RUNNING A HUNDRED MILES?

Victor Bloom MD

A recent in-depth article in the New York Times explored the world of a cult of long distance runners. It came complete with a guru who uses Eastern philosophies of meditation, relaxation and proper diet, and who seems to be an ultimate sports psychologist, exhorting his members to superhuman feats of physical and emotional endurance.

It seems a pat phrase to be dismissive, that these people are running from something, from the real world, from family, from work. They support themselves with part time jobs. They have free (unmarried) sex. They seem to be one with nature and the mountains, the sun and the sky. They eat healthily. They train daily. For practice they run 50 miles, over mountain roads, where the air is thin.

We need to remind ourselves that the standard marathon run is about 26 miles and takes about two and a half hours for the winners. We also need to remind ourselves that the marathon is an ordeal, and there is a psychophysiological 'wall' at 18 miles, a wall of pain that must be run through, somehow overcome. These people are running from 50 to a 100 miles! How is this possible? What is the point?

The group's name is "Divine Madness". It is a question whether the group members are more mad than divine. Still, the members are a potent force in the 'ultra-running' segment of long distance runners. Four members of Divine Madness finished among the top 15 at the 1996 Leadville Trail Race. Another member, Janet Runyan (no pun intended!) won the 1996 women's national championship for the distance of 100 kilometers, or 62 miles. This year, all six Divine Madness entrants in the Leadville 100 mile run hope to finish among the top 20.

The publisher of UltraRunning Magazine, Fred Pilon, estimates that there are 8,000 Americans who run ultramarathons. 'Ultramarathons' are defined as anything above the standard 26 mile marathon. That group includes Joe Schlereth of Fresno, California, who ran 9,021 miles in 1996 (173.5 miles per week!) and the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team of Jamaica, Queens, which began a 3,100 mile race around a city block on June 13 with a 51-day time limit. Most ultrarunners are hobbyists who average 50-60 miles per week.

Most of us cannot help but wonder what drives these people. This psychiatrist has a theory. I cannot help but recall those patients with manic-depression (bipolar disorder) who were in their manic phase. For a time they are spurred on by great energy, as if their metabolism were running on jet fuel. They talk constantly, pace endlessly, have racing thoughts and grandiose fantasies. They think they can do anything. As a matter of fact, they are capable of seemingly superhuman feats of boundless energy and great endurance. They don't want to sleep. They cannot sleep. So they might as well do something. They have to do something, and often it is physical. They can be hypersexual. Being manic can be an aphrodisiac. There is a feeling of euphoria, which one author confided is better than any cocaine trip. No wonder they don't want to be brought down on Lithium!

Unfortunately, for some on a manic trip, it evolves into psychosis, a break with reality, which can lead to self-destructive behavior, such as shopping sprees, sexual indiscretions and gambling losses. For some, instead of being euphoric and good-natured, they are angry and irritable, people with a chip on their shoulders and a short fuse, and they may become alcoholic, abusive and out of control. With all this energy and minimal controls, they are 'loose cannons'.

On the other hand, it seems that the members of the Divine Madness have channelled their energy into a safe and relatively controlled outlet. They run. They run and run and run! No harm done. Healthy food, mountain air, testing the limits, breaking out of the envelope, achieving a feeling of freedom and a sense of self-esteem and personal identity through running. It is a mind trip, and it is a wonder their bodies can stand it. I can only wonder how their joints can take it, but their methods seem to take advantage of everything we've learned about the psychophysiology of physical endurance.

As for their free (unmarried) sex, who can criticize? Who can judge? My guess is that these people are not constituted for the restraints of conventional marriage and family life. It is very difficult for manic-depressives to be good marriage partners or parents.

Better they should run. Long distances. Run and run and run.

Dr Bloom lives and practices in Grosse Pointe Park. He is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry in Wayne State University's School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.