Just as there are extreme athletes in every athletic event, the sport of marathon running has runners who push themselves further – a lot further.
“I have run the TransRockies Run the last three years. This run is pretty intense, as it covers 120 miles over six days through the Colorado Rockies, with over 20,000 feet of elevation gain,” says Rob Sanchez, CBET, a BMET III with GE Healthcare, U.S. and Canada Service Diagnostic and Clinical Services, who is based out of Colorado.
You read that right. He said 120 miles over six days in the mountains. This type of super marathon is referred to as ultra-racing or an ultra-marathon. It is only for those who have endurance beyond that of an average runner.
Sanchez isn’t new to running. He showed that he had what it takes to go the distance at a young age.
“Being outside in nature and not running in the city, allowed my mind to escape a little more; to get lost.”
“I started running as a kid. The summer day camp I would attend used to participate in the Hershey’s Track and Field program,” he recalls. “I was never fast as a sprinter, but I could keep running longer than most kids. I ran cross country in high school, but it wasn’t until my time in the military that I started to run and really enjoy it.”
It was while he was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center at the United States Army Medical Equipment and Optical School (USAMEOS), that he would compete against a couple of his fellow soldiers during the two-mile PT test.
“One, Diego Luna, would go back and forth with our trash talking, but he always beat me,” Sanchez says. “We decided we would register and run in one of the local 5K races in Denver. He beat me. We competed in a five-mile race, and a 10K, but the results were the same until the last race of the year, at the local Veterans Day 10-miler; I finally got him, and finished a good 20 minutes ahead of him.”
“I continue to run, but as you can see, I make sure I’m having fun. After I left USAMEOS, I continued to run in local 5K and 10K events for the $35 ‘free T-shirt,’ as well as the goodie bags at the end,” he says.
When Sanchez relocated back to Denver in 1999, he was out hiking and saw a small group of people running down the same trail. He began running with them.
“I also learned that running on the trails was easier on the joints, and the terrain allowed me to go a little slower,” Sanchez says. “You have to pay attention to where you step with the unbalanced terrain, and of course, your surroundings, animals, holes, etcetera. Plus, being outside in nature and not running in the city, allowed my mind to escape a little more; to get lost.”
From Marathon to Ultra
As if running 26 miles isn’t far enough, Sanchez decided to try out ultra racing on a whim.
“[I] had a friend tell me he was able, through professional trade (he’s an exercise physiologist), to procure a couple of free race entries to the Sageburner trail race in Gunnison, Colorado. I had done a couple of 25Ks and full marathons before, so figured, what the heck, why not,” Sanchez says. “It wasn’t until later I had realized that it was on Memorial Day weekend. As it turns out, my son was also graduating Marine Corps boot camp the Friday prior, and we were planning on taking the whole family to San Diego to celebrate.”
They made the trip and Sanchez attempted to get some running in on the beach while there. After his son’s graduation on Friday, they made the trip back to Denver non-stop. Sanchez grabbed a nap, unpacked and repacked. He then made the four-hour drive to Gunnison. He ran the race and finished in last place. He managed to finish about one hour under the cutoff time.
Sanchez says that the biggest challenge for him is the discipline of training. His schedule requires him to train in the early morning.
“I do most of my back-to-back long runs on the weekends, though, also starting early so I can still be productive with my family at home. I try not to let it interfere with my family life, but that can be hard when you are on the trail for four- to six-hours at a time,” Sanchez says.
“The good thing is [that] most of it is done during the summer, when the kids are out of school, so no homework. Of course, during the summer, the kids — I have two daughters at home, age 11 and 13 — stay up late at night, and I’m the one going to bed at 8:30 so I can be up early the next day,” he says.
“I have never missed a race, but there have been a few I was ill-prepared to run, and probably shouldn’t have,” Sanchez says.
One was a full marathon in which a friend transferred his entry about three weeks before the race. Sanchez hadn’t been training for it, but still went out and finished it in just under five hours.
Volunteering and Advice
On the job, Sanchez is one of four field service biomeds with responsibility for “approximately 75 clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, and rural hospitals in Colorado and southern/central Wyoming.” He is part of GE Healthcare’s Technical Service Operations Team, under the Diagnostic and Clinical Services umbrella.
“We travel daily between sites, with each of us having a certain level of responsibility. We take ownership of our accounts, and treat them just as if we were an ‘on site’ based technician,” Sanchez says. “There are certainly challenges, especially logistical in the winter time, but I have a really good team. If for example, one of us is in Wyoming, and he gets a call for one of his sites in Denver, we make sure his customer is taken care of.”
Asked what others should consider if they have experience with marathon running but might want to take the leap into ultra distance running, Sanchez has this advice: “I was at a speaking engagement in Boulder a few years ago with Scott Jurek, who recently completed and set the Appalachian trail record. He said, ‘Anyone can run an ultra.’ I think it helps if you’ve run a marathon, as you know and understand the distance and the training required to be successful. Most of the shorter ultras are 50Ks, or 31 miles, which is only five miles longer than a marathon. If you’ve gone 26, what’s five more?”
Sanchez says that focusing on time will throw an ultra runner off compared to marathon running.
“The goal or standard for many is to break a 4-hour marathon. Well, once you start running ultras, the first thing you do is throw all your times out the window,” he advices. “Because of the distances and logistics, most ultras are held on trails, where the terrain will dictate how fast you can run. You can have elevation, mud, sand, and, of course, weather affect your speed and time.”
He also points out that in many races, the runners will have to carry their own hydration and nutrition. This is because the water stops vary by terrain and volunteer accessibility. He says that ultra runners have to get used to carrying a little more than in a road race.
“I still do a handful of road races every year, also, to include the Bolder Boulder, one of the largest 10Ks in the country, and I like to run some smaller races with my 13-year old daughter, who started running with me a couple of years ago,” Sanchez says. “She still thinks I’m crazy for running the ultras, and has no desire to do so – yet. I hope to be able to run the TransRockies with her someday, perhaps when she is in college.”
When TechNation last mentioned Sanchez, he was bringing the field of biomed to the participants at career fairs.
“On a more personal note, I have also just recently been asked to present at my daughter’s pre-engineering classes at her middle school, and I have reached out to the CABMET crew to come out and help, and we are all excited to expand this side,” he adds.
Learn More about ultra distance races online at www.transrockies-run.com and www.sageburnertrailrun.com