On the morning of Feb. 18, Dean Karnazes headed out for New York from his native California. His plan: to run the whole route.
His coast-to-coast pilgrimage calls for Karnazes to be on the run, rain or shine, as much as 14 hours daily, covering an average of 50 miles to 60 miles.
He’s under the watchful eye of “Live! With Regis and Kelly,” which invited him to make this odyssey and is tracking his progress every step of the way. After nearly 3,000 miles, he will arrive around May 11 in Manhattan, where he will cross the finish line at the “Live!” studio to be welcomed on the air by co-hosts Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa.
“This is without a doubt the most intense endeavor I’ve ever undertaken,” said the 48-year-old Karnazes, whose list of endurance derring-do includes this breathtaking achievement: 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states.
Karnazes left from Disneyland during Friday’s “Live!” telecast.
“You’d think all he needs is a station wagon to follow him with a bunch of protein bars,” said “Live!” executive producer Michael Gelman. “It’s really a lot bigger than that.”
The itinerary includes Arizona and New Mexico, stopping in Albuquerque, traversing Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, then southeast to the nation’s capital, then New York-bound. Mostly sticking to two- or four-lane highways, Karnazes will pass through 17 states and the District of Columbia.
To do it, he’ll be clad in a North Face shoe called the Sentinel Boa that features a tightening system free of pesky laces. He expects to pound through as many as 12 pairs.
Meanwhile, along for the ride will be a dozen-member entourage in two accompanying tour buses.
“Almost every day we’re going to see at least some of Dean,” said Gelman. “Then, once a week, usually Fridays, we’ll do a full sort of recap.”
Not only a mega-marathoner, Karnazes is also a fitness advocate and author whose latest book, “Run! 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss,” will be out this week.
“I’m not saying to people, ‘Hey, you got to go run two marathons a day,’ ” he explained from his home recently. “But maybe you can walk around the block after years of inactivity. You can begin to change your ways.”
His route, like every plan is subject to change. There’s the chance of getting slammed by the weather — though Karnazes, who has run in both Antarctica and the Sahara desert, is no stranger to extreme conditions. There’s also the chance of injury, or, far more likely, blisters, which Karnazes hastily repairs with Krazy Glue.
And maybe he’ll get antsy in the middle of the night. “I told my crew that sometimes I get up at 2 in the morning, and if I can’t sleep, I’m going to set out. They said, ‘Well, wake us up.’ “
