Around, say, mile 63, it will probably dawn on Dan Heston.
This is what I鈥檓 doing this for.
It will be a searing famine, sharp, then dull, then acutely sharp once more. Pangs, right in his right side, reminding him that his body may be in cruise-control, but his fuel is low. Hunger, through every inch of his body.
But is that any different than the hunger a mother feels when she鈥檚 given her child the last jelly sandwich and she has none for herself? Who can afford peanut butter these days, after all? Is there any difference, really?
Hunger is hunger, right? Longing, needing, emptiness. Hunger is hunger.
And Dan Heston is trying to end it.
In Southern 蜜柚直播, at least.
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A lifelong runner, albeit primarily uncompetitively, Heston picked things up a half-decade ago. He鈥檇 run Turkey Trots and half-marathons and full marathons, but he was ready to run with a purpose. For a purpose.
So in 2013, Heston ran for 12 hours straight, raising roughly $1,000 for the Marana Community Food Bank. A Marana resident, he鈥檇 heard about the plight of his neighbors, so many of whom relied on the food bank to feed entire family units. He ran 55 miles straight, and, well, he felt pretty good afterward.
The next year, Heston ran for 12 hours again, this time racking up 60 miles, raising a few thousand dollars. In 2015, he ran back-to-back marathons 鈥 52.4 miles, to be exact 鈥 and raised a similar amount, and last year, he did it again, raising more than $8,000.
He wanted to up the stakes this year. Maybe even up the steaks, or at least the ground chuck.
So on Friday night, leading into Saturday morning, Dan Heston will run the entire 100-plus-mile El Tour de 蜜柚直播 course.
The goal? Raise $15,000. More than everything he鈥檚 raised in previous years combined.
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We鈥檙e not talking about Meb Keflezighi here, perhaps the greatest American male long-distance runner of his generation. This isn鈥檛 Abdi Abdirahman, the 蜜柚直播 High, Pima College and UA grad who has been the top-finishing American at the New York City Marathon the last two years. Heston is far, far from Shalene Flanagan, who just became the first American woman since 1977 to win the NYC Marathon.
He鈥檚 your average guy, only with an above-average desire to push himself and his body to the limits, and an above-above-average desire to help those in need.
He was not a track star in high school, nor in college. A self-proclaimed 鈥淣avy brat鈥 who moved frequently, Heston never really got into 鈥渢eam鈥 running. He tried to run cross country in high school, but was frequently felled by twisted ankles. He didn鈥檛 run much after high school, not for a dozen years. In his 30s, he picked up distance running and never put it down.
It has become, in his own words, 鈥渁n obsession.鈥
鈥淚 absolutely love it,鈥 said Heston, who credits his wife and kids for supporting his relatively newfound passion. 鈥淚 want to see what my personal limits are. I haven鈥檛 quite found what my limits are. When I finish a long run, I feel like I can keep going.鈥
Yeah, OK. We鈥檒l see if he feels that way on Saturday morning, when he plans on finishing his 106-mile journey shortly before El Tour kicks off.
Who knows? He may just turn into an ultramarathoner, those on the outer limits of sport who decide to treat their bodies like a car on a cross-country road trip. Stop for gas, man! There鈥檚 a Steak-and-Shake with your name on it. Grab a bag of sunflower seeds, something.
These people are almost fanatically dedicated to testing their boundaries, to seeing how far they can go, or, rather, how far their bodies will let them go.
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And speaking of bodies, here鈥檚 what happens when a child goes hungry.
Cognitive, social and emotional development can be delayed. Vitamin A deficiencies can cause vision problems, even blindness. A lack of calcium can damage gums, teeth. Immune systems become compromised.
The Community Food Bank of Southern 蜜柚直播 was founded in 1975 by Barry Corey and Mark Homan to help end these issues in the community, and the organization feeds nearly 200,000 people every year. That鈥檚 200,000 of your neighbors who look like you and talk like you and breathe like you and yet go hungry every day.
鈥淗unger is huge a problem in Southern 蜜柚直播 and the whole state,鈥 said food bank public relations and marketing specialist Norma Cable, who has worked extensively with Heston on this endeavor. 鈥淚t affects one in four kids and one in five adults.鈥
The organization, which gets more than 80 percent of its funding from donations, serves five counties, providing food particularly to children and seniors, who make up more than 20 percent of the clientele. Most, Cable said, are members of the working poor.
鈥淗unger is all around us,鈥 Cable said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just an isolated problem that comes up every once in a while. We鈥檙e so impressed with how Dan has recognized that and is stepping out of his way to do his part.鈥
His part, Cable explains, is significant: Every $1 donated can provide four meals.
鈥淵ou always hear about the parents who didn鈥檛 eat so their kids could, and I鈥檝e never felt where I鈥檝e gone to bed hungry,鈥 Heston said. 鈥淚鈥檓 thankful for that. I can only imagine that. I鈥檝e been hungry before. You鈥檝e got kids who don鈥檛 eat until lunch, until dinner, not at all. This is what those kids feel like all the time.鈥
He鈥檒l be hungry again on Friday, and most certainly on Saturday morning.
Funny thing is, he knows how hard it will be for him to eat.
鈥淵ou use up all your reserves to keep going, but your body, it鈥檚 hard to choke down the food,鈥 he said. 鈥淵our body is rejecting fuel. You feel like you need food, but you can鈥檛 even get it down, you have to force it down.鈥
Heston will rely on what he calls his 鈥渘ectar,鈥 Pedialyte. The electrolyte-filled children鈥檚 drink is the perfect mix of salty and sweet to replenish the body. Somebody better have a case on hand.
He knows what to expect.
鈥淭hat first few miles,鈥 he says, 鈥測ou鈥檙e not comfortable at all. You鈥檒l hear distance runners say that鈥檚 the warm-up. You get to the point where you鈥檙e kind of dazed. You shut things down. You do two miles and don鈥檛 even realize you鈥檙e doing it. It鈥檚 like shifting a car from first to fifth and you don鈥檛 even feel second, third and fourth.
鈥淵ou feel like you鈥檙e gliding,鈥 he continued. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 even feel your feet hitting the ground. Until you experience it, it鈥檚 hard to explain it to someone. It can feel like an out-of-body experience.
鈥淵ou come out of it, and it鈥檚 鈥楬ey, this doesn鈥檛 feel that good,鈥 and you battle through the pain, the muscle cramps, and you get that euphoric feeling again once you get through that runner鈥檚 wall, and that will happen repeatedly through runs.
鈥淎nd once you get to a point where maybe you don鈥檛 think you can go any further, you just do. Who knows? Maybe after 106 miles, I鈥檒l feel like I can keep going. That鈥檚 what the pleasure in the pain is.鈥
