Taipei, Feb. 24 (CNA) A love of running, the travel and always looking for a challenge are reasons why Roy Pirrung has found himself in every 24-hour and 100km ultramarathon he could enter -- and he doesn't mind being considered a madman for it.
"People do call me crazy. But when you love running so much you could run forever," said Pirrung, 57, who has completed 72 marathons, 116 ultramarathons and won 12 world championship medals in his 25-year running career.
"To be a good ultramarathon runner, it takes dedication and motivation," said Pirrung, who didn't start running until the age of
32.
"My fellow runner challenged me to go farther. And I found I was good at it," he said.
"Secondly, I love to set goals for myself. When I realized I was obese -- 200 pounds at the time -- I decided to change my life
and began running, " said the Sheboygan, Wisconsin native, now 130 pounds.
Travelling was the icing on the cake when he took up running -- in numerous countries including France, Argentina, The Czech Republic and Taiwan. Pirrung is now on his second trip to Taiwan, where he won the gold medal for the 55-59 age group in the 2003 World Masters Athletics 100km marathon in the southern city of Tainan.
Speaking on why ultrarunners are relatively older compared to other running events, Pirrung said: "As you get older, you lose your speed. You don't run as fast. But you still love it [running]." Older runners try to challenge themselves in a different way,
which is why there are a lot more older runners in ultramarathons, he added.
"I even enjoy running for 48 hours," Pirrung said. "A lot of things ran through my mind when I was running -- religion, family,
politics ... everything. Your body frees up your mind."
Pirrung, a newspaper columnist for the Sheboygan Press, has a personal best of 248km in the 24-hour marathon and hopes to finish 240km in Taiwan this weekend.
He was elected into the USA Track and Field Masters Hall of Fame in 2001 and named USATF Masters Ultrarunner of the Year in 2002.