Dean Karnazes

About

Dean Karnazes is an American ultramarathon runner and bestselling author from San Francisco, California, who has done more than any other individual to bring ultrarunning into mainstream popular culture. Raised in a Greek-American family and introduced to distance running in junior high, he walked away from a corporate career at age 30 after an impulsive all-night run convinced him to devote his life to endurance. Competitively, he took four attempts at the Badwater 135 across Death Valley to break through — a DNF in 1995, 10th in 1996, 6th in 2000, and 2nd in 2003 — before finally winning outright in 2004 in 27:22:48, the closest finish in the race's history at that time. His most famous feat came in 2006, when he ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days across all 50 U.S. states, finishing with the New York City Marathon; he has also completed a continuous run of 350 miles without sleep in just under 81 hours. His 2005 memoir 'Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner' became a New York Times bestseller and was adapted into a feature documentary, and he received the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition Lifetime Achievement Award and a spot on TIME's 100 Most Influential People list.

Notable Wins

• — Badwater 135 winner 2004 (27:22:48)
• — 50 Marathons in 50 States in 50 Days (2006)
• — 350-mile continuous run without sleep (80:44)
• — TIME 100 Most Influential People

Race History

Recent Coverage