Dean Karnazes discusses the backstory of his 50/50/50 stunt, what ultrarunning looked like in the nineties, and the attitude that keeps him logging big miles in his sixties.
Dean Karnazes running the Santorini Experience in Greece. (Photo: Elias Lefas/Santorini Experience)
Published May 7, 2026 08:45AM
The athletic feat seemed like something out of a science fiction novel. A guy named Dean Karnazes planned to complete 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. The year was 2006 and Karnazes, an ultramarathon runner from the Bay Area, was hardly a household name.
But the 50/50/50 stunt was crazy enough to attract global media attention and berthed a New York Times bestseller, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, and a feature-length documentary that got a theatrical release. It also transformed Karnazes into a health and wellness influencer long before Instagram was a thing—and he didn’t even need to win a race. The ultrarunner and author shares his thoughts on the popularity of athlete-influencers and why taking on crazy personal challenges will always grab attention.
What Ultrarunning Looked Like in the Early Nineties
The races were much more about adventure because nobody had a smartwatch to tell them they were two feet off trail. You’d get lost a lot. The competitor fields were small, mostly older men. PowerBar had just come out, but it was just dried fruit blended up and baked. I mostly ate quesadillas and real food. Everyone was dirtbagging it, even the elite runners. I remember Ann Trason, who was winning every big race back then, told me she could barely pay her bills off of running. Scott Jurek got a shoe deal with Brooks that paid him five grand a year, and we were like, “Wow, you’re killing it!”
How the 50/50/50 Idea Originally Came Together
The North Face came to me and said they wanted to design a line of footwear for trail running. That was a pretty novel idea back then. The company has an annual process for proposing expeditions for athletes, and the ideas usually involve climbing K2 or the Eiger or whatever. I thought, An expedition doesn’t have to be in the mountains. So I put this proposal together about running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, and thought there was no way they’d go for it. They were an outdoor company, not a running company. But they thought it was novel.
They were smart marketers and hired a good PR agency that sent out news releases in every city I was going to. There was this tech company, Bones in Motion, that sent out group SMS messages to runners prior to me arriving. Like, “Hey, Dean is here in your city today.”
People came out to run with me. I met with city mayors, state governors, and other local famous people. Some of them came out to run with me. It became a community thing, and the collective idea was like this is kind of cool. The next thing I knew, National Geographic wanted to publicize it, but an executive was like “What if this guy dies after five marathons?” So I ran with a videographer, some kid who had just finished film school at University of Southern California and knew about the Internet, and he told me, “I’m going to put the video on something called YouTube.” I thought it sounded crazy, like science fiction. But it all worked.
On Being an Outdoor Influencer Before the Term Even Existed
I’m actually very proud of the work that I did, because one of the challenges I took on early in my career was to get this sport, ultrarunning, to a point where athletes could actually earn a living off of it. It brings me a lot of gratitude to think that I contributed to that. I also take a lot of satisfaction from the impact I had on other people’s lives. I was going through TSA at the airport one time and a lady stopped me and said she recognized me from Regis and Kelly. She’d started walking 5-kilometer races because of that. I’ve kind of crossed over at every distance.
Why He Thinks Crazy Athletic Challenges Have Become Part of Outdoor Culture
Most people I see are not doing their stunts for commercial reasons, but rather for self-fulfillment. I think people more than ever are feeling empty with life, and they hope that doing something meaningful or inspirational or insane—just for the heck of it—is going to make them proud of themselves. They want it to inspire awe in the people around them. I think like the stunt that I did—and stunts that others have done—give them permission to follow their idea.
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How Running Fits into His Life at Age 63
I’m still running 100 milers and racing as much as ever. I’m slower but I’m still doing it. I can’t put up with the big miles that I used to, so it’s more high-intensity training like hill repeats. I’m also doing a lot of nose breathing while running as a form of forced hypoxia. My VO2 max actually went up ten points doing that. I’m also doing a lot more strength training and muscle building, too. Last year I did 14 or 15 races. I’ve still never had a running-related injury, overuse or otherwise. I’ve lost toenails, but no Achilles tears, no hamstring problems.
His Advice for Outdoor Athletes Who Want to Keep Competing into Their Golden Years
I still view running as a form of play, just grown-up play. Believe it or not, I still love running as much as I did when I got started. What drives me is different now. I love going to trail races where you’re gone for 24 hours. How often does any other human watch the sunrise, the sunset, and the moonrise in one day? My advice:You don’t need to quantify every workout, or see it as training. Don’t do the same route. Don’t run at the same time of day. Put on a headlamp and run at night. My advice is go on a run for the pure joy of running.
This article is from the Spring 2026 issue of Outside magazine. To receive the print magazine, become an Outside+ member here.
