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Gary Ditsch
Lexington, Kentucky
28
Running Experience:
Advanced
Why should we pick you to go to the North Pole?:
I believe that there
are times in most people's lives that they look back and say, "What in
the world is my life about?" There are people who come to this
realization when they wake up one day and find out they haven't paid
attention to their bodies in decades, so they decide to exercise or
lose weight. There are people that look at their child walk across a
stage to grab a college diploma only to wonder just who that child is,
so they vow to spend more time with their family and less time at a
job. I am no different than those people, yet I am only twenty-eight
years old.
The one thing that I have found in those moments that I have
questioned myself and who I was is that there was one constant -
running. As a child growing up in Nebraska, I found myself running
the gravel roads or by the bean fields to find peace. In college, I
began running again in order to have an excuse to drink less on the
"party" nights. I also found a major of study in college that allowed
me to learn about exercise and still get a degree. It also propelled
me to a place where I could get a graduate degree. After college I
found myself stuck in an emotionally bankrupt job, contacts that I
made with fellow runners and triathletes lead me to a more fulfilling
job. The combination of all these choices and situations have lead me
to a place where I hope to make running and helping others run (and
swim, bike and exercise) a full-time, life-long mission.
Running is essentially who I am and the best way that I have to
express myself. (Picture Robby Benson at the end of "Running Brave".)
Why should you pick me? By choosing me you would be assisting me in
this continuous search I have in finding out who I am, but
yourrunning.com would also be able to use the passion I have to reach
out to new runners that want to share their journey too.
Yourrunning.com might just discover things about itself that it has
not noticed before.
"I believe that there
are times in most people's lives that they look back and say, 'What in
the world is my life about?'...I am no different than those people, yet I am only twenty-eight
years old." |
Offer some evidence that you can complete a marathon in harsh, sub-zero conditions at the North Pole:
Every runner has a story about
how they completed a race in terrible conditions. These stories are
often the only type of story a runner has to tell. I like to equate
them to the fisherman's tale. "You should have seen the one I threw
back!"
The best tale that I have happened in September of 2006. Prepared to
complete my first Ironman distance triathlon, my wife and I headed to
Lake Barkley, Kentucky. The weather was predicting a rainy day, but I
was more worried about the race than the weather. The night before
the race was to take place there was an athletes meeting where the
discussion of weather came up, primarily because it was getting bad
enough that flooding was becoming a possibility.
That night was full of thunder, lightening and heavy rains. Still I
loaded my bike up in the morning and headed to the start line. The
race was cancelled due to the many floods and constantly heavy rains.
The race director held a meeting to decide what would happen. Many of
the people went home and called it a weekend. But there were 6 of us
full distance athletes that chose to stay and see what it would take
to finish an iron-distance triathlon. The water was filled with
debris, the bouys were washed out of place, the volunteers didn't come
to give support along the course and once again I found myself in a
place where I was all alone trying to find out what I was made of.
I finished! The lessons from that race keep revealing themselves to
me still today. The biggest one that I have taken home to date is
that I don't need to race others in order to feel accomplishment.
Racing yourself is more of a challenge to win anyway.
Tell us about your cold-weather race experience:
There are three
examples that I can give.
#1 - In 2001 I was training for the Motorola Marathon in Austin,
Texas. It is probably obvious that the marathon itself was not in
cold conditions, but the training was. Living in Nebraska at the
time, I completed the training for the marathon during the winter
months. This included at least one 18 mile run in 10+ inches of snow.
#2 - I lived in Divide, Colorado during the 2004/2005 winter. Divide
is a very beautiful rural town on the "backside" of Pikes Peak. That
winter I was able to do many runs from The Crags and around Pancake
Rocks. To be honest, these are some of my favorite training runs I
have had at any point of my running life, even though I wasn't
training for a specific event.
#3 - After getting married in August of 2005, my new wife and I chose
to train for and complete a marathon together. "Why not go hard on
your first attempt," was the question I asked her. We completed the
Tecumseh Trail Marathon in Indiana on December 3rd, 2005. To say that
this race was "freezing" would probably be false (I don't know the
exact temperatures). But it was a chilly and incredibly challenging
race none-the-less.
Tell us about your marathon experience, including times, results, etc.:
1999 - Lincoln Marathon: 3:54
1999 - Chicago Marathon: 4:01
2001 - Motorola Marathon: 3:27
2003 - Flying Pig Marathon: 3:04
2004 - Country Music Marathon: 3:40
2005 - Tecumseh Trail Marathon: 5:00
2006 - Derby Festival Marathon: 3:08
2006 - Runovia Iron Distance Triathlon (run leg): 4:14
What do you expect your North Pole Marathon time to be?:
5:30 - 6:00
Can you write well? Explain:
The most extensive experience I have
sharing my training was during the 2006 Derby Festival Marathon
training period. (www.ditschfitness.com/garyblog/ - Feb to May) As
someone who has an educational background in exercise science, I love
to share training tips and guides with people. That is what I focused
my writing on most of the time. The topics varied based upon what
issues I was currently dealing with, but some of the topics included:
heart rate training, how much volume to run, how to deal with
injuries, how to predict a proper training and race pace, along with
other topics that came up during a training run.
What I found though was that my training partners loved to see their
name in print. That realization lead me to specifically mentioning
some of my training partners and how our training runs went.
I have continued to maintain this blog over the past year and have
decided to continue maintaining it due to the consistence response
that I get.
The North Pole Marathon would allow me to step up this discussion and
dialog, because it is an event that is extreme for most people. It
would be similar to Lynn Cox discussing her ultra swims or Dean
Karnazes talking about anything he does. There would be a lot of
environments and physical responses to exercise that are foriegn to
people. The extreme attracts interest and attention, even if the
other person will never face those situations themselves.
If I can be a person that helps attract someone to exercise or running
by bringing them into a discussion of the extreme, that would be a
huge success.
Tell us about your media experience:
The only experience I have with
audio or video are my own home personal use. This means a basic
understanding.
Websites:
www.ditschfitness.com
www.ditschfitness.com/garyblog/
www.mideastmultisport.com
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The YourRunning.com North Pole Marathon Entry Giveaway Contest is sponsored in part by:
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.thumbnail.JPG "Kissing the Hardrock")
Nikki says:
I think you should really consider Gary Ditsch for the sponsorship of the
North Pole Marathon. Not only is he an experienced and well qualified
runner, triathlete, and adventure runner, but his website and blogs are
highly visited. He knows a lot of people in our Kentucky area, but has
reached many more through his websites, blogs, and managing triathlon
networks. I think it would be a great opportunity for you to let Gary
talk about his training/experiences with this event.
Thanks!
Henrik says:
Gary Ditsch is a good runner and good friend. We all want to hear about running on the north-pole and I think he is the right story-teller to deliver a good story!
Running in winter conditions is not so much a question of handling the cold (except for the lungs) as sustaining good speed on difficult terrain. Since Gary was able to deliver a 4:14 run-leg on an Ironman where most of the support crew left the day before I am sure he has the engine needed for this, even if harsh conditions slows down the pace. Looking at the pictures of people running with snowshoes it looks like it can be slow going and long times on the course.
Stephanie Nallia says:
I have not know Gary for long, but long enough to know he's a very dedicated runner.
He is actually my personal trainer and a great motivator. From our conversations, he has been running and training all of his adult life and loves it.
Virgil Johnson says:
Let the guy run at the North Pole. This way he won't be kicking our butts at Todds Road on Saturday mornings!
gary ditsch says:
Hey guys. I'm not sure if I should be commenting on my own application, but I'm going to. I appreciate your support in my effort here, it is good to know that I have the support of my wife :-) (Disclosure - Nikki is my wife.) For those runners that have jumped on board - i.e. John's R/W group and Todd's Road group - go check out the other applicants and their stories, accomplishments and backgrounds. It is pretty impressive to read some of the things that some of the guys and gals have done. Thanks again. gd
Dziowgo says:
I believe that Gary would be an excellent representative for the North Pole Marathon. His desire and determination surpasses many! The man has heart and isn't afraid to show it. His blog is awesome is is visited daily by many. I wish him the best with his goal of running at the North Pole. I have visited the South Pole so it is only fair that he gets his opportunity.
Go get them Gary!
Tara says:
Gary Ditsch would be a great choice for the North Pole Marathon. He is a very dedicated athlete and trainer. If he isn't out running, cycling or swimming then he is training someone else or blogging about these things! This would be an incredible experience for him and I would love to hear all of the stories he would have from the race!
WannaBe5Ker says:
Gary Ditsch would be the right choice for the North Pole Marathon. His is clearly a motivated individual (like the other applicants, of course), but beyond that, is a good storyteller. I think choosing him would benefit not only him (in his personal athletic quest) but also you--in that he will share the experience in an eloquent fashion that many, many folks will want to read.
Susan S. says:
You could not pick a better individual to run this race. Gary is an excellent runner, a very driven, dedicated athlete, and an all-around good guy. There's no doubt he would give his best to this race.
Maggie F. says:
I think that Gary would make a great candidate for the race. He is a perfect example of dedication and athleticism, and a quality person all-around. He would bring a lot to the event and I think he should be stronly considered.
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