By Kyle LoJacono
In May Ed Krufka set out on a mission to run 50 miles on his 50th birthday and now that occasion is within sights for the Land O’ Lakes resident.
“I got the idea from a friend who told me his father did the same thing about five years ago and I’ve heard of others doing similar runs,” Krufka said. “It hit me that my 50th was coming up and I thought about it for a couple years. Then in May I had to decide if I wanted to put in the training to do this.”
Krufka’s birthday is Oct. 14, but because that is a Thursday he will make the run Oct. 17, a Sunday. His plan is to start at 2 a.m. and be finished in about 10 hours.
His route will take him from his house behind the Village Lakes Shopping Center to SR 54 east to Collier Parkway. From there he will turn north on Collier for several miles before looping back. The route will allow him to run five to 10 miles per loop without crossing major roads.
Krufka has run in 10 marathons, which are 26.2-miles long, but nothing of this length until he began with his training.
“I’ve put in 30-mile runs as part of the training, but that’s as far as I’ve gone,” Krufka said. “I’ve done 55 miles on a weekend, that’s 30 miles one day and 25 the next, but the real mystery is what happens after 30 miles at one time.”
Krufka said he has put in about 1,000 miles during the last 22 weeks, which is about double what he would normally do while training for a marathon. Also, because of the very hot summer he regularly started running at 3 a.m. to finish before the heat of the day.
Krufka mainly runs alone so he does not have to worry about someone else’s pace. He first started running for distance at about 8-years-old because his father, Ed Krufka Sr., did as well. He continued running in high school on his cross county team.
Krufka’s oldest son Seth also became a runner because of his father. Seth, 27, is currently a cross county coach at a school in Shakoolik, Alaska.
“When he told me that this was his plan, I was simultaneously proud of him and excited for the possibility of doing a long run of my own one day,” Seth said. “More than once he’s insinuated that I should run 30 on my 30th, which I would say is a definite possibility.”
Krufka’s wife Lavinia had a different first reaction.
“At first I thought this is crazy, but I also knew he would be able to do it,” Lavinia said.
According to Lavinia, it is rare for Ed to go more than a couple days without running.
“There was one time were he didn’t run for about three weeks after a marathon and that’s when I learned he really does need it,” Lavinia said. “He just didn’t seem himself. He’s not competitive with others, just with himself. He keeps close records of his time and always wants to do better.”
One of the challenges Krufka has had in his training is he travels to Atlanta every other weekend for his job. He was able to find a hotel with a running route so he could keep up with his training.
While he normally runs alone, Krufka said several people will be running parts of his trek with him. Seth will not be able to get to Land O’ Lakes for the event, but will be running five miles in the Alaskan tundra at the same time to support his father.
Krufka has been keeping a blog during his training, edrunning.blogspot.com.
“One of the interesting things is the feedback from people from the blog,” Krufka said. “Many people have said they’ve been encouraged to run themselves. It’s very rewarding to set this goal and have other people encouraged to do the same.”
