Constantine Karnazes is a Greekamerican ultramarathon runner, and author of Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner, which details ultra endurance running for the general public. Karnazes has been described as «the world’s most famous ultramarathon runner». The ultramarathoner was born on August 23, 1963 in Los Angeles to parents of greek descent. He began to run from a very young age, when he was still in kindergarten, so that- – he argues- he would not tire out his mother, who had to walk him to and from school.
Constantine Karnazes began his run from California’s Disneyland on February 25, and arrived in New York on the 11th of May, having passed through 16 states and the the District of Columbia. At the end of the route, he was welcomed by his wife, Julie, and his 13-year-old son, Nikos.
«It’s been a dream of mine for 75 days to be standing right here» he said to the american media immediately afterwards, adding that the best part of the run was «coming into the studio, seeing my family, finally knowing I actually made it». He also mentioned that his aim was to promote the idea and philosophy of keeping fit among Americans, and especially young people, encouraging them to fight against obesity.
Constantine Karnazes covered 40 to 50 miles a day, running 8 to 15 hours daily. During that time, he used over 50 pairs of shoes, and made 177,865 dollars for Action for Healthy Kids, a non-for-profit organization against child obesity and malnutrition. Referring to the conditions he faced, he stated that they were pretty harsh, due to the changing weather and the ground’s morphology.
«The end of the first day», he said, «I was destroyed. I thought, «How am I going to do this for 74 more days?» It had been so easy to talk about it, but after that first day it hit me: the enormity of what we were about to undertake. Then I told myself, «Get up in the morning and try your best. You may or may not make it, but your commitment is to try your very hardest.»
The legend of the marathon, promoter of » fair play » and a great personality with great acceptance in the U.S., assumed the role of Navarino Challenge ambassador, which took place in three different routes, starting on 18 October 2013 Silimna village of Arcadia, the birthplace of the family of Dean. A journey beyond the sporting interest had moments of emotion , as Dean was found for the first time in Greece , meeting also the Greeks relatives for the first time .
As part of his visit to Greece to participate in Navarino Challenge team ellines.com organised an interview with him.
Read the interview below: