Is he dead or alive?
I was running on the opposite side of the track when it happened. Suddenly the leader in the 48-hour race collapsed and was sprawled out on the track on the inside lane. Several people raced to his side including the race director who was a physician. When I rounded the track, I could see it was Doyle Carpenter, the leader in the race. He was flat on the floor and wasn’t moving. His wife was by his side. She was crying and praying. He was moved off the track to avoid obstructing other runners.
I knew that he was an excellent ultra runner and was trying to break a 109-year-old record. He was well on pace for doing so with only five more hours to go. I, along with ten other people, was doing the shorter race. In this case it was a mere 24 hours. We were supposed to be the rabbits who would speed up the 48-hour group which consisted of 23 runners. The long race was billed as the main event being held at the Pensacola air naval station indoor track.
Each time I ran by him, I looked for improvement but could see none. His wife was still crying and now asking about last rites from the church. He was covered with a blanket and surrounded by so many people that I couldn’t tell what was going on. Seeing this happen raised my anxiety through the roof. I wondered if this was going to happen to me too. Do ultra runners collapse and fall to the track and die? What have I gotten myself into? After I made about 10 more laps around the track, I noticed that he was starting to move. I breathed a big sigh of relief. I guess he wasn’t going to die after all. The next time I went around he was being assisted to sit up. The next time he was standing up. This seemed like an amazing comeback, but he still looked very shaky, weak and confused. Then he started to walk on his own. The slow walk gradually increased to slow running. His pace picked up, as his buddies played the music from the movie “Rocky” on the arena speaker. This was his favorite running music.
When it was announced that there were just 10 seconds left, I saw the most incredible thing. I happened to be running right behind Doyle when he did a cartwheel and then a second cartwheel as the buzzer sounded. He ran 219 miles and set a new record. It seemed amazing to me that someone who was at death’s door and apparently out of contention for breaking a record, could make such a comeback and finish the race with such a display of power and energy. His picture was on the next issue of the magazine ultra running. I finished with 109 miles and was the winner in the short race.
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