by Eileen Jacobs

How far can a human being run without stopping? Veteran ultrarunner Christopher Calfee wants to find out.

The 38-year-old runner from Richmond, Va., will attempt a 350-mile run this month. If he is successful, he would break the current 300-mile record recently set by well-known ultrarunner Pam Reed and surpass a planned upcoming 325-mile non-stop run by famed ultramarathon man Dean Karnazes.

The reason? “I just want to see if I can do it,” says Calfee.

Calfee runs long distances everyday just for kicks. As a middle school teacher, he recently ran a speedy 26.2 miles around the school track as a math project for his students. They recorded his splits to try to project his finish time.

Calfee is an Olympic-caliber marathoner and accomplished ultrarunner with numerous wins at big races in the region. He’s currently wrapping up a 500-mile run to raise money for his church. But he gets to take breaks in that run.

Calfee says it’s time to kick it up a notch. This 350-mile non-stop run will involve no sleep till he’s done.

“This will be a true test of mental and physical endurance,” he says. “I’ve never taken it this far before.”

To prepare for the 350-mile run, Calfee is including sleep deprivation in his training. He has been running 100-140 miles a week, while cutting down his sleep in increments each week, so by the time he does his run, he will be used to literally running around the clock. He is also incorporating additional upper-body weight training to handle the stress of carrying three days’ worth of supplies.

How does this busy middle school teacher find time to train? Calfee wakes up at 4am to run in the dark, long before his family wakes and well before he has to teach school for a full day. He also works at Runner Bill’s sports store in the late afternoon. He makes sure to spend quality evening time with his family. Then, after they go to sleep, Calfee puts on the running shoes and heads for the trails or streets in the late night to train again.

Calfee’s run is planned for late September 14-18. He’ll run 13-mile loops on the trails of Pocahontas State Park near his home.

Calfee has survived hypothermia, hurt ankles, bad weather, and close calls with bees and bears during his ultraruns. And he almost died from a pulmonary embolism.

“What saved me is that I was a runner,” says Calfee. “My heart and lungs were big enough for the clot to pass through. Had I been a normal person, the doctors say it would have killed me instantly.”

His close calls with death make him appreciate life to the fullest.

“The freedom and the challenge of the ultrarun makes you feel really alive,” he says.

If you want to be part of Calfee’s support crew or run a leg of the distance with him, contact him at Christopher_Calfee@ccpsnet.net.