Marathoner to run 58-mile leg in Sahara
Plenty of people like to get some sunshine and a little exercise when they are on vacation, but George Chmiel, 28, is taking it to the extreme.
The Charlestown resident has entered a seven-day, 150-mile foot race that will take him across the trackless wastes of the Sahara Desert in temperatures of up to 115 degrees.
The runs will include a 22-mile segment that goes up and down sand dunes and a 58-miler that he hopes to complete in 13 to 14 hours, he said.
“I’m excited. I’m ready to get out there and take this thing on,’’ Chmiel said Wednesday via cellphone as he sat in the plane at Logan Airport that took him to Cairo.
Chmiel said that after his arrival in Egypt, he and 128 other competitors from 30 countries will be bused 8 miles into the desert to begin the race Sunday.
He will carry about 20 pounds of food and gear on his back and start out each morning at 8. Every eight to 10 miles, the race will have a checkpoint manned by a volunteer and a doctor - with water. He will also get a whistle to blow if he gets into trouble.
“It’s totally insane yet at the same time it makes a bunch of sense,’’ he said.
Chmiel has been running for about two years, he said in an interview earlier this week, but he has completed nine marathons. He trained hard for this race with runs of four, five, and six hours on weekends, including a 34-miler one day, and a Saturday and Sunday in which he did back-to-back marathon-length runs. He also trained in 117-degree heat in Death Valley.
“I have an addictive personality,’’ said Chmiel, who works in the financial services industry, “and it didn’t take long to catch on and now it’s a big part of my life.’’
Chmiel said he is also running to raise money for a cause he cares about deeply. After watching his friends Mike and Jolie Horvath of Conroe, Texas, cope with their daughter Luci’s struggle with congenital panhypopituitarism, an extremely rare condition in which the pituitary gland does not produce enough hormones, Chmiel wants to help. The family’s courage is “absolutely amazing,’’ he said.
His run has already raised more than $50,000 for the MAGIC Foundation, which is a non-profit dedicated to children with medical conditions or disorders affecting their growth, including panhypopituitarism.
“It’s a blessing, the amount of awareness he’s been able to raise for the MAGIC Foundation,’’ Mike Horvath said in a telephone interview from Texas. “George’s heart has got to be bigger than the State of Texas.’’
The Sahara Race is part of the 4 Deserts Series and attracts leading endurance athletes, according to its website.
Chmiel acknowledged that he is less experienced than other competitors, but vowed to finish.
“I know there’s no chance . . . I’ll quit,’’ Chmiel said. “The only way I don’t make it across that finish line is if they have to helevac me out of there.’’ Hassan Haydar, 59, of Quincy, a veteran of 24 marathons and one 50-mile race, as well as a runner of many unofficial marathons and longer-than-marathon runs, said that if Chmiel has trained properly, he will make it.
“I’m sure this guy is trained for it and mentally is prepared for it. The training is really where the secret is,’’ he said. “It’s doable. You go nice and slow and you get there eventually.’’
