Posted: July 24, 2006

Ultra Running: Mega Marathon Runner Breaks Own World Record in New York After 41 Consecutive Days, 3,100 Miles

Wolfgang Schwerk set world record in Queens, NY on 7/22/06 - Photo: LANXESS

NEW YORK, July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolfgang Schwerk from Solingen, Germany, who set out in New York on June 11, 2006 to break his own world record, achieved his primary goal on July 22: He ran 3,100 miles around an apartment block in a residential section of Queens, New York, in a record 41 days, 8 hours, 16 minutes and 29 seconds that makes him the world's best long distance runner.

In fact, Schwerk broke his own world record that he set in 2002 by 29 hours, 7 minutes, 34 seconds. Heightening the marvel of his feat, he reached the finishing line 10 days before the official end of the certified Mega Marathon. If it had not been for the permanent record-breaking heat wave in New York, Schwerk says he would have run an additional 600 miles. "It was a dream to come back to New York to beat my own world record and I'm thankful to have reached this milestone. For me, running is the ultimate of freedom," says Schwerk.

Running, eating, drinking, sleeping are four words that characterize the rhythm of life of the running adventure that spanned 41 consecutive days, 75 miles per day. Since June 11, his highly rigorous day began after rising from a three hour sleep at 5 a.m. and running continually until midnight on the hard concrete, with no days off. Schwerk, who likes to sing opera while he runs to bide the time, ran the equivalent of three marathons every day, subsisting on a diet primarily of non-wheat noodles and toast, natural rice, sweet potatoes, rice and coconut milk, electrolyte-infused water (3 gallons a day) and honeydew melon.

As important as it is to have a healthy diet for athletes like Schwerk, so is the first-class equipment needed to accomplish this super-human feat. His sponsor, LANXESS (one of the world's leading suppliers of high-grade plastics and rubbers) treated Schwerk's clothing with its special additive Tastex® Cool-Ex, which gave the running vest a cooling effect. The soles of Schwerk's high-tech running shoes contained special-purpose rubber Krynac®, also manufactured by LANXESS. The material is particularly abrasion-resistant, an important aspect in the world's toughest footrace. Many running shoes are worn through after two days of MegaMarathon running. With his special shoes, Schwerk could run much further.

Photos and background information on Wolfgang Schwerk can be found at Record Run.

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