With an unbroken running streak of more than 13,500 consecutive days, 1978 Pike's Peak champion, Ken Young, embodies tenacity. Running through heat waves and downpours on the quiet streets of Petrolia, the rural town on the Lost Coast of California that he calls home, Young is an inspiration.
With his continuous daily running record of more than thirty years, it seems that he will literally run through anything. Several years ago, Ken fell while running on his regular route. The landing broke both of his arms. While most of us would have hunkered down, writhing in pain until help arrived, he forced himself to his feet, ran the rest of his route and then went to the fire department for medical attention. The next day, he had surgery on both wrists and within hours of regaining consciousness, he hit the pavement for his daily run – this time with both arms in casts.
The secret to these feats Ken says is “tenacity…it is what you need to keep you going when you want to stop at mile 20.” For anyone thinking of gearing up for a first marathon, Young suggests they develop the necessary tenacity by "running every day, no matter what… it takes discipline." At age 65, Young has logged over 120 marathons and ultra marathons himself.
Ken's running streak is EVERY day for over 30 years!
Ken also promotes and practices self-sufficient living. His small back yard contains long wooden shelves holding glass trays of drying seawater to make salt. He cooks with the salt and sells it a local farmer’s market.
Skeptical of the U.S. banking system, Ken educates community members about alternative economies and true stores of value. He even designed and minted original currency, called the Petol, for use in his rural region. Ken makes no profit from the coin, though he hopes Petol sales will eventually bring some funds to his other invention, the Mattole Self Sufficiency Project (MSSP), which “initiates, promotes, and/or encourages projects designed to promote a sustainable society here in the Mattole Valley. We compete with nobody, we cooperate for everybody.”
The coins, called “Petols”, are quite stunning. Their thoughtful design depicts the three elements of sustainable agriculture: ranching, gardening, and gathering. An increasingly popular collector’s item, the Petol has turned up in places as far as Greenland and New York City.
When not running, making his own salt, or minting currency, this former physics professor spends many of his days researching running races. He collects and analyzes data on nearly every major race around the globe. Known in elite running circles as "Mr. Stats", Ken publishes extensive race data on his website for other race junkies to peruse.
Running Stats site: http://www.arrs.net/
Thank you Ken, for sharing your Story with us!
~~~
Our Stories and pictures are the sole copyright of their Authors and may not be reprinted or used without their permission.
© 2008 by Jenoa Briar-Bonpane and Story of My Life®