“Every long distance runner I’ve known is working through a fairly serious personal issue,” said Brendon Thompson, a week before he embarks on the biggest running challenge of his life in the Grand to Grand (G2G) Ultra-marathon race.
The 43-year-old athlete from Wellington, New Zealand, spoke candidly about what led him to participate in the third annual six-stage foot race centered around Kanab. He, along with 114 other super-conditioned men and women ages 23 to 72, will begin the 170 mile cross country race on September 21, from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon; and try to finish a week later at the 9000 foot summit of the Pink Cliffs in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Finding a healthier way to cope with stress generated from two failed marriages, managing a fledgling information technology (IT) enterprise, and helping raise his three children ages 7-14, are the issues motivating Thompson.
“I was depressed over my second marriage folding,” related Thompson, “and I was drinking excessively and smoking too much. My nine-year-old IT company is just now starting to do well.  I take and care for my kids every other week. Thankfully, their mothers agreed to take care of them an extra week while I’m here in the U.S. for the first time.”
“A year ago I saw an Internet segment on the G2G race and I told myself that I had to do that,” he stated. “I wasn’t a runner before that moment, but I was determined to compete in this race, and in fact, was the first one to sign up for the 2014 G2G.”
“I found myself a mentor in Gary Moller,” continued Thompson. “He is not a trainer, but more of an advisor. He took a clip of my hair and had it analyzed for nutritional deficiencies. He recommended several vitamin-mineral supplements and diet changes. He said I was too fat and I needed to quit drinking alcohol and stop smoking, which I did.”
Thompson began training heavily a year ago and suffered a...
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Grand 2 Grand website: http://www.g2gultra.com/