9301190091
DETROIT FREE PRESS
930521
Friday, May 21, 1993
METRO FINAL
1D
Photo Color
:
Doug Kurtis comes across.
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1993, Detroit Free Press
MARATHON MAN KURTIS RUNS FOR THE LOVE OF IT
Remember that disease a few years ago, chronic fatigue syndrome, where
people felt exhausted all the time, their heads drooping on their desks, as if
-- well, as if they'd just run a marathon and had to go to work?
Meet Doug Kurtis.
Who just ran a marathon and had to go to work. "That's not unusual for
me," says the 41-year-old with the full-time job who has won more marathons
than anyone else in history. "One time I ran in Tahiti, took the night flight
back, landed the next morning and went straight to the office."
Tahiti? I have been to Tahiti. I remember the flight back; it lasted 207
hours. I, too, went straight to the office. After I stopped at home and slept
for a month.
So I don't know how Kurtis does it. Which is why I called him. I've been
feeling a little weary lately, and I saw this world record that he just
broke: a marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes. The record wasn't for quality;
it was for quantity. That race -- are you ready? -- was the 70th time Kurtis
has run a marathon under 2:20. Seventy times?
Running is not a job
Used to be you did that once, they put a wreath around your neck, then
closed the casket.
Seventy times?
"I just love running," Kurtis says.
We gotta get him a doctor.
"Listen," I tell Kurtis, who lives in Northville and runs twice a day,
every day. "I remember when marathon runners would race twice a year. They'd
train like crazy, 'taper' down, swallow a mountain of spaghetti, then race.
Afterward, we would help them to stretchers and they would lie there for a
month."
"Not me," Kurtis laughs. "I just have this ability to recover. The day
after the race, I'm usually out running five miles. Last week, after I won the
Cleveland marathon, I ran with a friend of mine, and he said, 'Doug, you
don't even look sore.' "
Amazing. In case you forgot, a marathon is 26 miles. Twenty- six miles! The
tradition began with the ancient Greek messenger, Pheidippides, who ran that
distance to bring news of a war. When he arrived, he spoke his piece and
dropped dead.
He makes more sense to me than Kurtis.
"Who had the world record for victories before you?" I ask.
"Bill Rodgers," he says. "I've won 32 marathons. He's won 22. But he's
retired now."
Retired, my foot. He's probably in a coma.
"Who had the sub-2:20s mark before you?" I ask.
"A Swedish runner named Kjell Erick Stahl. He has 69 races of under 2:20.
But he's been injured for a year and a half."
Injured, my foot. He's probably in a coma.
Wait! You haven't heard the best part. Kurtis -- who says he has run 140
marathons in his life -- works full time, at Ford Motor Company, as a systems
administrator. Yep. Works with computers. And has two kids. How on earth does
he manage that? How in the wide world of sports does he handle the burden of
family, work and athletic training?
"I run during my lunch break. I run when I get home. I use my vacation
days for races. I shower at work. I eat at my desk."
Oh. I thought the '80s were over.
The end isn't in sight
Now, I have to admit, I initially thought Kurtis was a little weird for
running this much and this often. But after talking to him, getting to know
him better, I have to say he is in DIRE NEED OF MEDICAL ATTENTION.
In the last month he has run three marathons: Boston, Pittsburgh and
Cleveland. In between, he ran an 8-kilometer event. That's 83 miles. In one
month. Some people don't drive 83 miles in a month.
Kurtis has raced in Malaysia, Paris and Sydney. He has raced in Stockholm,
London and Casablanca. He has won five times in Seattle and six straight in
Detroit. He almost never misses a day of training.
And yet, for all the miles, Kurtis is not a household name, unless your
house is Athlete's Foot.
"I decided long ago if I only trained for the big races (Boston, New York,
the Olympics) my best might be a 2:12. They would have said, 'OK, he's a good
runner.' But I still wouldn't have won.
"I've found my niche. People in my field know me. I recover well. I can
race a lot. I never thought when I started running that this sub-2:20 thing
would give me a world record. But it's been great."
I ask how long he plans to keep racing.
"Until I can't do it anymore."
Most of us, that would have been high school.
But OK. Kurtis is different. He is phenomenal. So the moral of the story is
this: Next time you're feeling a little tired, think of Doug out there, on his
own, running a marathon, going to work, picking up the kids, doing it for the
love of the sport. And say to yourself, "If I tried that, I'd be dead."
I guarantee you'll feel much better.