Dane Rauschenberg

Dane Rauschenberg (born May 31, 1976) is an American long-distance runner and author who ran 52 marathons, one every weekend, throughout 2006.[1] He raised over $43,000 for charity, as part of an effort he called "Fiddy2".[1][2][3][4]

Dane Rauschenberg
Dane Rauschenberg running the Buffalo Marathon in 2006
Born (1976-05-31) May 31, 1976
Titusville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Known forCharity marathon runner

Background

Rauschenberg was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania, where he set numerous records as a high school swimmer. While earning varsity letters in track and field, running was not what he saw himself competing in. After attempting to walk onto the Penn State football team, Rauschenberg played rugby for two years before graduating in 1998.[5] He then attended law school at Penn State Dickinson Law where he began running to get into shape after putting on weight after college. After law school, and during a clerkship in Erie, PA, Rauschenberg began running more. What would be a precursor to his long-distance athletic prowess, but was lost on Rauschenberg at the time was his winning the Presque Isle Endurance Classic - a 12 hour run where Dane amassed 84 miles.[6]

Leading up to Rauschenberg's 2006 effort, he ran a few marathons, qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon. Rauschenberg's first marathon was the Harrisburg Marathon in 2001, which he finished in a time of 4:12:07, 159th overall of 281 finishers.[7][8][9] Rauschenberg also ran the 2004 Marine Corps Marathon in 3:31:13, in 685th place.[10]

Before 2006, some runners tried to see how many marathons they could run on consecutive weekends. For example, Richard Worley had run a marathon on each of 159 consecutive weekends.[11] Others attempted to see how many different marathons could be completed within a single calendar year, with some runners reaching 90.[12] However, his enterprise competed for public attention with at least three other contemporaneous efforts, two of which involved running 50 marathons on 50 consecutive days.[13][14]

Running

Fiddy2: 52 marathons in 2006

Rauschenberg called his effort "Fiddy2," which in the initial planning stages, did not have a charity fund raising component. After contacting the First Light Marathon in Mobile, Alabama in the year prior to running the 52 marathons, Rauschenberg selected its beneficiary, the Mobile chapter of L'Arche, to be the recipient of his efforts.[3][15][16] He obtained partial assistance for his effort in the form of race entry fee waivers, free meals from a local restaurant, free running shoes, and a free website.[3] Rauschenberg reports that he did not obtain monetary donations to offset Fiddy2's costs, and estimated that total travel expenses related to the effort would be $20,000.[15][17][18] Rauschenberg distributed weekly press releases to promote the fundraising effort, submitted blog postings, and spoke at marathon events throughout the year, participating as featured as a runner on race's websites and various blogs, including being part of a small group of "rock stars" noted by the Little Rock Marathon.[17][19] Rauschenberg sought radio, television, and print coverage to raise awareness about the fundraising marathon project with a website and blog.

During the project, he ran marathons in Florida, Alabama, Maryland, Arkansas, Virginia, District of Columbia, Ohio, Indiana, Delaware, New York, California, West Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Maine, Wisconsin, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Missouri, Alaska, the Cayman Islands, and three in Canada.[20][21][22][23]

Late in the year, to preserve his streak of marathons, Rauschenberg organized the Drake Well Marathon consisting of 105.5 laps around the track at Titusville High School, his hometown's high school, as he was not aware of any other certified race scheduled for the Christmas weekend at the time.[18] The race was limited to 25 runners, with 21 runners from nine states participating, and was the penultimate event of his effort.[24]

Fiddy2 was one of at least four charity fundraising projects in 2006 that involved a runner running 50 or more marathons during that year.[25][26][27] Rauschenberg ran his 52 consecutive weekly marathons in 2006 with an average time of 3:21:16.[20] In recognition of Rauschenberg's efforts, he was named by the marathonguide.com website (a marathon reference website[28]) as one of the 20 outstanding USA marathon runners for 2006, as part of an effort to recognize those individuals whose participation in multiple marathons "show that marathoning is and can be part of one's regular routine."[29] The 52nd and final race was run on December 31, 2006, with $32,000 raised at that time.[24]

In 2007, Rauschenberg switched his career to race organizing and as a motivational speaker discussing his 52-marathon experience and offering suggestions about running as an aspect of a healthy lifestyle.[30]

Running 202-mile American Odyssey Relay solo

In 2010, Rauschenberg ran the American Odyssey Relay, usually a 12 (or 6) person relay covering the 202 miles (325 km) from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., in the time of 50 hours and 16 minutes by himself.[31][32][33][34][35]

A documentary entitled "No Handoffs" was made about the effort and successfully funded by Kickstarter in 2014.[36]

350-mile run on the Oregon Coast

In 2012, Rauschenberg ran the 350-mile (560 km) length of the Oregon Coast, from the border of California to the border of Washington state in seven days.[37] Rauschenberg spent an entire week running the full length of the Oregon coast averaging about 50 miles (80 km) a day. Stopping at four coastal high schools along the way, and returning to Portland on April 9 to visit a fifth high school, Rauschenberg's mission was to send a healthy message to kids.[38][39]

Awards and recognition
  • Asked to participate as a "charity chaser" at the 2007 Frederick Marathon, the first in race history, where he would start last and raise five dollars for every runner he passed during the race.[40][41]
  • Selected co-Male Runner of the Year by the Washington Running Club in 2006.[41]

Books
  • See Dane Run, Experience Publishers (December 17, 2008) ISBN 978-0968315859
  • 138,336 Feet to Pure Bliss: What I Learned about Life, Women (and Running) in My 1st 100 Marathons, Bush Street Publishing (March 16, 2012) ISBN 978-1937445249
  • Running With The Girls, Booklocker.com, Inc., with Lacie Whyte (November 15, 2014) ISBN 978-1634900713
  • Run This Place: 52 Must Run Races in North America , Trinity Press (May 14, 2018) ISBN 978-0991594016
  • Ignore The Impossible , Mascot Books (December 2019) ISBN 978-1645433118

See also

References
  1. "Marathon man completes 71st race". The Times-Tribune (Scranton). 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  2. "One Marathon Per Week for a Whole Year". NPR. September 25, 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  3. Aryanpur, Arianne (January 8, 2006). "Top This Resolution: A Marathon a Week – Area Lawyer's Quest Includes Fundraising". The Washington Post. p. PW01. Retrieved 2009-05-08. But he is quick to downplay his ability, ranking himself in the 70th percentile of runners.
  4. Facinoli, Dave. "Rauschenberg’s Milestone", Williamsport Sun-Gazette, January 8, 2007. Accessed December 10, 2007.
  5. Price, Karen. "Charity makes marathon more meaningful" Archived 2012-09-06 at archive.today, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 30, 2009. Accessed December 19, 2010.
  6. 2003 Presque Isle Endurance Classic Results
  7. 2001 Harrisburg Marathon Results
  8. Staff. "Regional Scene: Running", Rocky Mountain News, July 4, 2006. Accessed August 2, 2012. "According to his Web site, www.Fiddy2.com, his Leadville time 'made my first marathon ever in Harrisburg of a 4:12 look like a land speed record.'"
  9. Mull, Cory. "Dane Rauschenberg takes ultradistance running to new level", The Evening Sun, January 22, 2010. Accessed August 2, 2012. "He played rugby, perhaps unspectacularly, at Penn State, received his degree, then followed by going to law school at Dickinson College in Carlisle. It was there, he said, where running found him. Actually, it was there where he didn't want to get shown up by some girl who was training for the Boston Marathon. He began running with a girl he knew from class and he kept doing it until his first marathon in Harrisburg the same year."
  10. Marine Corps – Marathon Results, Marine Corps Marathon, October 31, 2004. Accessed January 9, 2008.
  11. Orton, Kathy (2004-10-27). "Texan's Weekend Job Provides Great Benefits". The Washington Post. pp. D4. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  12. "Marathon Maniacs - InSane AsyLum". Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2007-11-28
  13. "starbulletin.com | News | /2006/07/13/". Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  14. "Wired 15.01: The Perfect Human". Wired.
  15. Frequently Asked Questions Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, Fiddy2. Accessed January 1, 2008.
  16. Boyle, Tom (2006-02-21). "Weekend Warrior". The Titusville Herald. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  17. Hvilivitzky, Joe. "No problem filling his weekends", Fallsview Casino Resort International Marathon, October 2006. Accessed January 9, 2008.
  18. Rushin, Steve. "The Big Run-Around" Archived 2008-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Sports Illustrated, October 2, 2006. Vol. 105, Iss. 13; pg. 21.
  19. Rock Stars, Little Rock Marathon, backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 13, 2011. Accessed August 2, 2012.
  20. Marathon List, Fiddy2, backed up by the Internet Archive as of August 18, 2010. Accessed August 2, 2012.
  21. Staff. "Marathon man to run in Cayman race" Archived 2014-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, Caymanian Compass, October 25, 2006. Accessed August 2, 2012. "An American man who has committed to completing “Fiddy2” (52) marathons in 2006, one marathon per week, has chosen the Cayman Islands Marathon as one of the 52. Dane Rauschenberg will be in Grand Cayman on Sunday, 3 December where he will compete in his 48th marathon this year."
  22. Nichols, Tim. "Taking running to the extreme: A pair of athletes are testing the limits of distance running" Archived 2014-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, Juneau Empire, August 6, 2006. Accessed August 2, 2012. "Rauschenberg, a 30-year-old patent licenser from Arlington, Va., knows plenty about running and has taken his passion to an extreme. The Frank Maier Marathon was his 31st race this year. In an effort to raise money for L'Arche Mobile, a community house for people with mental handicaps in Mobile, Ala., Rauschenberg decided to run one marathon per week for an entire year."
  23. Marathons Run
  24. Sciullo, Maria. "Running: Marathon of marathons about to end", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 30, 2006. Accessed October 28, 2007.
  25. Lee, Venus. "Across the 50/50/50 miles A fundraiser races through Hawaii on a quest to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days" Archived 2008-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, July 13, 2006. Accessed August 13, 2008.
  26. Davis, Joshua. "The Perfect Human", Wired, January 2007. Accessed August 13, 2008. Accessed August 13, 2008.
  27. Schlein, Eric J. (March 17, 2006). "Piggott defends Lower Potomac Marathon title". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved 2009-04-18. Engle is attempting to run each marathon in under 2:50. He is using his marathon goal to raise awareness and support for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
  28. Scherrer, Diane (2008-03-18). "Web site offers a marathon of long-distance facts". Star-Gazette. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  29. Marathon Guide 2006 list, MarathonGuide.com. Accessed December 11, 2007.
  30. DiFonzo, Brian. "Marathon runner takes new path", The Titusville Herald, January 8, 2008. Accessed August 7, 2013. "He's accepted a position as a race organizer and motivational speaker, a job that will take him many places."
  31. 2010 Race Results – Solo, American Odyssey Relay Run Adventure, backed up by the Internet Archive as of August 18, 2010. Accessed May 15, 2016.
  32. Tappa, Steve. "QC Marathon's `Great Dane' still on the run", Dispatch-Argus, September 24, 2010. Accessed May 1, 2016. "He also recently finished the 202-mile American Odyssey Relay in 50 hours and 16 minutes."
  33. Babicz, Rebecca. "Dane Rauschenberg", The Salt Lake Tribune, July 15, 2010. Accessed May 1, 2016. "Rauschenberg finished the Odyssey in a little over 50 hours and during the race, he would only take an hour and a half nap every 12 hours, and a break to eat every six or seven hours."
  34. Kozlowski, Rick. "Panhandle goes on a weekend run" Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, The Journal, April 23, 2010. Accessed July 5, 2011. "Dane Rauschenberg should provide a bit of an appetizer, as he is expected to arrive anywhere from two hours either side of 7:30 tonight. Rauschenberg, who actually began his journey on Thursday, is running the whole 202 miles all by himself."
  35. News Channel 8
  36. "No Handoffs". IMDb.
  37. Verdecchia, Maryalicia. "See Dane Run Oregon (The Oregon Coast)", The Oregonian, March 31, 2012. Accessed May 20, 2022.
  38. "Long distance runner has a beef with Oregon schools", State of Oregon, April 4, 2012. Accessed May 20, 2022.
  39. Singledecker, Matt. "Students 'See Dane Run'" Archived 2013-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, Newport News Times, April 13, 2012. Accessed August 2, 2012.
  40. Staff. "Man chases down $3,500 for Frederick United Way", Gazette, May 10, 2007. Accessed August 2, 2012. "Dane Rauschenberg started the Frederick Marathon as the absolutely last runner Sunday. He ended up in 17th place overall, earning $3,500 for the United Way in the process. Rauschenberg of Arlington, Va., was the marathon’s first 'charity chaser.'"
  41. Brtalik, Gene. "Dane Rauschenberg to Serve as This Year's RBC Wealth Management Charity Chaser" Archived 2013-02-01 at archive.today, Washington Running Report, September 17, 2008. Accessed August 2, 2012. "Corrigan Sports Enterprises announced today that Dane Rauschenberg will be this year's RBC Wealth Management Charity Chaser at the Under Armour Baltimore Marathon on Saturday, October 11, 2008.... He was one of 2006 MarathonGuide.com's Outstanding USA Marathoners of the Year as well as the co-Male Runner of the Year by the Washington Running Club. This will be Rauschenberg's second stint as a Charity Chaser. He served in the same capacity at the 2007 Frederick Marathon, passing 705 of a possible 721 runners."
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