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Runners on the Way Up
Brandon Carius: In It for the Long Run
By Lelia Crosby
September/October 2009
It is 9:30 p.m. on Valentine's Day, and instead of having a romantic dinner with his fiancée, Brandon Carius is running on a levee around a lake half the size of Rhode Island. Yet love brought him here today: love for the challenge of running, love for the tranquility he finds on the trail.
To his right lies inky swampland. To his left, the black expanse of Lake Okeechobee merges with the night sky. Brandon has run the whole day around this lake, contending with dense fog, brush fires, ash clouds, and record-breaking heat.
Now near mile 72, Brandon pushes for the next access point, where his mother and fiancée wait. For the first time, he fears he may not be able to finish an endurance race.
Blood pools in his aching legs. Alongside him, Oliver, a seasoned ultrarunner, is struggling too. Just off the trail, they hear the ominous warning growl of an alligator, rhythmic and resonant like a diesel engine. With only meager beams of headlamps to light the way, they cannot see the gator, but pray it will keep its distance.
To put it mildly, this is not your average footrace. But Brandon Carius is not your average runner.
At 23, Brandon has run nine marathons, three 50-mile ultramarathons, two half Ironman triathlons, and one Ironman triathlon. Recently he is been putting in 60 to 130 miles per week training for a 118-mile race around Lake Okeechobee. Asked why he does it, his answer is deceptively simple, "I just love to run."
Stocky and muscular, Brandon looks tough-more like a linebacker than an ultrarunner. But upon meeting him, his face immediately breaks into a grin. He laughs readily, and is surprisingly easygoing for someone who pushes himself through grueling 100+ mile weeks in training. His friend Jon Duncan explains. "[Brandon] is pretty relaxed...he's got his plan and his goal, and so because he has those things to back him up, he doesn't have to worry when things go wrong."
Flexibility, Discipline and Meditation
To prepare for the Okeechobee race, Brandon must balance a blistering training schedule with the demands of full-time graduate study at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, Army ROTC training, wedding planning, and his new puppy, Barley. Luckily, ultrarunning has helped him learn time management and persistence.
Flexibility in training & racing:
He also cultivates adaptability. "Once you get above the marathon, you have no idea what's going to come. It's variable," he remarks in our pre-race interview. So over long distances, he works with his body and the conditions. When fatigue hits, he takes races one leg at a time, "gut-checking" through the wall when necessary.
Flexibility in Training
Even when training, "I am much more flexible than one would expect," Brandon writes in his blog. For instance, one Saturday he had to spend the whole day doing ROTC field training exercises. Instead of skipping his run, he ran home-21 miles from Ft. Belvoir to Arlington in the dark.
For the Okeechobee race, his primary focus was increasing mileage. Beginning with a 52.5-mile week in early November, he upped his mileage five to ten miles per week. He peaked at 130 miles the third week of January, followed by a three-week taper-the hardest part for Brandon, who likes to be on the move.
"There's no secret formula . . . it's very human." he asserts.
Yet this amount of training requires tremendous discipline, especially since Brandon usually runs alone. It comes readily, though, because he enjoys the peace and satisfaction distance running brings. "It's a form of meditation," he reflects. "You have a lot of time to yourself, a lot of time to think . . . it's a way to escape everything."
Fundraising also helps Brandon stick to his training. By Valentine's Day, Brandon had raised more than $4000 for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Fisher House Foundation, which provide assistance to wounded veterans and their families, both important to Brandon.
Certainly family plays an enormous role in Brandon's life. His mom, a nurse, has been on his support team for many of his races. His father, an avid runner and emergency room physician, is his on-call injury consult and long-time running mentor. And his fiancée, Erin, provides constant love and encouragement. "Family has been a huge support for me." Brandon says. "Definitely. Always."
The Making of an Ultrarunner
Heavy as a kid, in middle school Brandon decided to lose weight. Looking to his dad, "I decided to take up running-decided to take him up on a 5K." He was hooked, and by 15 Brandon ran his first marathon with his dad. They finished in just over four hours. Although Brandon chafed at the leisurely pace, by the end he felt invigorated-just as his father had hoped. "My dad's tried to [impress] upon me that running is meant to be enjoyed, not to be consumed," Brandon says, smiling.
Although he also ran cross-country in high school, at 17 Brandon signed up for his first ultramarathon, the 50-mile Long Island Endurance Run. In a nasty headwind and horizontal sleet, Brandon finished in fourth place among the men in 8:39:53 . . . the youngest competitor by ten years.
In college Brandon focused on ultras and triathlons. In 2005, he ran the Stone Cat Trail Ale 50-mile race in 8:22:05, putting him in 10th place. In 2006 he followed with the Mooseman Half-Ironman triathlon, the Lake Placid Ironman triathlon, and the JFK 50-mile.
After graduating in 2007, Brandon moved to Arlington to work on his master's degree at Georgetown. He also joined the Hoya Army ROTC Battalion, where he is respected among his fellow cadets for his abilities (his PR on 2-mile physical training runs is 10:50) and attitude. Says friend Jon Duncan, a second lieutenant in the Army, "He's definitely a team player."
Indeed, when others struggle with their physical training runs, Brandon is the first to go back and encourage them. During one competition, he even carried an injured teammate's 35-pound rucksack-on top of his own-for much of a 10K march. However, because he pushes himself so hard, he can lose his cool when he feels others aren't trying their hardest. "I always get knocked for that," he admits.
Here running has one more lesson to teach.
On the Lake Okeechobee levee, Brandon and Oliver press on. The alligators are keeping their distance. It's hard to tell, but Brandon guesses they should be arriving at the Pahokee checkpoint any time. Their steps have shortened. They spend more time walking.
At Pahokee, Erin, almost frantic, waits with Brandon's mother. Brandon and Oliver should have arrived long ago. Finally, the men appear. There's been a mix-up; they may have come six miles, not four as they had thought.
Regardless, Brandon is pale and exhausted. His speech is slurred. Unable to eat or drink, he makes a decision. This one is also driven by love, but this time it's his love for Erin and their future together; his commitment to staying healthy so he can serve as an infantry officer after graduation. It is a decision he's never made in an endurance race.
He decides to quit.
After the Okeechobee race Brandon wishes he'd started training earlier and spent more time conditioning his body to eat on the go. "This was a humbling experience," he says quietly. But he adds later that in ultrarunning (and in life), "You've got to expect . . . that somewhere there's going to be an injury, a failure, a down time . . . and when that comes, it's [great] to have those people to depend on that pick you right back up."
In the Distance
When commissioned into the Army as a second lieutenant Brandon will have to put ultrarunning on hold, at least while serving his initial four years as an infantry officer.
Regardless, as soon as career obligations allow, he will return to endurance running. He's not sure whether he will attempt another triple-digit run though. Perhaps the 50-mile distance is more his style.
His fiancée doesn't buy it. "I don't think he's ever going to stop," she says with a laugh. Because, despite the setback, there's always another bigger, "badder" race to conquer. And Brandon is always challenging himself, giving his all in running and in life. As Brandon stated in his pre-race interview, "I will not willingly give up running."
Love will lead him back.