It was said at the event that only 300 people in the world do multi-day races, and maybe 40 of them set national or world records. Fast Eddie Rousseau was in rare company, though he had met a number of the other competitors in ultra-marathons over the past many years. Coincidentally, this was the 30 year anniversary of his last work life trip to Alaska and ironically his only overall marathon win in the old Earthquake Park Marathon. So a good omen to come, he thought.
But Eddie arrived with a bad head and chest cold. So he fought the cold, the other runners and the track for 6 days. "I got tired early and napped in the first 24 hours (normally never do), and only hit 80 miles," he said. Forget records he thought and decided to sleep only when dead on his feet and for only 20 minutes at a time. That way Fast Eddie managed to be on the track almost 22 of every 24 hours though with sore legs and going very slow.
Miraculously, he had no leg injury or foot problems/blisters. Some runners got knocked out by both issues. So his long but slow progress on the track paid off. Fast Eddie managed to total 336 miles. A new US Masters Division 70-74 Record and a World Masters 70-74 Division Indoor Track Record!!!! He might have other records as well, like for the 48 Hour Distance etc.
He placed 15th out of 48 entered runners and top runner over age 70. The second 70-74 year old was from England and had but 260 miles, some 93 miles behind him. " So I was very lucky, especially with the bad cold," he said as he left the dome. Then someone else said, " who was that tough 74 year old runner?"
