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UCF Associate Chemistry Professor Seth Elsheimer’s journey to run over 300 marathons begins with “just a little further.”
Elsheimer was an occasional runner when he encouraged two students in his organic chemistry class at UCF to join him for a run and then register for a 5k race. The former footballers were in better shape but also heavier than the nervous Elsheimer, so their paces generally matched. Elsheimer started off with 3.1 mile runs, then 6.2 mile runs, then to a nine mile run in Jacksonville.
Elsheimer clearly remembers how quiet the car got after driving the 9 mile course before the race.
“None of us have run this far before,” Elsheimer recalls with a laugh.
The increasingly longer distances led to his first half marathon around 1991 at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Recreational running was much less popular in the early 1990s, forcing Elsheimer to throw in a wide net to find his first marathon. The legendary Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC was his choice.
“I’m not that quick, but I’m stubborn,” Elsheimer says.
This stubborn streak launched an incredible running career.
Since graduating from a marathon over 25 years ago, Elsheimer has run a marathon in all 50 states three times – and he’s 35 states in a fourth lap in June 2021. Including his daily mileage and his training, the nearly 70- A year old estimates he has now traveled over 44,000 miles in his lifetime.
Part of the motivation comes from exercise, and the ability to spend time alone has its appeal too. But the truth is, Elsheimer says, he doesn’t even like to run too much.
“I like to tell stories of war,” he says. “I love the culture of running.
Elsheimer remembers a period in 2009 when he was undergoing chemotherapy; he “only” completed three marathons that year. Towards the end of his second round of chemo, he contracted pneumonia and was on intravenous medication to treat it.
He left the bag in the car, finished his Disney marathon, then plugged the bag back in.
“If you want to be stupid, you better be tough,” Elsheimer says.
Another favorite anecdote comes from an ultramarathon. The hot weather forced the race organizers to weigh participants regularly to check their hydration levels. Fearing a negative result would drive him out of the race, Elsheimer filled his pockets with stones before a weigh-in. The nurse was shocked that he not only avoided losing weight, but gained some as well.
“I’m not nervous anymore before (an event) because I know it’s going to be either a good race or a good story,” says Elsheimer.
Often times, places carry their own unique stories.
He has completed renowned races like Chicago and Boston several times, as well as international milestones like Prague, Reykjavik (Iceland) and Athens, Greece, which hosted the first marathon of the 1896 Olympics.
Running in Montana involved mountain climbs and temperatures that caught a Florida-based marathoner off guard. Detroit was probably one of the coldest marathons, but the Disney Marathon, usually held in February, also experienced sub-freezing temperatures a year, causing runners to slide across the ice at water stations. .
These stories are usually not part of Elsheimer’s chemistry curriculum, but the hard-learned lessons of his days as a road warrior still emerge.
“I encourage the students to prepare, practice and persevere,” he says.
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