One day in the late 1980s, Boerne resident Don Ruggles started running and he hasn’t stopped since, although the 78-year-old admits he’s scaling back – but just a tad.
The Austin marathon he completed in February of this year was his last 26.2-mile race but Ruggles plans to continue competing in shorter races such as 15 K, half-marathons, 10K and 5K races.
Originally, Ruggles was living in Houston and had some health issues. He started running as a way to lose weight and lower his cholesterol.
The former engineer and high school teacher moved to Boerne about 10 years ago and continued running. He’s developed a passion for pounding the pavement and said it’s a part of his lifestyle now.
Besides making friends in the running community and improving his health, Ruggles said it’s how he recharges his batteries.
“I never wear head phones because I like to listen to the birds and the wind and I love the feeling of the movement. It’s how I relax and relate to nature,” he said. “I realize how important it is to me. It’s my way of life and my wife supports it and understands it. It’s part of my fabric.”
By the numbers
His first marathon was the Houston Marathon in 1990 and Ruggles has been on the move ever since. He has a running resumé that’s about 26.2 miles long and his list of accomplishments is impressive.
• He’s run 136 marathons in all.
• He’s run 110 regular marathons and 26 ultra marathons, some of which were up to 100 miles long.
• He ran in the Houston Marathon for 32 straight years.
• He’s run 12 marathons in a year at least twice.
• He ran the Boston Marathon 6 years in a row.
• He has run marathons in 12 different states.
• He turned in his best time in a marathon in 2002 in Austin when he ran a 3:38.
• For 20 years, he ran 2,000 miles per year or an average of 40 miles per week and now runs between 1,700 to 1,800 miles per year or 32 miles a week.
• For 20 years, he ran 5 days a week and has dropped it to 4 days a week but he also still works out in the gym 3 days a week to focus on core strength.
Chi running
When someone runs in as many races and puts in as many miles as Ruggles has over the years, there comes natural wear and tear on the body and Ruggles said he feels it.
“I don’t know that I’m ever without pain,” he noted.
One of the ways Ruggles has managed the pain is through Chi running, a technique he learned about 10 years ago.
Chi running is a form of running influenced by Tai Chi and is defined as “a running technique focused on reducing the impact of running on the joints and muscles of the body and therefore avoiding the onset of running related injuries.”
Ruggles said he leans forward and puts more of an emphasis on the core of the body and away from the legs when he runs. He said it took him several months to adjust to leaning forward while running but added that it has paid off.
“When I first did it, I thought I was going to die from my stomach and core area,” he said.
Sleep walking while running
One of the neat tricks Ruggles said he learned during the longer races was how to snooze while actually moving forward.
Some of the 100-mile races take more than 24 hours to complete and Ruggles said sleep deprivation during those events forced him to figure out a way to actually get some rest while still walking.
In portions of ultra-marathon races, an individual is allowed a partner that they can team up with. Ruggles said he would put his arm around his helper and lean his head on their shoulder, while the partner had an arm wrapped around him to help hold him up and Ruggles would doze off as they walked.
Ruggles said it’s not really a deep sleep but called it an altered state.
“I had some wild dreams in those altered states,” he said. “Once I dreamt I was chasing a naked blonde through the woods.”
Ruggles said he would “sleep” or be in this altered state for up to three hours and added that it really helped him deal with sleep deprivation and finish the races in much better shape.
The long and winding road
So how much longer does Ruggles plan to run?
“Until I can’t, but I want to be smart about it,” he said. “I’m scaling it back because it was getting harder to recover from it but I don’t have a ceiling, I enjoy it so much.”
Ruggles said he and his wife Sue Ellen follow a Keto diet, avoid sugar and generally eat healthy and added that his diet, his chi running and his love of running have helped him stay on the road, which is where you’ll find him four days a week in and around Boerne.
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