Dean Karnazes

I love surfing, rock climbing, cycling - all that stuff. But it's just amazing that I can inspire people with my running. It's humbling, really. ”

A lot of ultramarathoners are soloists. They're single and live lives off the grid. ”

There are so many things in life that divide us, that separate us and tear us apart, be it race, religion, creed, socioeconomic level, nationality or any variety of other factors. But running is something that we all share in common. ”

During holiday parties when people used to ask me what I did for a living, I would tell them I sold resort timeshares. That was an effective conversational nonstarter, until I met someone that actually did sell resort timeshares. ”

Unlike the traditional athlete, I've got to do more than just engage in my sport to put food on the table. When I'm done running, it's straight to the office. ”

When I was running across the country, I was doing 40 or 50 miles a day in sleeting snow with zero visibility for five or six days in a row. Ten to 12 hours of running in that is monotony beyond belief. ”

I don't know if I'm so much fueled by trying to one-up myself so much as passionate about coming up with new and greater challenges. I don't see it as a contest, but as a natural progression. ”

Unlike running on a road or concrete, natural surfaces are more forgiving and offer a more varied terrain, ultimately resulting in less repetitive micro-trauma to bones and joints than running on hard pavement does. ”

I do a lot of marathons as training runs. If I'm somewhere and there's a marathon, I'll sign up and just go run it. ”

The human body has limitations. The human spirit is boundless. ”