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Interview : Tristan Runs 52 Marathons in 52 Weeks

First things first, Tristan - are you crazy!?

HA! Maybe. I don’t know anymore. I thought it was just a catchy name for a website, but the title seems to have gotten the better of me on more than one occasion. This is probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s certainly the best!

Every time I come up with something more crazy to throw in, I ask my close friends what they think? If they get concerned for my safety and the overall outcome of the mission, then I know I’m onto something good.

Run Like Crazy: Great name, great challenge, great cause
Run Like Crazy: Great name, great challenge, great cause



You’ve just completed the Montreal Marathon – congratulations! What has been your hardest marathon so far?

Yes, I just came from Montréal, where I had a tremendous marathon experience. I ran with a great mate, Andrew Olah, and met some extraordinary people.

This weekend, the Marathon du Médoc, is a famous themed marathon in the Bordeaux region. Instead of water stations, they have wine stations… You can guess where that all leads.. I got a ticket in with the guys at Runner’s World France and I’ll be running with an awesome French mate, Clément Thevenet. The theme is “Cartoon” so we’re dressing as the Super Mario Brothers! It’s going to be hilarious!

My hardest race was definitely the 100km race in Mongolia. I kept a pretty positive outlook for the videos, but I really struggled a few times to keep pushing on. I had only run at altitude the weekend before, when I ran 2 alpine marathons in 2 days as training, so that and the trails really tested me.. Thankfully will power won the day and I came 2nd! A really beautiful race too.

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And your favourite?

It has been the Two Oceans Marathon for a few months. The race is 56km with some solid hills, running a loop southeast of Cape Town. It’s hard to beat that one as an overall running experience. I was actually very sick, but the support from the sidelines and the runners themselves was terrific. As was the scenery! Running along the base of Africa is a pretty special experience. I have a real soft spot for South Africa these days.

Tristan runs the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town, South Africa
Tristan runs the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town, South Africa



Are you really going to do a marathon in Antarctica?

Haha, yes that’s the plan. But it’s also my plan to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks and when asked about that I can only say – so far, so good. If everything stays on track, I will run the 100km option of the December Ice Marathon. Only 3 people participated in that distance last year and only 2 finished. It’s very expensive trip and I probably need a sponsor to help me get there. I’m running out of dough pretty quickly. I’ll figure it out though, as it will give me the prestige of having run all 7 continents in one year.

Who or what inspired you to take on this challenge?

I’ve been blessed with an extraordinary life. I’ve always known I had options, though I haven’t always made the best choices. So when my office was shut last year in the Global Economic Crisis, I took the time to assess my options, instead of rushing off to grab the first job available.

I had been training for the famous Ultra-Marathon, Comrades in South Africa, for the months leading up to my redundancy, so I went with my close mates to Africa, ran the race and thought – “You know, there’s something pretty amazing about this running and travelling business..” I’d already been toying with the idea of having a year off to travel, something I’d been promising myself for a decade. I’d even had the outline of the idea to run around the world planted in my mind when I studied an international race calendar. It seemed like as good a time as any to take a turn off my present course and do something special..

How many pairs of shoes have you gone through? Socks?

I’m onto my 4th pair of shoes. In fact, I’ve had them too long. I’ve been using a pair of Saucony Pro-Grids for the last few months – Saucony very generously sent me a couple of pairs. I like them, but I miss my Nike Equalons. I had some shoes stashed in London, but I don’t go there often enough to get them on a schedule, so my feet are suffering.

I’ve destroyed a number of pairs of socks. It’s usually race dependent as to whether they survive. My sister even sent me 15 pairs to France in July, trying to stock me up… That was a little overkill, but she had the right idea!

Shoes and socks have seen better days....
Shoes and socks have seen better days....



The question on everyone’s lips (excuse pun..) – food. What’s your best pre-race meal?

Well, I do believe in the big bowl of pasta if you can get it. Eat it as late as possible. My problem is, I’m in different surroundings each week, so if I can get pasta or brown rice, I’m very happy. If I have to eat potatoes, I’ll do that too. One thing this year has beaten out of me is fussiness. I’ll pretty much take what I can get.

And on race day – what’s for breaky? Any preferred nutrition during the race?

I don’t eat breakfast before a race. I don’t like wasting my energy on digesting food that won’t really be processed in time to help me. I skip breaky and opt for relying on the food I had the night before. During the race I have my own drink bottles full of Gatorade concentrate on my belt, plus I usually go through about 4 GUs at 15km, 22km, 29km and 36km. Espresso Love – you can’t beat em!

And the best bit of all – how do you replace all those calories you burnt up?

I’m pretty good about eating. I do my best to eat the healthy option while I’m travelling. I need protein to recover, so I eat a lot of vegetables and cook my own meat and chicken. It’s hard to cook for yourself in hostels all the time, though it’s worth doing.

But I’m also exposed to a lot of interesting cuisine in each new country, so as a tourist, I’d be crazy not to take advantage. I must say, Montréal’s chips in gravy covered in curdled cheese was a bit unnecessary, but it tasted pretty good!

Speaking of post-race, after doing my first half marathon, I couldn’t walk for a week. What’s the secret to your recovery?

Ice baths. 5 minutes in and 5 minutes out x 3. They’ve saved me loads of times. Now the only times I can’t walk is when I’ve run a 100km race.. That takes a few days to recover.

I do think I’ve trained my legs to just keep going though. It has taken time to get used to it, but I thoroughly believe I could do this for a few years if needed. Your body becomes accustomed to the punishment and adjusts accordingly. It’s pretty impressive.

The secret to post-race recovery (minus the ice...)
The secret to post-race recovery (minus the ice...)



Do you run with music? What are your top 5 running songs?

I only take music on the ultra races. I like talking to people in a race. I make a lot of friends in those few hours that I’m out there. I worry that if I have music in my ears, that people will be less inclined to approach me, thus diminishing my own experience.

In the ultras, the field is always a lot further spread out and you don’t get to talk to people as much. I wait until I really need to listen to something outside of my head and then I always switch on Daft Punk, the Alive 2007 album.. If that can’t get you pumped, then there’s something really wrong with you!

Besides running, what have been some big highlights over the past 9 months?

I structured my trip so that I would take in many of the world’s most interesting highlights, both places and events. I’ve now seen the Moai heads on Easter Island, spent time with the Silverback Gorilla’s in Rwanda, partied in Spain and Argentina during the football World Cup, ran with the Bulls in Pamplona, unsuccessfully tried to learn Russian in two weeks on the Trans Siberian Railway, watched Prince pump out a massive live show at Roskilde Music Festival, white water rafted in Iceland, scuba dived in Egypt, toured the pyramids, horse-riding in Mongolia…plus so much more..

It’s been a helluva year!

Tristan meets another running legend, Ultramarathon runner Dean Karnazes
Tristan meets another running legend, Ultramarathon runner Dean Karnazes



You’re raising money for Unicef. Why did you choose this charity, and how are you tracking with raising funds?

I’m raising funds for UNICEF and a group called Facing Africa.

I originally chose UNICEF because I believe that lack of education is the single biggest problem our planet faces. I know that my education was a gift from my parents and the Australian government, which has given me all the opportunities that one human could ask for. If supporting UNICEF helps just a few children become exposed to the opportunity to choose something more, then I feel I have done some good.

Facing Africa is helping children with a horrific disfiguring disease called NOMA. It destroys the child’s facial structure, and in the few instances where they survive, they are outcasts from their own villages. The group are attempting to train doctors for reconstructive surgery, so that they may give these little ones a chance for something a better.

Tristan runs the Kigali Marathon
Tristan runs the Kigali Marathon



Your last marathon will be at in Melbourne on New Year’s Eve, but you need 100 runners to make it ‘official’. How are you going? Have you got the numbers?

I think I will have plenty of runners. I get requests every day or two, so people are pretty pumped. We’re just waiting on final Parks Victoria approvals, but it’s looking like it will be a fantastic event – with a huge after party!!

Anything else you want to say – parting words of wisdom?

Life, as we know it, is what most people in the rest of the world dream about. If you’re lucky enough to have two legs, some spare time and food in your belly, then you’ve got zero to complain about.

I recommend running as a release, but it can be anything. You just need to get active again and everything else will follow – health, happiness, confidence, success, MASSIVE ADVENTURE! All you need to do is whack on those running shoes and head out the front door..

So get out there and live it!

Oh, and follow my bloody cool adventures at RunLikeCrazy.com or Facebook.com/RunLikeCrazy

Good on you Tristan! If you would like to donate to Run Like Crazy to help kids in poverty, please visit Tristan's fundraising page.