EVER WONDERED WHAT’S IT LIKE TO ...
Calgarian Dave Proctor says the reality at the end of an entire day of running is pretty empowering, writes Scott Cruickshank.
In a daily series starting today, Calgarians share their unique experiences, be it an unusual accomplishment, near disaster or rare opportunity. Dave Proctor certainly knows how it feels — in April, he ran for 24 straight hours at the world ultramarathon championship in Turin, Italy. He ran for 257 kilometres, or six marathons in a row.
Q First things first — what’s it like to run for 24 straight hours?
A Exhausting. But once you get going, you’re running at a relatively slow pace. You get pretty cocky, thinking you could do this all day — and you will be doing it all day. But, over time, it gets a little bit harder, a little bit harder. In the middle of the night, the self- doubt sets in. It’s a great, big, physical challenge, but I would say it’s more a major, major mental hurdle.
Q Did your pre- race expectations match up with the experience?
A I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn’t know it was going to be that hard. It was a very, very difficult thing to do, but the neatest thing about the whole process altogether was, upon completion, realizing you just did it. But along the way a lot of self- doubt pops into your head. The reality at the end that you just ran solidly for 24 hours ... it was pretty empowering.”
Q People might think you have pit- stops, take little naps, breaks for meals ... any of that?
A You’re eating on the go. The only stop breaks are to go to the washroom. But no walk breaks. No naps. Nothing.
Q When was the darkest time?
A You’ve been running for 18 hours. I don’t care who you are, that’s exhausting and it’s tiring. Any little thing can sink your spirits. So you try to keep yourself up, to keep yourself motivated with self- talk, positive self- talk, it’s a real struggle, especially when you’re seeing others cratering and having a hard time.
Q You talk about the mental component, but what about physically? What was breaking down?
A Everything. It becomes: What’s worse? Your knee, your ankle, your toe? What’s going on with that blister that’s now getting really big? And all of your insides — your heart rate is starting to rise. You’re dealing with the heat during the day. Now it’s at night and you’re having to bundle up to stay warm. Yeah, everything comes to a head. There’s a lot of issues that arise ... but none that you can’t deal with.
Q A gun goes off with one minute to go. How are you feeling then?
A You’ve been running rigidly for so long. You’re at the world championships, you know that the next guy is not too far ahead of you, but there’s more likely somebody behind you. But you’re so stiff that you can’t physically turn your neck to take a look. But you’ve been running hard for 23 hours and 59 minutes, so what’s an extra minute? So it was a pretty emotional minute, but that minute seemed to drag on for what seemed to be five or six or seven minutes. You’re thinking, ‘ OK, somebody messed up with the gun.’”
Q And when the final gun does go off?
A It was as if there was one single bullet that went through every single one of our chests. We just collapsed to the ground. We were dead. I remember I was carrying a Canadian flag. When I hit the ground, the Canadian flag was draping me, I was on my back. It was such an emotional experience. All I remember was crying. I don’t know if it was ( because of) the pride of running 257.093 kilometres in a day ... running well for a full 24 hours. Most likely, I was just happy to be done — ‘ I don’t have to take another step.’”
Q Describe your recovery.
A My body came back relatively quickly. I was really surprised by how well I started feeling. Within two weeks, I ran a half- marathon back here in town — the ( Calgary) Police Half- Marathon. But, really, it was my ( emotional) insides. Sometimes you’re happy and you don’t know why you’re happy. Then you’re sad. Then you’re angry. Then you see a baby and you start crying for no reason. It’s your emotions. It’s like your body’s been shaken and you really don’t know where’s up and where’s down. That does take a month, a month and a half, to settle down.”