South Dakota’s Jerry Dunn, also known as America’s Marathon Man, loves a challenge. For example, in a single year, 2000, he ran 200 26.2-mile marathons. This year, to celebrate his 65th birthday, Jerry ran/walked 65 miles. Recently we got him to slow down enough to answer a few questions.

Fitter After 50: Jerry, tell us a little about your most recent challenge.

Jerry Dunn: Well Ed, since my last great adventure, 200 26.2 milers in the year 2000, I’ve been kind of a slug [completing] maybe 4 marathons [in] 9 years. I was starting to think America’s Marathon Man was done, not Dunn. So my resolution for 2010 was to run and race enough to consider myself a runner again. I ran a little over 500 miles in 2010. I ran a couple of 5K races, some 10Ks and my crowning achievement for the year was taking 3rd place in my age group at the 30K at the Big Horn Trail Run event in June. I was starting to get my edge back. Some time in October I thought to myself, I need to see if I’ve still got what it takes for one more of my outrageous endurance stunts. It came to me…65 miles on my 65th birthday. Thus the challenge was born.

Five years earlier I ran 60 for my 60th birthday all on an indoor track (480 circuits [in] 14 hours and 42 minutes. Not the most fun I’d ever had running, but late January in South Dakota is often quite cold, so I planned accordingly. This year I modified my plan a bit. I reserved the same track as before, but only from midnight on the 29th of January (my actual birthday) until 11 AM that same morning. My goal was to get between 40 and 45 miles done in those 11 hours and then move outside and finish whatever mileage remained. I left the field house at 11:30 AM with 44 miles completed.

My routine during the indoor time was to run/jog 2 laps and walk 1 lap. I was able to maintain that Galloway inspired run-walk regimen, without breaking the pattern, for the entire 11 hours. Some of my loyal, night owl running buddies joined me for an hour or two throughout the night to keep me awake and mobile.

I stepped outside into 28 degree temps, overcast sky and little or no wind. Not a bad day for a 21 miler. My goal was to make it to the Crow Peak Brewery by 6PM for the beginning of my self-hosted party. I arrived at 5:42 having walked the entire 21 remaining miles. HEY, I’m 65. So in just under 17 hours, I had accomplished my goal. As my buddy Gere Munro used to always say: “the pain is temporary… the pride is forever.”

In addition to celebrating the day of my birth, two other celebrations were occurring as well. I celebrated 28 years of sobriety, and, ironic as it may seem, we also celebrated the introduction of Lean Horse Ale.

All in all it was a birthday to remember. Not many 65 year old guys can say they ran 65 miles to celebrate what is commonly known as the retirement year.

FA50: How have you been able to stay in shape to be able to tackle 65
miles on foot when most folks in their 60s can’t seem to get themselves to
jog a couple of miles or make it to the gym on a regular basis?

Jerry: Discipline and grace. Except for the rather long sabbatical from serious training and running that I mentioned earlier, I’ve disciplined myself to just keep on keepin’ on. There’s no secret formula to getting fit, or to staying fit, you just have to find something you like to do that makes your heart beat a little faster, and do it almost every day.

I used the word grace along with discipline and what that means to me is that through no effort of my own, I’ve been given this talent for endurance running. I’m thankful everyday that I can get out of bed, lace up the running shoes and get out the door and run. I realized many years ago that I didn’t need to understand why or how I was able to do what I do but just be thankful that I can and use the talent/gift to motivate and inspire others.

FA50: What role does diet play in your staying so fit?

Jerry: Much less than you might assume. I’m not saying that I don’t pay attention to what I eat, but I don’t have any dietary regimen to which I adhere. I mostly avoid fast foods, although not totally. I don’t drink soda or eat much candy. Simple, fresh and whole foods seem to work the best for me.

FA50: Are there any food supplements you take on a daily basis and what,
if anything, do you take during a challenge to help you to keep going and
to recuperate after the event?

Jerry: I take a generic one-a-day multi vitamin and one aspirin daily. That’s it. During my endurance extravaganzas I consume a lot of HammerGel, Endurox R4, bananas, water, some Reese’s pieces, chocolate milk and I even had a sausage-egg McMuffin at about 10 AM on my birthday run. Afterwards … BIRTHDAY CAKE.

FA50: What is your training like?

Jerry: 4 to 5 days a week. Low mileage most days with a 12 or 14 or 16 miler on alternating weekends.

FA50: Do you do anything in particular to stay flexible?

Jerry: No.

FA50: Is there a spiritual component to these challenges? What about your
mental focus during long runs and challenges?

Jerry: Yes, there is a spiritual component. As I mentioned earlier I’m thankful every day that I’m still healthy and able to run. When I’m in the later stages of one of these grueling challenges I will often repeat the Lord’s Prayer a few times. This serves a dual purpose for me. First of all, I remind myself through praying that what I’m doing is in fact a gift and that the mere fact that I’m doing this feat may be the inspiration someone else needs to get started toward a more healthy life. Second, repeating the prayer acts as a mantra of sorts and takes my mind off the pain and suffering.

FA50: When running extremely long distances, is it agony, ecstasy or a
combination of the two?

Jerry: Some of both. The agony usually comes in the middle to near the end portion of the distance and the ecstasy most always comes after completion. Although there are times during most of these extremely long endurance runs [when] I experience the “runners high” and feel as though I could just float to the finish, unfortunately, that never seems to quite work out in reality.

FA50: What advice do you have for those who have been sedentary for a
while and who now want to get back into shape?

Jerry: Take a realistic look at the condition you’re in right now. Set a realistic long range goal. Establish a routine and be consistent with your chosen activity. And most importantly … take your time. As the saying goes …”It took you all these years to get OUT of shape, don’t expect to get back IN shape overnight.

FA50: What would you tell someone looking to take a birthday physical
challenge, such as a long bike ride or run?

Jerry: I’d tell them what I write at the end of every email I send out: Don’t limit your challenges … Challenge your limits, and have fun doin’ it.

FA50: We understand that you are also a race director. What races do you
have coming up, and why should our readers consider traveling to South
Dakota to take on one of your races/event?

Jerry: My events:
Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon, June 5th (Our 10th Anniversary)

Black Hills 100 Ultra Marathon, June 25 / 26th (The Inaugural)

Lean Horse Hundred, August 27 / 28th (6th Annual)

Run Crazy Horse 13.1 / 26.2 October 2nd (2nd Annual)

Why come to South Dakota for one of our events? There is nowhere in the world more beautiful for running and walking than the Black Hills of South Dakota. Ask any of the 20,000 plus participants who have made the trip.

FA50: Is there anything you’d like to say to wrap this up?

Jerry: I’ve noticed that over my lifetime good things seem to come to me later than for a lot of other people, so I’m excited about what life holds in store for me in my post retirement years.

FA50: Thank you, Jerry and happy running.

RAPID CITY – The Black Hills, Badlands & Lakes Association presented four awards at its recent annual meeting and luncheon. The group inducted three people into the Black Hills Tourism Pioneers Hall of Fame. It also honored the Black Hills’ most recognized marathon man.

The inductees are photographer Bill Groethe of Rapid City and explorers Jan Conn and Herb Conn, Custer. Their names will be added to a plaque at the Black Hills Visitor Information Center, which cites other “Pioneers” who have made outstanding contributions to the development of tourism in western South Dakota and whose visions and labors have helped shape the destiny of South Dakota’s visitor industry.

Jerry Dunn, organizer of the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon, was the winner of the Black Hills, Badlands & Lakes Association’s 2007 Special Achievement Award. The award is given annually to recognize the efforts and achievements made in the tourism industry.

Here are their biographies:
Bill Groethe bought his first camera and started taking pictures at the age of 7, when other children his age were playing marbles.
He now has more than 10,000 images of the Black Hills and Badlands to his credit, many of which have been published in several books and national publications. His work hangs in museums and galleries throughout the United States.
Groethe apprenticed at the age of 12 at Bell Studio under the tutelage of well-known photographer Burt Bell. He was later hired full time and began taking professional photographs at the age of 16. “That’s been my whole life. That’s all I’ve done is photography,” the 83-year-old said.

His collection, dating back to 1927, spans more than 70 years and documents the carving at Mount Rushmore. Groethe hung precariously from George Washington’s face to photograph Gutzon Borglum as he carved Abe Lincoln’s likeness. He was there when Korczak Ziolkowski arrived in the Black Hills to carve a mountain, and Grothe recorded the first blasts at Crazy Horse. He is the only person to capture the last nine survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on film in 1948.
Groethe and his wife, Alice, have been in the wholesale and retail photo-finishing business since 1945. They own and operate First Photo, 1839 West Main, in Rapid City.

Herb and Jan Conn have logged countless rock-climbing journeys and cave explorations over the years, and their names have been associated with the two sports ever since.

The couple first arrived in South Dakota in 1946 from the East Coast while on a cross-country rock-climbing road trip. They fell in love with the Black Hills and were drawn to the challenge of the Needles’ cathedral spires.

As they discovered more and more climbs, they invited friends from back East to join them, which led to an influx of climbers as word spread about the climbing opportunities here. Some say they started the rock-climbing craze in the Black Hills.
By 1961, they had discovered and named more than 200 climbing routes. Jan Conn is the first woman ever to free-climb Devils Tower.

Jerry Dunn was not at the meeting to accept his award. He was promoting his events and the Black Hills at the Marine Corps Marathon Expo in Washington, D.C.

When he planned the first Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon in 2002, he was thrilled to get 70 runners. Now, it has 1,700 participants. His goal is 4,000 runners.

According to figures from state officials, his races have contributed $5.5 million to the state’s economy since 2002.

The marathon is now the largest non-school-related running event in South Dakota.

Despite the success of the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon and his new 100-mile Lean Horse Ultra Marathon in Hot Springs, Dunn credits the volunteers, business sponsors, chambers and participants for the success of the events.

“I feel like I was handed the opportunity, and it was meant to be,”the 61-year-old Spearfish man said. “I knew the industry and was able to provide runners what they wanted, plus a little more. I was able to offer them one of most beautiful places in the world to run: on the Mickelson Trail.”

The day began at 4:00 am. We gathered the decorations, party food, Jerry Fuel, extra shoes, dry socks, birthday banners, camera and phone and drove in the early dark to the Young Center field house. By 5:55 we had tables decorated, food categorized, coffee started, and banners hung…someone said “bang” and Jerry’s birthday run was launched. What a celebration.

Most of the laps were on the indoor track, but since six classes of middle school students came the ½ mile from the middle school to run a few laps with him, he spent one session running back with them; then led another group from school back to the field house. Later, since the temperature soared to 62 degrees outside, one group of support runners opted for a few miles on the outdoor track. But for the most part, Jerry and an ever changing procession of advocates circled the synthetic oval six miles to the left, then six miles to the right. Three laps running….one lap walking. Run, run, run…walk…run, run, run. Four hundred eighty laps, 106,000 steps, 5,000 calories and many friend’s footsteps later, he folded onto a chair and peeled his tired tennys from his bleeding toes. The final thirteen laps were an exercise in determination. With two laps to go, he had to sit for just a minute and have one more donut, then slowly, slowly back on his feet and out on the course as the young man waiting to lock up patiently waited in the infield. One half hearted sprint to the finish and it was over. No fan-fare, no flashing lights and loud music…but also no ambulance. Congratulations old boy, you are now a certified elder.

Fourteen hours and forty-one minutes total time, including some time outs for shoe changes, sock therapy, food intake, caffeine fix, TV interviews and photo ops…although predominately he was a “Man in Motion”….he stepped of the track, had a piece of birthday cake, and called it a Dunn deal.

An impressive array of friends, old and new, made time in their busy schedules to come and do laps with him, and the six classes of middlers energized the arena to help pass the time. One special fellow traveler was a little blond boy just passing time until his mother could pick him up, asked me rather timidly, if he could “help”. So 10 something Joseph and 60 year old Jerry jogged three miles together to finish the day. A support crew from Northern Hills Training Center cheered and applauded for so many of the late-in-the-day laps they finally got caught up in the moment and ran with him; one inching her miles with a metal walker…..she became both a mental and emotional support to Jerry by just be being out there. One older gentleman and his wife came walking down the track, he cheerfully playing “Happy Birthday” on his harmonica. There are many and varied wonderful humans who seem to come into our lives……at just the right time.

A quick tear down of our party and survival set-up, one last limping lap to the truck, and Marathon Man with another mega-mileage adventure on his ‘odometer’, was on his exhausted way to a shower and bed. “Being 60 makes you really tired.”

A party is not just a party to Jerry. If he is going to spend unfathomable energy etching 60 into his Boomer brain and body, someone else is going to benefit as well.

Long concerned with the declining activity level of children and the epidemic of childhood obesity, he teamed with the Spearfish Middle School Physical Education Staff and came up with a plan.

When is the runner’s WALL, not a wall? When you can teach balance, strength, flexibility, cooperation, team-work, problem solving, sentence structure, math concepts, scientific method, History facts—have fun and work up a good sweat just by climbing a wall. An amazing array of academic, physical, and emotional skills is all within the potential of the climbing wall curriculum.

The Spearfish Middle School physical education staff…already on the cutting edge of physical education innovation…have researched the spectacular results to be gained by having readily available a state-of-the-art climbing wall. Granted, it’s a middle school kids’ goal to get the teacher to ‘climb the wall’, but it was decided that Jerry’s mantra would be, “If I don’t hit the wall, the kids get the wall.” Powerful stuff….spending yourself for others. On line and on site opportunities to contribute to the cause garnered nearly $1000. A quick e-mail sent to the manufacturer/supplier of the wall, including pictures of kids climbing, resulted in a tentative agreement to negotiate a lower cost, and perhaps even use the Spearfish School as a demo for other areas! (Jerry doesn’t see walls, he sees ways through them!)

Miles of hype: Jerry Dunn has run lots of marathons. In 2000 he ran 200 by entering actual races or running established courses. Now he’s running 26.2 miles — the marathon distance — every day for 20 consecutive days. But this time he’s creating his own routes based on a marketing objective: He’s trying to stop at lots of 7-Eleven stores to hand out an energy drink.

Clearly, he isn’t an athlete-endorser who just shows to shoot TV ads. Dunn, to hype PacificHealth Lab’s new Accelerade drink, runs his marathons in six hours — filing dispatches on marathonman.org — but takes breaks at 10 stores each day. Dunn, who lives in Spearfish, S.D., and is a massage therapist and motivational speaker, says the brand can count on him. “I’ll continue my mission unless I was hit by a car or otherwise incapacitated. But I’m not a fool.”

He’s running in Colorado, where the drink is being rolled out. But he’s willing to pioneer new markets: “I’d do this again. And I’ve never run the coast of California.”

No offense to California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Jerry Dunn is the true Running Man.
Jerry Dunn, 57, plans to run a marathon each of the next 20 days, beginning today, to promote physical fitness among Coloradans.

Dunn, nicknamed “America’s Marathon Man,” is in Colorado to run “a marathon a day” for 20 consecutive days. His trek begins today in Colorado Springs and comes to Pueblo on Saturday.

Jerry Dunn, 57, plans to run a marathon each of the next 20 days, beginning today, to promote physical fitness among Coloradans.

A self-described “entrepreneurial adventurer,” Dunn, who lives in Spearfish, S.D., is helping promote the fitness campaign Accelerade Colorado, an effort to motivate the state’s residents to become more physically fit. The campaign has a Web site, www.accelerade- colorado.com, that offers fitness tips and lists of the best places in Colorado to get fit (none of which is in the Pueblo area).

This isn’t the first time in 27 years of running that Dunn has attempted multiple marathons. In 1991, he ran from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., essentially running 26 miles a day for the entire summer, he said. In 1993, he ran a marathon every Saturday and Sunday for the entire year. And in 1996, he ran the Boston Marathon route 26 days in a row to celebrate that event’s 100th anniversary.

His Accelerade Colorado campaign will differ from those ventures; his route will be determined by the locations of a city’s 7-Eleven stores – the exclusive Colorado retailer for Accelerade. Dunn has used that brand of sports drink since it was developed, and he will visit every 7-Eleven store in the cities he visits, mapping out a 26-mile course for each day.

“It’s not like I’m toeing the line and seeing how fast I can run 26 miles,” Dunn said Sunday. “I do stop quite a bit. It usually takes five or six hours to run the distance.”

Unlike some athletes, the energetic 57-year-old said he isn’t particularly strict about what he consumes – other than always drinking Accelerade.

“I don’t have a real regimented diet . . . I burn up whatever I put in there, so I eat whatever I want, pretty much,” he said.

He agreed to do the Colorado promotion because of his commitment to fitness and belief in Accelerade, which adds protein and minerals to the usual sports-drink ingredients.

“I know it’s one of the reasons I can do what I do,” he said.

Dunn will begin his Pueblo run at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the 7-Eleven at Elizabeth Street and U.S. 50.

“I encourage everyone to come out and run or walk with me for a while,” he said. “I run at about a 10-minute (per mile) pace. I’m eager to have company.”

How far will a business go to promote its product? Try 26.2 miles. Each day. For 26 straight days. It’s the sort of marketing stunt for which a public relations firm probably will receive a bonus. The maker of Accelerade, a powdered sports drink, introduced the beverage form of its product Monday in Colorado Springs by having a nationally recognized marathoner run 26.2 miles around the city. And that’s just the start. Jerry Dunn, a 57-year-old — yes, 57 — massage therapist from South Dakota will run 26.2 miles, or the length of a marathon, every day for 25 more days. The effort is pure public relations, said Dr. Robert Portman, chief executive officer of PacificHealth Laboratories Inc. of New Jersey, which makes Accelerade. “This will create awareness of the brand,” he said.

PacificHealth chose the Springs for the promotion because it ranked as the fittest city among the nation’s 50 largest municipalities in a survey last year by Men’s Fitness magazine. Likewise, Men’s Health magazine last year ranked the Springs as the nation’s seventh-healthiest city for men. The beverage form of Accelerade also was introduced Monday in San Diego, another city that scored high in the fitness rankings. In presenting the product in the Springs, however, PacificHealth hit upon the idea of hiring Dunn to conduct another of his running feats. Dunn, known as the nation’s “marathon man,” has been profiled by Sports Illustrated, the “Today” show and others. In 2000, he ran 200 marathons. In 1996, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Boston Marathon, Dunn ran marathons for 25 straight days leading up to the race’s anniversary. In 1991, Dunn ran the length of the United States.

During his next few weeks in the Springs, Dunn plans to run his 26.2 miles each day from 7-Eleven to 7-Eleven — the exclusive outlet for the ready-to-drink form of Accelerade.
He will follow 26.2-mile courses he mapped out before he got to the Springs. Dunn’s appearance is about what you’d expect: a lean and trim physique wrapped inside skin-tight running clothes.
His runner’s body says 25- to 30 years old, although his silver and gray hair underneath an Accelerade ball cap and his well-lined face say 57.

Dunn runs for a reason. An alcoholic, he quit drinking 20 years ago and says running substitutes for his previous addiction. But with a major winter storm forecast to hit Colorado Springs on Monday night and today, will Dunn keep his 26.2-miles-a-day pace? He plans to; after all, South Dakota has its share of nasty weather, too. On the other hand, Dunn said, if blizzardlike conditions strike, he might have to postpone his run for a day. “I’ll get out there and run,” Dunn said. But, he added, “I won’t risk my life for it.”

CONTACT THE WRITER at rladen@gazette.com

When Pheidippides finished the original marathon run in 490 B.C., the Athenian soldier exclaimed, “Victory is ours,” then collapsed and died.

When Jerry Dunn finished the Tampa Hops Marathon on Sunday — his 200th marathon-length run of the year — he exclaimed, “Thank God and thank Endurox!”

Perhaps if Pheidippides had a recovery-drink sponsor, he would have lived to run another day.

Dunn’s well-sponsored accomplishment — his benefactors include the aforementioned Endurox R4 recovery drink, Brooks running shoes, PowerBars , Foster Grant sunglasses and Greenfoods barley essence — was all in a year’s work for the self-proclaimed “America’s Marathon Man.”

Since Jan. 1, the 54-year-old runner from Spearfish, S.D., completed 21 marathon races and ran their 26.2-mile official-length courses another 179 times.

His usual approach was to travel to a marathon city two weeks prior to its race, then run the course as many times as possible before competing in the sanctioned event.

His average time for the runs is about five hours, but with his year-long goal in sight Sunday, he finished in 4:05.30, his fastest time of the year. His personal record for the distance is 3:23, set in 1985.

The former massage therapist and log-home builder says, “Running is my business. I’ll actually make money this year.”

Dunn got into the multiple marathon game for more altruistic reasons, though.

His father, an overweight smoker, was killed by a heart attack at age 47. Dunn was determined to live his 47th year in a healthier way, so he ran 104 marathons, each one in memory of his dad.

Dunn plans to kick back and relax at home with his wife, Elaine Doll-Dunn. She’s going to rest her feet, too. At age 63, she finished the Tampa Hops Marathon in 5:45 — her 26th marathon of the year.

“Run, Dunn, Run” proclaimed Monday’s headline on the front page of the St. Petersburg Times.

And run he has – like Forrest Gump.

Every day for the past eight days, he has run the Hops Marathon by the Bay course, the full 26.2 miles. He’ll do it again today. And Sunday.

He is a running machine.

Jerry Dunn – you didn’t think we were talking about a Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back, did you? – is America’s Marathon Man. He will run a record 200 marathons this year, with Sunday’s in Tampa being No. 200.

Dunn logged 190, the Nov. 19 Philadelphia Marathon. He arrived in Tampa in time to run the Hops course nine times, once a day, leading up to the race.

Monday morning, as he prepared to run marathon No. 194, he purchased the local newspaper and discovered serendipitous inspiration on the front page.

“I thought, ‘Hey, they’re talking about me,’ ” said Dunn, 54, of the headline about Bucs running back Warrick Dunn. “Of course, I knew better, but it was a neat coincidence. Yes, it was a little inspirational.”

Dunn spent the 1990s becoming a marathoning phenomenon. In 1993, he decided to run 93 marathons – “93 in ‘93″ – breaking the record of 87. Then he heard about someone who had done 101 in a calendar year, so he increased to 104 in order to break the record.

He chose 200 for 2000 because of its symmetry and because, should someone dare try to eclipse it, boy, they’re really going to have to earn it.

“I’m putting it way out there,” Dunn said.

His record will be unofficial. Most of his 200 actually are 26.2- mile “training runs” and not official race events. Hops will be his 19th official marathon.

Regardless, it is a remarkable achievement. What drives a person to conceive and accomplish something so outrageous? For Dunn, it beats the heck out of the alternative.

Dunn, who was raised in Indiana and lives in Spearfish, S.D., picked up running recreationally in the mid-1970s, living in Sarasota. A few years later, running came to serve a much greater purpose: as a substitute for substance abuse.

He stopped drinking on his 37th birthday, Jan. 29, 1983. Years of excess, which started in college and continued through almost three years in the military and beyond, resulted in a trip to Alcoholics Anonymous. Dunn didn’t quit cold until he diligently started running long distances.

“I’ve gotten a lot of media attention, and it’s given me the opportunity to suggest to people that even though what I do is pretty wacky and is addictive behavior, it’s much better than the addictions I used to have,” Dunn said. “It’s about motivation, discipline, goal- setting and tenacity.”

Dunn’s 200 in 2000 quest has piqued the media. He has been featured in USA Today and Men’s Fitness magazine. He has seven sponsors, which provide full support for his endeavor and a Web site, www.marathonman.org.

He has generated publicity before. In 1995, Dunn was married live on television at the Disney Marathon in Orlando (his wife, Elaine Doll-Dunn, also is an avid marathoner). Dunn said he cleared his marriage plans with the race directors, who alerted NBC. The ceremony was broadcast on the Today show.

Among his many theme-based marathoning feats was “A Marathon of Marathons” at the 100th anniversary Boston Marathon in 1996, when he ran 26 marathons in 26 days culminating on race day. In 1998, he ran the Los Angeles Marathon course 14 times, since the race was 14 years old, then ran New York 29 times, since it was 29 years old.

What’s next for Dunn? In keeping with his theme-based missions, Dunn will pitch an idea to Disney, potential sponsors and TV executives next year: A Disneyland-to-Disney World marathon competition – a cross-country trek involving five two-person teams alternating the 26.2 miles each day from California to Florida.

He calls it, “a reality-based, televised, extreme, competitive, cross-country run.” He would lay out a 2,620 mile course – 100 marathons.

Two-hundred in 2000 isn’t over yet, however, it has taken a toll. At the start of the year Dunn’s marathons lasted less than five hours. Now they take longer, as does his recuperation.

“I am actually wearing down,” said Dunn, who has a master’s degree in counseling. “I had it in my head that it would be a breeze to come down here and get this done, but my body’s not quite where my head is.

“I’m not struggling out there every day, but the excitement hasn’t replaced the aching in my quads.”

After a few marathons along the Hops route, Dunn declared it one of his two favorite courses this year (along with the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis) because of the waterfront setting.

This race was chosen to conclude his quest for three reasons: The favorable weather, Dunn’s sponsors liked the size of the market and potential for publicity and nearby Sarasota is where he began running.

“It all started in Sarasota,” Dunn said. “It’s cool to finish near where it all started.”

After the anticipated Disney-to-Disney event in 2001 or 2002, Dunn expects to take a break. He hopes to write a book, do some public speaking and conjure up another epic challenge, another “inconceivable” quest beyond the scope of human beings.

How about 204 marathons in 2004?

“Now there’s something to think about,” Dunn said. “And I’ll have a lot of time to think about it.”

The Hops Marathon by the Bay will be Jerry Dunn’s 200th marathon this year. He has covered 21 courses along the way, usually running the course several days in a row leading up to the official race. Here is the breakdown:

JANUARY: Nos. 1-16 at the San Diego Marathon (race Jan. 16) in Carlsbad, Calif.

FEBRUARY: Nos. 17-32 at the Las Vegas Marathon (Feb. 17).

MARCH: Nos. 33-46 at the Los Angeles Marathon (March 5), Nos. 47 and 48 at the San Diego Marathon course. Dunn needed a second attempt to complete No. 37 after bad weather and other problems on race day at the Los Angeles Marathon.

APRIL: Nos. 49-65 at the Boston Marathon (April 17). Nos. 66-68 at the Country Music Marathon (April 29) in Nashville, Tenn.

MAY: Nos. 69-82 at the Flying Pig Marathon (May 14) in Cincinnati. No. 83 at the GutsMuths Rennsteiglauf (Marathon) in Schmiedefeld, Germany.

JUNE: Nos. 84-88 at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon (June 4) in San Diego. Nos. 89-99 at Grandma’s Marathon (June 17) in Duluth, Minn. No. 100 on June 30 in San Francisco.

JULY: Nos. 101-109 at the Chronicle Marathon (July 9) in San Francisco. Nos. 110-118 at the Pioneer Marathon (June 24) in Salt Lake City.

AUGUST: Nos. 119-135 at the Cinergy Marathon course (did not run the race, which was Oct. 7) in Indianapolis.

SEPTEMBER: Nos. 136-143 at the Black Hills Marathon (Sept. 9) in Bismarck, N.D. Nos. 144-149 at the Air Force Marathon (Sept. 16) in Dayton, Ohio.

OCTOBER: Nos. 150-157 at the Twin Cities Marathon (Oct. in Minneapolis. Nos. 158-163 at the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon (Oct. 15). Nos. 164-169 at the Chicago Marathon (Oct. 22). Nos. 170-173 at the New York City Marathon.

NOVEMBER: Nos. 174-178 at the New York City Marathon (Nov. 5). Nos. 179-84 at the Ocean State Marathon (Nov. 12) in Warwick, R.I. Nos. 185-190 at the Philadelphia Marathon (Nov. 19).

DECEMBER: Nos. 191-200 at the Hops Marathon by the Bay in Tampa (Sunday).

NOTABLE: During his 200 marathons, which eclipse his unofficial record of 104 set in 1993, Dunn will run 5,240 miles. He averages five hours. His fastest marathon was his second, the 1983 Chicago Marathon, which he ran in 3 hours, 23 minutes.

When Jerry Dunn crossed the finish line yesterday it was 4,663.6 miles down and only 576 more to go. For this year, at least. Dunn, who calls himself “America’s Marathon Man,” did eight 26.2-mile runs in Central Park in the days leading up to the New York City Marathon yesterday.

That was his 178th marathon-length course of the year.

Today, the 54-year-old heads to Providence, R.I., where he’ll run five marathon courses in a week before the official race.

He plans similar schedules in Philadelphia and Tampa, Fla., where he expects to complete his 200th and final marathon course of the year on Dec. 10.

“I feel good,” Dunn said after clocking a time of four hours, 43 minutes in yesterday’s race. That was a little fast for Dunn, who usually does it in five hours.

“You know, I always say it’s just another day at the office,” he said.

Dunn insists he isn’t crazy, although people frequently question the sanity of the massage therapist and log-home builder from Spearfish, S.D.

His “200 in 2000″ quest – complete with corporate sponsorship – promotes exercise as a way of life and raises money for Run for Lungs, a lung-cancer research group.

Of his 200 marathons, 17 are official races, and 183 are solo practice runs.

By the end of the year, his 63-year-old wife, Elaine, will have run 26 official marathons.

“I’m addicted to running,” said Dunn, who did 104 marathons in 1993 to raise funds for the anti-poverty group Habitat for Humanity.

He used to be addicted to other things – drugs and alcohol – and said “racing’s pretty much turned my life around,” having been clean for 17 years.

Dunn said the New York City Marathon is something special. “I broke down and cried at the finish line today,” he said. “That hasn’t happened in a while.”

He was moved by memories of the 1993 New York City Marathon, when he dedicated his running to his late father.

“It’s been said a million times, but the crowds in New York are fabulous,” Dunn said. Running along First Avenue in Manhattan, “You can hardly hear yourself think.”

“I still get fulfillment from it,” Dunn said of his marathon odyssey. “I’m wondering what it’s going to be like when I finish my 200th one.”

Running nearly 200 marathons has helped this former drug abuser stay on the road of sobriety

Somewhere beyond the permeable scrim of sanity that most of us breach only temporarily resides Jerry Dunn, modern-day Sisyphus. This year, Dunn will roll the rock of endurance through 200 marathons, nearly doubling his old record of 104, set in 1993. The simplicity of his formula belies the zeal of the act: Sign up for a sanctioned marathon like the Boston or the New York, then run the course 115 times before race day. Do this every month for an entire year. When he finishes Dunn will have run 12 sanctioned races and 188 solo treks.

For Dunn, running is not just a means to an end. “A big part of my story is that running has turned my life around from being an alcoholic and a drug abuser ,” he explains.

Dunn’s descent into substance abuse began at 19 when, during a span of 18 months, his father died, he flunked out of college and he was drafted into the Vietnam War. “That was too much bad stuff for me to handle in a short time,” says Dunn. “So I decided I would stay drunk for a few years and not deal with it.”

In 1983, however, he quit the bottle and focused his energy on running, which had been his preferred exercise since 1975. But it wasn’t until 1993, after participating in some ultra distance races, that he set out to eclipse the record for marathons run in a year. Yet, despite having that accomplishment stowed comfortably under his belt, it proved to be only the beginning of Dunn’s peripatetic odyssey.

“This is one of those ‘find something you like to do and find somebody to pay you to do it’ things. I love to run, and I’ve built a reputation around being able to do those things. So it has created a job for Mme.” But it’s a job through which he hopes he can influence and motivate others. “I want people to respect and maybe imitate me in that they get up off their butts and exercise, and maybe even stop drinking.”

Dunn will finish his 200th race on December 10 in Tampa, Fla., when he runs the Hops Marathon. You can follow his journey through www.marathonman.org, where he posts daily updates after his 26-mile morning jaunt.