Man with a beard runs 100 ultramarathons, pedals 5500 kilometers
After months of lonely toil, Jonas Deichmann treated himself to another ordeal on the world stage to crown his daring mission. The "German Forrest Gump" began his recovery phase after the duathlon through the USA with the legendary New York Marathon, where he was celebrated by the crowds when he crossed the finish line in Central Park after almost four hours. "Short day at the office," joked Deichmann: "It was incredible. The end of my big adventure couldn't have been better."
On 29 July, he set off on his unique project by bike from New York and cycled 5,500 kilometers to Los Angeles on the West Coast within three weeks. From there, he returned over 100 days of running ultramarathons over the same distance. At the weekend, the 36-year-old finally reached his destination in the Big Apple and visibly enjoyed the small reception in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
"I could go on running," said Deichmann, "but I'm really pleased that it's done." It was "a big dream come true. The USA is just so huge. The West in particular is incredibly spectacular. It's something very special to run through there. When you run, you get a sense of how big everything is. It's a great way to get to know a country."
In corona times, he had to move to Mexico
The Stuttgart native had already wanted to jog through the United States during his triathlon around the world, but had to move to Mexico due to coronavirus restrictions. There, local media nicknamed him the "German Forrest Gump". He even received police protection on one passage. In total, he lost ten kilograms of body weight during his duathlon and used up nine pairs of running shoes. But the reward for all the hard work was countless "magical moments".
The passes in the Rocky Mountains, sunrises and sunsets in the Mojave Desert or Monument Valley: "It's incredibly spectacular. I experienced an incredible number of highlights," enthused Deichmann. Despite extremely physically demanding sections of the route and temperatures of up to 50 degrees at times, the mental aspect in particular pushed him to his limits.
"The biggest challenge was definitely the monotony in the Midwest," explained the extreme athlete: "In Kansas, for example, there is simply nothing. There's a corn silo and a few houses every 30 kilometers. That's it, everything looks the same for weeks." However, he successfully distracted himself with podcasts and audio books. "I never thought about giving up," he emphasized emphatically.
Now it's time for a vacation, but he is already planning his next big adventure for May 2024: "This will be the hardest project I've ever done. A completely new challenge," said the Munich native: "But it's still top secret." He will certainly want to push the boundaries of what is supposedly humanly possible again.
Following his extreme journey across the USA, Deichmann expressed interest in trying out other extreme sports, stating, "I could go on running, but I'm really interested in trying out other extreme sports now."
During his time in Mexico, Deichmann's exploits drew the attention of local authorities, with some instances of the police joining him on his runs.
Source: www.ntv.de
