ON CHANGING YOUR LIFE

Outside: I know you just ran a marathon and want to get back to the bus to relax, so I'll jump right in. The theme of our story is how to take your life from a seven to a ten. How did you decide to do that for yourself?
Karnazes: I made the commitment to turn my passion into my vocation. I'd always thought if I start making my life what I love, I might hate it. I might not enjoy it as much for some reason. I think that was an excuse more than anything else, because now that I've decided to do exactly what I love to do, it's been the most rewarding, fulfilling experience of my life.

I thought "I love to run, I love endurance, I love nothing more than to run through the mountains for 100 miles. How can you make a living doing that? And even if you could, you'd probably end of hating it because it would become your work." But it hasn't happened that way at all.

When did that moment come for you, when you decided to take it up a level?
I didn't really have a five-year plan. I had a dream. So what I kind of did was just say: "If I could script my perfect life, what would it look like?"

It would be spending a lot of time with my family and my kids, doing what I love, which is exploring the limits of human endurance, pushing the envelope and being in the shape of my life, and dedicating myself wholeheartedly to my craft.

How was I going to make a living doing that? [laughs] I had no idea, no idea at all. The thing that inspired me the most was when my book was published. I'd always wanted to write a book. It was on my life to-do list. I thought "ok, it's not a very good book and if I can convince ten of my buddies to buy this book, I'll be lucky." All of a sudden it was on the New York Times list and a national bestseller, and I'm getting hundreds of emails saying "this is just incredible what you do." I thought, "I owe it to myself and to the people that have supported me to take it to the next level, to move that seven to a ten."

Where on that number scale are you now?
Fifteen. I'm living a dream. And I've never lost sight of that.

ON THE ENDURANCE 50

Is there a morning of this Endurance 50 run when you wake up and just don't feel like running?
There's not a moment I can really make myself go to sleep because I'm having such a ball. I can't sleep at night. I don't want to sleep. I just want this to keep going. It's so good.

Any doubts about getting to the 50th marathon in New York?
I'm living in the moment. Every morning I'm waking up and putting one foot in front of the other. So far it feels good. Maybe I'll get to 45 and it'll hurt so bad I can't move, but so far, I'm encouraged by what I've seen. And I'm gonna try my hardest tomorrow again. You can't be afraid to fail, and that's hard, but unless you fail, you never push hard enough, so I think if you look at successful people, and happy people, they fail a lot because they're constantly trying to go further and expand.

Has this been harder or easier than your past efforts?
From a physical standpoint, it's still a little bit—I shouldn't say this—but it's still a little bit easier. But the demanding thing is everything layered on top of it. I'm loitering around at the finish for hours, talking to people and signing things, and for me that's as difficult as running a marathon in a lot of ways.

You're making it real to the people who are running with you.
You know, all along, I didn't want this to be about me. I wanted it to be about uniting people and inclusion. It's about inspiring people to see how hard they can push themselves, and how to do their best.

ON APPLYING HIS PHILOSOPHY TO ANYONE'S LIFE

How does someone take your model and apply it to their own life?
If you're a basket weaver, that's fine. Be the best darn basket weaver there is. Throw yourself wholeheartedly at your craft. Immerse yourself in what you love, and you'll find fulfillment. We all have different passions. Running isn't everyone's bag.

Does it have to be painful to be fulfilling?
Western culture has things a little backwards right now. We think that if we had every comfort available to us, we'd be happy. We equate comfort with happiness. And now we're so comfortable we're miserable. There's no struggle in our lives. No sense of adventure. We get in a car, we get in an elevator, it all comes easy. What I've found is that I'm never more alive than when I'm pushing and I'm in pain, and I'm struggling for high achievement, and in that struggle I think there's a magic.

So would you recommend ultrarunning to a normal person?
I think ultrarunning is symbolic of life in so many ways. You realize that nothing comes easy, the things that are free in life are really not that rewarding. Things that you really dedicate and train for have the greatest reward, and I think that ultrarunning teaches you that. Running 100 miles is a huge commitment. There's no way to fake your way through a 100-mile run. You have to pay your dues. You have to commit, and when you see these people cross the line, it's a huge achievement in their lives.

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