Marathoner in a lab-coat

It’s hard to draw parallels between an ultra-marathoner and a scientist. But a seamless transition between the two is perhaps the best way to sum up Scott Jurek’s journey at 41 years. Setting a new record in July for a supported run on the Appalachian Trail is just one of the many successes the American has celebrated through the experiments en route.

Like your average college-going kid, Jurek took to junk food with a vengeance. Pretty soon, it took a toll on his body and, with disease running in the family, Jurek started dabbling in different foods. He realised that a plant-based diet complemented his running, and could provide the same nutrition as meat.

A decision made over two decades ago gave Jurek a new purpose in life, and handed him a career few can dream of.

After excelling at ultra-marathons around the world, Jurek focused his attention on the Appalachian Trail — a 2,260-mile run from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, along the US east coast. After 46 days, eight hours and seven minutes, running on average 50 miles a day, Jurek finally rested after bettering the previous mark by just three hours.

“It was down to the wire. The last 8km was the only time I knew I was going to make it,” Jurek says with a smile, as he dunks his idli into chutney at breakfast, during a promotional tour in Mumbai.

He is a legend in the world of ultra-running. Growing up in Duluth, Minnesota, life wasn’t easy as responsibilities fell on his young shoulders after his mother was detected with multiple sclerosis. Running became a release of sorts; whether it was around the house, tending to his younger siblings, or through trails in the woods that doubled as his backyard.

“Running was pure joy for me, but I never thought much of it. I simply ran,” he reminisces. As a student of health sciences, Jurek attempted his first 50-miler at 20 but didn’t turn professional until after a few years. As he continued to realise the limits of his physical abilities with each race, food took up most of his time off the trails, and is an integral part of his book titled Eat and Run .

“It took me a year and a half to transition to a fully vegan diet. In Minnesota, there aren’t many vegetarian restaurants, so I did a lot of cooking on my own. It was also fascinating — I was my own guinea pig and learnt a lot in the process,” he says.

Dairy products made way for oils from coconut, olives and avocadoes, and the budding chef dished out tempeh- and tofu-based traditional Asian cuisines as replacement for the wild fish and burgers he once relished. “I eat such a wide range of foods, that’s what I love about my diet,” he says, even as he wipes out another parantha , while looking for a spicy combo to go with it. “There are so many tastes and textures in food from Japan, India, Thailand and East Africa. Essentially, you need to eat enough calories based on the distance you plan on running, so it just varies with the circumstances.”

His first major win came in 1999 at the 100-miler Western States Endurance Run in California — a race he went on to dominate for the next six years. The learning progressed with the distances — on the trails and in the kitchen — and Jurek returned to the same races he had previously won to see if he could better his mark. “Each year I would do different things for training and what I ate, in order to learn more and see how I could cut down time on the run,” he explains.

One of the real tests came in 2005 at the Badwater Ultramarathon, labelled ‘the world’s toughest foot race’ for its notoriety for felling the most stubborn competitors. The 135-mile course runs through the Death Valley in California, where temperatures are known to hover around 50ºC in mid-July. Quite incredibly, he won the race just a few weeks after his triumph at the Western States Endurance Run. And if setting a course record wasn’t enough, Jurek came back the next year and won again.

Further success at prestigious races established Jurek as the man to chase — whether it was the Spartathlon, a 153-mile run from Athens to Sparta in Greece, which he won thrice; or adventures such as a race alongside members of the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico, who are known to be the greatest natural runners in the world.

After all the competitive glory, Jurek decided to set his sights on personal desires.

“I always wanted to do one of the national scenic trails in the US — tracks that run across the country, and the Appalachian mountains were a place I had never explored. So it really seemed like a new adventure,” he says.

With wife Jenny as his primary crew member, Jurek took off on the trail in May this year, and almost called it off a week into the run after a hurting knee and a quad tear while descending the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

The record was never the focus, but after realising that it was within reach, he took to sleeping just a couple of hours during the last few days to seal it in style.

“It was just an unbelievable feeling getting to the finish line. Quite honestly, I never thought I would actually get the record. You think of all that you’ve been through, and it’s very emotional to realise that it all culminates on this one day,” he says.

The day was also Jenny’s birthday and, together with a few friends, they ascended Mount Katahdin to take in the landscape around them. And breathe easy for the first time in over a month and a half.

Jurek is still soaking in his last run, while also scouting for his next target.

“I’ll stop when I can’t run anymore. Until then, it’s whatever gets me excited,” he says with a smile. Jurek’s life is one race that has no finish line in sight.

(Shail Desai is a Mumbai-based writer)

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