and sending out those great vibes!...But maybe next time, you may just want to keep the family vacation thing from getting so out of hand!!! ;-)

Run strong, Dean!

Best,

Rich

[Cathy Maguire]

Holy Moly, this is almost it for endurance 50 (of course no reason why you could'nt repeat this in Australia Dean...more than happy to help out)..I can be your personal chef, and run a few marathons...food for thought!!!)
Anyhow wanting to wish you all the very best, your achievments are staggering, you defiately help keep the fire inside well and truely ablaze, I thank you for that. Stay strong for he big one. All the best from down under.

[Austin Reed]

Dean Karnazes you truly are an inspiration, and I believe that your journey through America has made people realize that they need to be more physically active in their lives and if it takes someone to run 50-50-50 so be it...because i believe that you have saved lives because maybe just maybe that couch potato that hasnt been physically active in years hears your story or witnesses one of the 50 marathons and is on the verge of some serious health problems and decides he wants to change his life, and it would be all because of YOU. I believe that as the years go by after this event you will hear more and more of these stories and i know you are a humble dude but man you are saving lives ...and thats REAL! I remember first hearing of you through a friend that was reading your book and i was intrigued so i looked you up on the net and was amazed to see that you were training for the 50-50-50. I had just started running earlier that year and was training for my first marathon the chicago marathon and i just couldnt imagine the miles that you were running to train and were about to run for 50 days. I thought to myself this is straight up madness and is that really physically possible? I seriously believe that since that moment in late may of this year i have told everyone of your amazing feat and anytime i can sqeeze it into a coversation i do because it just seems right to let people know about what your doing because most people are clueless. I really wish i could have ran beside you in one of these marathons and chat for a bit but i tried to figure out a way to break lose and i just couldn't because of school and coaching. But i ran with you in chicago, and even though i wasnt beside you i was with you in my mind cause we were running on the same streets and you helped me get to the finish line cause i knew you were going to be at the North Face from 12-2, and I wasn't going to let us be in the same city and not get to meet you. So after finishing in a not to shabby 3:32:15(not bad for my first and still not faster than your 3:27 which was your 36th in a row, MADNESS, JUST MADNESS!!!) i had to get back to my room and put on some more clothes cause it was flippin COLD out and i was shivering like crazy. But I managed to walk from the finish line back to my room and retrieved your book i bought the night before @ the local Borders and i was off, but dressed very warm i might add. I caught a cab to the John Hancock building and before i knew it i was there. Walking in to the North Face, i checked out all the cool stuff that was set up on the table, got a cool water bottle, enjoyed some of the bars, bought a t-shirt, and downed a couple of Cytomax's and then heard the news that they lost you @ the finish line and had trouble tracking you down (Thinking in my mind, hmmm howd you lose Dean??). So i walked around the North Face and managed to walk upstairs to try on a pair of the shoes that you wear and helped design. Pretty cool shoe i might add...there on the wish list for x-mas! But walking back downstairs awaiting your arrival i meet some of the behind the scenes people of the 50-50-50. I recognize Mr.Jimmy Hopper from Koop's videos and go introduce myself. We talked for a good 15 minutes and hes a very, very cool guy. I ask him all kinds of questions and ending up finding out his love of extreme sports like base jumping and kayaking. I was amazed to say the least...but not long after our coversation they annouce that you are en route and would be there shortly. I start talking to another one of the behind the scenes people. I can't remember her name but she is from Billings, Montana. She was pretty cool to and she was telling me about your son having his ninth birthday and how she and some others were going to run the final nine miles with him in Green Bay. She was really excited about that and after reading the blog of that run is sounds like your son had an amazing 9th birthday. But not long after my conversation with her you walk through the door and it was like i was a kid in candy store cause my eyes got all big and you started talking and i was hanging on every word. So i wait my turn in line and while i was in line i was thinking about what i was going to say to you...i couldn't be too long cause jimmy asked everyone to keep it short and sweet...so still pondering...im next...i hand my camrea to a dude behind me and asked him to take our picture. So im up, i introduce myself, (i was the really tall guy by the way)lay down my bib from the race and your book and all i can muster is that you are a true testament of what the human body can do?!?!? (very true though) Anyways, so i round the table and ask to have my pic with you and Jimmy cause he was standing there as well, SMILE...and it was over. I said my goodbyes and i was off...smiling still and looking at my bib and book that you had just signed. On the plane back to Nashville i couldn't put your book down and within three days i had read it front to back...i even gave up study time for a test to finish it,lol but i aced the test, promise. Since then i have kept up with the blog and every morning that i wake i say to myself "well dean's ran another one" but this morning is different. The past couple days i have been planning to run from my home in Manchester to my house in Murfreesboro...its a 35 mile run and its all ive been thinking about. Its literally consumed me. So next sunday i plan on completing this challenge. You have inspired me to go beyond 26.2 and i have a 50 miler in my sights and who knows maybe the Western States 100 in 3 years or so. I just keep running through my mind the words and stories throughout your book and i tried going to sleep tonight but there was none of that...the moon is full tonight and i keep thinking about how you run by moonlight and how you even ran one of your races by moonlight when your light was messing up and i just kept thinking how cool that was. But as you can tell im too exited for you today, I mean its your 50th marathon in a row!!!!!! After reading your book i had no doubt that you were going to complete your task because its just like your wife said "Take Baby Steps" youve took it one marathon at a time and there is something extra special about you and that is that you run with your HEART and that just can't be mearsured. And if the day couldnt be better Lance is running the same marthon as well. Wow what a day!! Here it is 4 something in the morning and im rambling on your site,lol. But ill leave you with some words of encouragement for today and i have no idea if you read this or will read this before the race but if you do John Wooden once said that, "Confidence comes from being prepared." Senor DEAN this is the race you have prepared for, this 50th race, this is what its all about right here. Just remember the countless miles that you have logged in training and the 49 marthons previous and the two ultra's during the course of the 49, the bumps and bruises, the sore muscles, and all the memories and the lives that you've touched and go out there and RUN with all your HEART and get it DONE. Shoot go out there and show Lance whats up and smoke him...now im speaking crazy but that would be pretty cool if you beat Lance on your 50th marthon, i guess anything is possible. Anyways i guess i better try and get some zzz's cause its close to 5 in the morn and it wont be long till your at the start line. GOOD LUCK MAN!!!! I just want you to know that you have inspired me more than you can imagine and i want to say thank you!! And although i started running before i even knew about you i have lost 70 pounds since last november and i see no end in sight for me to stop running. i am looking forward to logging in some crazy miles and loving every minute of it. Dean enjoy some rest after this...cause im sure you will need it...but shoot who knows if you are going to stop?? i mean i am really expecting to hear that you have tacked on a few more marathons just to see how far you can go. Do what you do man, just do what you do!! Anyways thanks again for being an inspiration and one of my heroes! Sorry i wrote a short novel but remember i couldnt sleep, lol. Good luck again in the 50th and when's the next book coming out??? later man-austin reed

[carole donohue]

wow! thanks for the memories Dean! It was a beautiful day and the energy was high! Your family and Northface running companions were so supportive, it's no wonder you are able to be where you are today! Congrats on opening eyes and motivating us all to challenge ourselves physically. What a rush! hugs to you and feel good and enjoy NY. . . I'll be watching and cheering for you. carole, down in cape may county!!!

[Joe Foley]

Dean,
Awesome accomplishments. One silly question: What size shoe are you wearing now? Is it the same size as what you started with 50 days ago?

Post that answer, I think a bunch of people would be interested to see if there's been a change. I'm betting a full size difference.

Rock on...

Joe

[VJ]

You made it! 3:00:36. What a strong way to finish. You are truly amazing.

[Paul Deykerhoff]

Well Dean it was great working with you on ULTRAMARATHON MAN but an even greater surge of inspiration running with you. Surrounded by my family, yourself and two hundred fifty runners in the great state of N.J. was a day I won't soon forget.

Strong finish in NY too. You saved your best time for last! Congratulations on all you've accomplished.

Paul D.

[John Hammergren]

Dean...just wanted to say it was an honor to run with you for my first ever marathon! I hold the memories in my heart forever and this will not only be a cherished marathon because it was my first, but because of the many athletes I met and chatted with during the run. It was a thrill to speak with the many members of the North Face endurance team. Their humbleness with regards to their own personal accomplishments was truly special. If these great runners that ran together, elites and beginners alike, would have decided to keep going I think we could have run a second marathon right there!

Thanks for the memories Dean and keep putting one foot in front of the other. I know I will.

John