Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Long Distance Calling (A Profile on Will Laughlin by Stanford Magazine)

Stanford Magazine (for alumni of Stanford University) did a profile on Will Laughlin and his training for the 155-mile Gobi March and the Desert RATS Spring Ultra. It's an interesting profile, which includes some stats on marathoning and ultras, and even a quote from Dr. Marty Hoffman.

One of my favorite quotes was his recount of DNF'ing at the Leadville 100:

Will’s previous race took place eight months earlier at the Leadville Trail 100, a traverse through the Colorado Rockies between 9,200 and 12,600 feet. Typically, about half the entrants finish. At mile 23, Will sprained his ankle on a rock. Fifty miles later, it took him six hours to trudge 10 miles on his swollen ankle, as he limped from tree to tree. “It was the middle of the night, and someone tried to encourage me by saying, ‘Good job!’” he remembered. “I wanted to say, ‘F--- you, I’m holding onto a tree.’”

Indeed! You can read the whole story here.

- SD

6 comments:

  1. Great article Scott. Quite possibly the greatest ultrarunning quote I have ever read. I ran into you last year at TRT and took a photo of you at mile ~56 overlooking Incline Village. I put the photo on my beer fridge next to Mtn. Biker Travis Brown and my hero Tweitmeyer.

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  2. Great find, Scott. It's funny how alumni magazines sometimes have the best articles (not just about ultrarunning).

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  3. Hi

    We are looking to invite you to one of our events. How can we get a hold of you?

    Please see our website: www.ambitionevents.com

    Regards
    Victor

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  4. You can reach me at

    scottdunlap (at) yahoo.com

    Thanks! SD

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  5. Scott,

    I love your blog ( but who doesn't) it keeps me motivated in my long runs by myself in the middle of the winter, where I ofter run in the dark in -5 weather

    Norma

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  6. Norma -

    Thank you! You are tougher runner than me if you can get out there in the dark when it's below zero. Perhaps the Susitna 100 is right up your alley!

    Keep it up...

    SD

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