From my family to yours - wishing you a Super Christmas.
In Christ -
Ryan, Christina, Chase, Cruz, & Dash Dexter
My Family
Christina, Chase, Cruz, and Dash Dexter
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
McNaughton Park 100 Miler 2005 Race Report
In going through my old e-mails, I came across my race recap from the 2005 McNaughton Park 100 Miler. This was my second 100 mile race and the first time I went sub-24 hours.
__________________________________________________
Many of you know about my 100-miler last year in CA. Although I finished the distance in the cut-off time of 30 hours, I was still a little disappointed with myself- I believed that I could/should run it in 24 hours. With the blessing of my wife- I set my sight on 24 hours with the McNaughton Park 100 in Pekin, IL. A friend from Madison (Kathy) was also going down attempting her first 100 so I caught a ride down with her and her brother Paul.
The McNaughton Park 100 is a ten-mile loop of rugged trails and open fields. Each loop contains about 1600 ft. elevation change- so over the 100 miles that's over 15,000 ft. elevation change. When I went down there last year and competed in the 50-mile race option I was shocked that there were hills like that in IL. But in Pekin there are. With my cell phone in my drop bag, I called Christina after every loop. I had predicted times for each loop to reach 24 hours. The first two loops needed to be done in 2 hours with about 5 minutes added to each consecutive loop and leaving 3 hours for each of the last 3 loops which would be done in the dark. I ran the first 10 miles in 1:40 and did not slow down until the 4th loop. By mile 40, I had a 1 hour cushion for my 24 hour goal. Miles 40-50 were tough (that was the only time I thought about stopping). It was a hot day around 80 and that was around 1 - 2 PM Saturday afternoon. I hit the 50 mile mark still an hour over schedule at a time of 9 hours 40 minutes (5 minutes faster than my 50-miler last year on the same course). I wanted very badly to lay down a take a 30 minute nap at 50. I thought, let me rest and then I will still have a 30-minute lead over my goal time. I did not- just keep moving- slow and steady like a machine.
Things began to get better and I continued covering the miles. I kept maintaining and reached my goal of 70 miles by 9 PM at 8:15 PM (still 45 minutes ahead of my aggressive game plan). Besides miles 40-50 there was never a doubt that I was going to finish, but still the question was can I run 100 in a day? By working hard all day Saturday, I now had 9 hours and 45 minutes to cover 30 miles during the night. Perfect- that is a steady walk. But running alone at night is still tough- but God works in awesome ways. Miles 3-5 of the 10 mile lap are extremely rugged with steep inclines and declines. I had just come out of that section on my 7th lap- so it was about mile 75 and 10 PM at night. I was walking up this hill into an open field-it is completely dark. Then I hear this voice, "RYAN DEXTER". It was my friend Terry Alberti whom I know from racquetball and church. We usually see he and his wife Donna and their sons at Panera after church on Sundays, he knew about the race and I had sent him the website information. I thought if they were going to come down it would have been during the day (which was when my mother-in-law Judy came to see me - thank you so much for your support). Terry had driven all the way down from Madison to see me. He had gotten to the race start/finish and Andy (the greatest race director in the world!!!!) told him where he might find me along the course. Terry had parked his car and walked up about 1/4 mile to the field and waited for a headlamp in the darkness. We walked to the aid station about 1/4 mile down the field together and talked. It was AWESOME and carried me the rest of the night. Terry you are an angel and I was not ready or expecting that! Basically, Terry drove 8 hours just to spend 5 minutes with me. Can you believe that? He ran his own ultra.
My brother-in-law Brad came down from Madison also and he and Paul ran the last 10 mile loop with me. We ran that last loop in about 2:45- my legs were still fresh and runnable. I sprinted across the line in 22 hours 51 minutes and some seconds. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could run a 100 that fast. I trained hard for this race having logged over 300 miles in March training. And mentally I was ready- I knew I could cover the distance- I was not afraid.
The following photo is Kathy and I before the 6 AM start Saturday morning. Kathy covered 60 miles in the race and then decided to rest. I am very proud of you Kathy- 60 miles is nothing to laugh at- JOB WELL DONE.
The second photo is me at mile 60 right after leaving the start/finish area.
__________________________________________________
Many of you know about my 100-miler last year in CA. Although I finished the distance in the cut-off time of 30 hours, I was still a little disappointed with myself- I believed that I could/should run it in 24 hours. With the blessing of my wife- I set my sight on 24 hours with the McNaughton Park 100 in Pekin, IL. A friend from Madison (Kathy) was also going down attempting her first 100 so I caught a ride down with her and her brother Paul.
The McNaughton Park 100 is a ten-mile loop of rugged trails and open fields. Each loop contains about 1600 ft. elevation change- so over the 100 miles that's over 15,000 ft. elevation change. When I went down there last year and competed in the 50-mile race option I was shocked that there were hills like that in IL. But in Pekin there are. With my cell phone in my drop bag, I called Christina after every loop. I had predicted times for each loop to reach 24 hours. The first two loops needed to be done in 2 hours with about 5 minutes added to each consecutive loop and leaving 3 hours for each of the last 3 loops which would be done in the dark. I ran the first 10 miles in 1:40 and did not slow down until the 4th loop. By mile 40, I had a 1 hour cushion for my 24 hour goal. Miles 40-50 were tough (that was the only time I thought about stopping). It was a hot day around 80 and that was around 1 - 2 PM Saturday afternoon. I hit the 50 mile mark still an hour over schedule at a time of 9 hours 40 minutes (5 minutes faster than my 50-miler last year on the same course). I wanted very badly to lay down a take a 30 minute nap at 50. I thought, let me rest and then I will still have a 30-minute lead over my goal time. I did not- just keep moving- slow and steady like a machine.
Things began to get better and I continued covering the miles. I kept maintaining and reached my goal of 70 miles by 9 PM at 8:15 PM (still 45 minutes ahead of my aggressive game plan). Besides miles 40-50 there was never a doubt that I was going to finish, but still the question was can I run 100 in a day? By working hard all day Saturday, I now had 9 hours and 45 minutes to cover 30 miles during the night. Perfect- that is a steady walk. But running alone at night is still tough- but God works in awesome ways. Miles 3-5 of the 10 mile lap are extremely rugged with steep inclines and declines. I had just come out of that section on my 7th lap- so it was about mile 75 and 10 PM at night. I was walking up this hill into an open field-it is completely dark. Then I hear this voice, "RYAN DEXTER". It was my friend Terry Alberti whom I know from racquetball and church. We usually see he and his wife Donna and their sons at Panera after church on Sundays, he knew about the race and I had sent him the website information. I thought if they were going to come down it would have been during the day (which was when my mother-in-law Judy came to see me - thank you so much for your support). Terry had driven all the way down from Madison to see me. He had gotten to the race start/finish and Andy (the greatest race director in the world!!!!) told him where he might find me along the course. Terry had parked his car and walked up about 1/4 mile to the field and waited for a headlamp in the darkness. We walked to the aid station about 1/4 mile down the field together and talked. It was AWESOME and carried me the rest of the night. Terry you are an angel and I was not ready or expecting that! Basically, Terry drove 8 hours just to spend 5 minutes with me. Can you believe that? He ran his own ultra.
My brother-in-law Brad came down from Madison also and he and Paul ran the last 10 mile loop with me. We ran that last loop in about 2:45- my legs were still fresh and runnable. I sprinted across the line in 22 hours 51 minutes and some seconds. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could run a 100 that fast. I trained hard for this race having logged over 300 miles in March training. And mentally I was ready- I knew I could cover the distance- I was not afraid.
The following photo is Kathy and I before the 6 AM start Saturday morning. Kathy covered 60 miles in the race and then decided to rest. I am very proud of you Kathy- 60 miles is nothing to laugh at- JOB WELL DONE.
The second photo is me at mile 60 right after leaving the start/finish area.
The last photo is me about a minute after finishing at 4:52 AM Sunday morning (Just add 20 hours to that clock and you got my finish time).
I feel night and day better that after Western States last June. Really the only thing hurting me are the bottoms of my feet and some rather big blisters on my heels. Other than that I am good to go. By following Jesus all things are possible- this was just one small thing that we did together. Without HIS strength and perseverance this goal would never had been obtainable.
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts during the day/night and for those of you that I ran with training for this race- thanks for pushing me to do better.
Ryan
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tim Twietmeyer - Ironman WI
So I am standing there watching some friends compete Sunday during the marathon portion of the Ironman Wisconsin in Madison. Along comes this tall guy with a North Face t-shirt and a mustache. I thought man that looks like Tim Twietmeyer.
Photo Courtesy of Auburn Endurance Capital Web Site
For those of you who do not know who Tim is - his accomplishments are LEGENDARY: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Twietmeyer
Tim was also voted as one of the Runners World Heroes of Running in 2006.
I started screaming like a teenager at a Jonas Brothers concert! TIM TWEITMEYER! TIM TWEITMEYER! It was so cool and unexpected to see him out there competing in a triathlon. Tim ended up finishing 3rd in his age group in something like 10 hours and 30 minutes.
I heard from Tim Twietmeyer early this week now that he is back in CA and at work. He said that he had to catch 12 people in his age group during the run to qualify for Kona. Tim got enough of them to take third and a Kona slot.
For those of you thinking about a 50 miler this October. Tim said that he may be back in the Madison area in October for The North Face Endurance Challenge.
Photo Courtesy of Auburn Endurance Capital Web SiteFor those of you who do not know who Tim is - his accomplishments are LEGENDARY: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Twietmeyer
Tim was also voted as one of the Runners World Heroes of Running in 2006.
I started screaming like a teenager at a Jonas Brothers concert! TIM TWEITMEYER! TIM TWEITMEYER! It was so cool and unexpected to see him out there competing in a triathlon. Tim ended up finishing 3rd in his age group in something like 10 hours and 30 minutes.
I heard from Tim Twietmeyer early this week now that he is back in CA and at work. He said that he had to catch 12 people in his age group during the run to qualify for Kona. Tim got enough of them to take third and a Kona slot.
For those of you thinking about a 50 miler this October. Tim said that he may be back in the Madison area in October for The North Face Endurance Challenge.
200 Mile Trail Run
For the past three years I have competed at the McNaughton Park 150 mile event in Pekin, IL in April. In the past, every mile I run has been in preparation for that one event. There is now a new event to train for.
Andy Weinberg (the former race director from Pekin's race) has moved to Vermont and is putting on a "McNaughton Park" trail run in May. I have officially signed up for McNaughton Park 200 miler in Vermont which starts at 6 PM, Thursday May 6, 2010. I will be properly trained and have a super crew that is willing to support me. It is not too early to think about your 2010 plans. Please think about competing in this event. You will not be disappointed I am sure. There is also a 100 and 150 mile event. It is a 10-mile looped course with an aide station at mile 5/10. For many of you Pekin, IL veterans - I am told by Andy that there are NO WATER CROSSINGS.
I have also spoken to David Goggins about this - he may be training to compete at this as well.
Registration is available at: www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=10128VT
Multidays.com lists the race at: http://multidays.com/2009/08/03/mcnaughton-in-vermont-2010/
Once an official race website is available, I will post it.
All the best -
Ryan
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Endurance Planet Audio Interview
If you are interested, Kevin Patrick from Endurance Planet (www.enduranceplanet.com) interviewed me a few weeks ago after the McNaughton Park 150 miler. The podcast was posted today and is titled Ordinary and Extraordinary: www.enduranceplanet.com/public/292.cfm
From the Endurance Planet website:
From the Endurance Planet website:
"For the vast majority of the population the thought of running 150 miles is unfathomable. A person who, for example, has a goal of running a 5k may find it difficult to relate to a person who runs an ultramarathon. But, believe it or not, both of those individuals have a lot in common. Listen to the stories of extraordinary endurance athletes and you will find that they're ordinary people. Case in point: 32-year-old Ryan Dexter...the winner of the 150-mile McNaughton Park Races. He is both ordinary yet undeniably extraordinary."
To download this audio file and take it with you, simply right-click on the link below and "save target as" to your computer: www.enduranceplanet.com/Ordinary_and_Extraordinary_5-21-2009.mp3
Friday, May 8, 2009
New Self Renewal Center - My Wife is a TV Star
A local television station (Madison's CW) interviewed my wife Christina earlier this week about New Self Renewal Center (http://www.newselfrenewal.com/) in Madison where she is the Fitness Director.
The video can be seen online at: www.madisonscw.com/SubPage.aspx?page=2651
New Self Renewal Center provides a small community that offers both fitness and rest, focusing on health and wellness for the whole person. If you are ever in Madison, WI stop in.
The video can be seen online at: www.madisonscw.com/SubPage.aspx?page=2651
New Self Renewal Center provides a small community that offers both fitness and rest, focusing on health and wellness for the whole person. If you are ever in Madison, WI stop in.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Letter From My Mom
Last Saturday, I received a letter from my Mom (Barbara Dexter) who lives in Pennsylvania regarding the 150 mile race I ran a couple weeks earlier. I was recently interviewed by Kevin Patrick from Endurance Planet (www.enduranceplanet.com) and referenced this letter, so thought I would include the entire note. Although this is written to me, I think it emodies all of us and the unlimited potential we all have.
Dear Ryan:
When I saw the picture of you at Mile 140, I was overcome with emotion. I could see that it was your mind that was in control – no question. You displayed strong-will, determination, focus- great concentration, and I knew nothing could have stopped you then!
When we cheer that spirit of a true athlete, what we are applauding is the demonstration of courage, tenacity, commitment, alignment with principle and purpose, a demonstration of excellence, honor, respect, and humility. You displayed all of that in that single moment captured on film. But, as all good coaches, CEOs, military commanders, and YOU know, it takes a team effort with a great deal of team spirit to determine the difference between victory and defeat. You had a great team with you. I could tell from your blog that they forced you to go beyond the very real human level of SELFISHNESS to SELFLESSNES! You moved from personal pride to an esteem that is an expression of unconditional love – one that also honors one’s opponents for their dedication to the same lofty principles. Top performers like you, are imbued with the belief that your excellence isn’t a personal accomplishment, but a gift from God, belonging to all mankind as a demonstration of man’s potential. That’s why you were strong and remained so through the event. That gift needs to be respected and defended at all costs. I’m very proud of you, Ryan.
Just as you said, athletes do express gratitude, inner awe, and awareness that their performance wasn’t merely the result of an individual effort – that maximum personal effort brought them to the breakthrough point from which they were than transported by a power greater than that of the himself. Always keep that higher motivation toward excellence because it will give you access to the realm of grace and power.
True athletic power is characterized by grace, sensitivity, inner quite, and paradoxically, gentleness in the noncompetitive lives of even fierce competitors. We celebrate the champion because we recognize that he has overcome personal ambition through sacrifice and dedication to higher principles. A great athlete becomes legendary when he teaches by example. Always set that example for others to follow. It isn’t what you have, or what you do, but what you become that inspires all of mankind, and that’s what we honor in you.
An athlete must hold in his mind the honor of his God, his country, or his sport; the dedication of his performance to someone he loves; or even the sheer joy of maximum effort for the sake of excellence; if he is to be powerfully strong and excel. You did this, and did it well.
You, as an athlete of the highest caliber, have a powerful influence on all of mankind, literally the power to lift the world on your shoulders. The nurturing of excellence and recognition of its value is the responsibility of all men, because the quest for excellence in any area of human endeavor inspires us all toward the actualization of every form of man’s yet unrealized greatness!
Thanks for being you!
With love and respect,
Mom
Dear Ryan:
When I saw the picture of you at Mile 140, I was overcome with emotion. I could see that it was your mind that was in control – no question. You displayed strong-will, determination, focus- great concentration, and I knew nothing could have stopped you then!
When we cheer that spirit of a true athlete, what we are applauding is the demonstration of courage, tenacity, commitment, alignment with principle and purpose, a demonstration of excellence, honor, respect, and humility. You displayed all of that in that single moment captured on film. But, as all good coaches, CEOs, military commanders, and YOU know, it takes a team effort with a great deal of team spirit to determine the difference between victory and defeat. You had a great team with you. I could tell from your blog that they forced you to go beyond the very real human level of SELFISHNESS to SELFLESSNES! You moved from personal pride to an esteem that is an expression of unconditional love – one that also honors one’s opponents for their dedication to the same lofty principles. Top performers like you, are imbued with the belief that your excellence isn’t a personal accomplishment, but a gift from God, belonging to all mankind as a demonstration of man’s potential. That’s why you were strong and remained so through the event. That gift needs to be respected and defended at all costs. I’m very proud of you, Ryan.
Just as you said, athletes do express gratitude, inner awe, and awareness that their performance wasn’t merely the result of an individual effort – that maximum personal effort brought them to the breakthrough point from which they were than transported by a power greater than that of the himself. Always keep that higher motivation toward excellence because it will give you access to the realm of grace and power.
True athletic power is characterized by grace, sensitivity, inner quite, and paradoxically, gentleness in the noncompetitive lives of even fierce competitors. We celebrate the champion because we recognize that he has overcome personal ambition through sacrifice and dedication to higher principles. A great athlete becomes legendary when he teaches by example. Always set that example for others to follow. It isn’t what you have, or what you do, but what you become that inspires all of mankind, and that’s what we honor in you.
An athlete must hold in his mind the honor of his God, his country, or his sport; the dedication of his performance to someone he loves; or even the sheer joy of maximum effort for the sake of excellence; if he is to be powerfully strong and excel. You did this, and did it well.
You, as an athlete of the highest caliber, have a powerful influence on all of mankind, literally the power to lift the world on your shoulders. The nurturing of excellence and recognition of its value is the responsibility of all men, because the quest for excellence in any area of human endeavor inspires us all toward the actualization of every form of man’s yet unrealized greatness!
Thanks for being you!
With love and respect,
Mom
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