Running the day away

For the college-age crowd, spending 18 consecutive hours doing one thing probably means playing video games, watching TV marathons or—for the more ambitious among the crowd—studying until their eyes burn.

Consider Yassine Diboun: Last month, he clocked in a time of 20 hours, 43 minutes and 27 seconds to complete a 100-mile race in Wyoming during a popular ultra marathon trail run called Bighorn. He’ll also participate in the White River 50-Mile Trail Run at the end of July, hosted by the Pacific Northwest Association of USA Track & Field.

Diboun said he runs upward of 75 miles per week, as much as 20 on a single weekend day, while training for his next ultra marathon—events that go beyond the typical 26.2 miles of a traditional marathon. Oregon hosts a regular series of trail runs that includes the 62-mile Where’s Waldo Ultra Marathon at the mile-high Willamette Pass Ski Area.

Diboun said he came to Portland when his wife found a job in town and that he began attending PSU’s School of Community Health. He added that Portland has been a great city for his running passion and that there is a rich and thriving runners’ culture in the Pacific Northwest.

“It’s a mecca for running out here,” he said, adding that he trains along the Columbia River Gorge. “There’s a lot of up-and-down progress involved with ultra trail running, and you’re going to have to hike some of the time.”

When asked if running ultra marathons is competitive, Diboun said there is a sense of individual challenge and determination to place as high as possible, but that there is a definite camaraderie among regular ultra marathon runners.

“For me, it’s both [competitive and collaborative],” he said. “I certainly am competing when I run, but when you do trail marathons, you’re also looking out for other runners to make sure everyone’s safe, staying on the trails and not getting lost.”

 Geoffrey Donovan, 41, also lives in Portland and competes in ultra marathons, and he finished with a 23:35.17 time at Bighorn. He called himself a “moderate athlete at best,” but said ultra marathons are more mental than physical.

 “I’ve never been a moderate guy, I look at things and find it interesting to see how far you can go,” Donovan said. “There are a lot of people who think, ‘Oh, a 100-mile run, I could never do it.’ But it’s very possible…it’s what humans are meant to do—run long, slow distances.”

 Donovan agreed that there is a lot of human connection between regulars on the ultra marathon circuit.

 “It’s a camaraderie, a pretty small population of people who do these things and it’s usually the same people out there for 24 hours at a time, for a day, and you tend to bond with these people,” he said.

 For more information on the next two ultra marathons in the area, visit www.whiteriver50.com (July 31) or www.ww100k.org (Aug. 21).