Runner embraces challenges of extreme race
Charlotte Dequeker means something different than most when she says she’s “just going out for a run.”
She runs up to 80 miles a week. When she laces up her running shoes on June 23, it will be for the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, in northern California.
But the Greenwich woman isn’t particularly fazed by running the long-distance race. It will be her fifth.
“Running is what I love,” Dequeker said . “It is my therapy. It is what keeps me sane and what keeps me in check. If I have a problem, I’m going to run it off.”
Dequeker started running marathons, which led to triathalons. Ultra-marathons were — according to her — “the natural progression.”
“I love being on the trails and there is not that many times in your life when you can be cut off from everything and you’re in the middle of nowhere with no cellphone reception,” she said. “There is that feeling you are one with nature and that is so cool. I think everyone should experience that.”
Dequeker admits it takes a “certain kind of crazy” to be able to run a 100-mile race, but it has become addictive to her. And her family has come to accept her kind of crazy. Her husband, Raphael, is the pastry chef at Valbella Restaurant in Riverside and she jokes it’s because of him she has to run.
“Before, everyone used to look at me like they didn’t know what I was thinking, but now I just tell them, ‘Oh by the way, I have a 50-mile run tomorrow’ and they just go, ‘OK, have fun,’ ” Dequeker said, adding her running has allowed her to enter a community of fellow athletes who have the same mindset that she does.
The Western States 100 calls for its runners to go straight through, with the best being able to cover the 100 miles in 15 hours. There is a 30-hour cutoff, and aid stations every 10 miles to make sure runners eat and drink.
Dequeker said the goal is to just keep going.
“You have to do it one step at a time,” Dequeker said. “You run most of the way but you also have to hike because there are a lot of ups and downs.”
Dequeker, 45, works in investor relations at a small equity firm in Westport. On top of that, she is the mother of three sons, Kelian, 20, Bastian, 19, and Titouan, 17.
It is for one of those sons that she will be running on the 23rd. Titouan has had Lyme disease three times, and the most recent case has been particularly debilitating.
Dequeker is participating in the Western States 100 to support the Greenwichbased Global Lyme Alliance.
Titouan’s symptoms began last summer when his mother said he was really dragging and had constant nausea. When the conditions persisted into September, blood tests revealed he had Lyme disease and mononucleosis .
During three months of antibiotics, Dequeker said her son lost close to 30 pounds. The ordeal left him mentally and physically exhausted, restricting his social interaction during his junior year at Greenwich High School.
“He’s just starting to get better,” Dequeker said, recalling that about two months ago, he began to turn the corner and he was finally able eat regularly again.
Dequeker is looking for sponsors for her run at https://fundraise.globally mealliance.org/fundraiser/ 1461221 with money raised going to the Global Lyme Alliance’s ongoing work.
“I just want to do my little part to make a difference,” Dequeker said. “I might as well run for something.”
This is not the first time Dequeker run for charity. She ran to support the fight against eating disorders after the sister of a close friend died. In another race ,she supported the Special Ops Warrior Fund because her sister is a retired medic in U.S. Army.
“It does give extra motivation because I know I’m going to finish no matter what, but it’s nice to have that in the back of your head,” Dequeker said. “It lets you think that, yeah you’re having a tough time but it will be done and you’re going to be fine and there are people who have it so much tougher. You can embrace the pain and suffering of doing this for that amount of time because you know it’s going to stop at some point.”
The Western States 100 is considered one of the world’s ultimate endurance tests. Dequeker is not taking the challenge lightly. She has to train extensively — to get ready mentally and physically.
“You have to be very stubborn,” Dequeker said. “You have to be able to take a lot of pain and you have to be crazy enough that you think you can finish.”
Her main goal is to make make it in under the 30-hour limit, but she really wants to finish in 28 hours or less.
“People say running a 100 miles is like a life in a day because you go through the ups and downs,” she said. “You have really high moments where everything feels great and then you have super low moments where everything hurts and you have to make the decision about whether you want to keep going. Nothing prevents you from stopping. It’s just you, and I like that challenge. I know I can do it. I started and I will finish no matter what.”