World Around You--May/June 1997--President on the Run--for Miles and Miles. Gallaudet University

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President on the Run— for Miles and Miles He made famous the phrase "deaf people can do anything..." and then he did it.
First he became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University. Then he accelerated his racing schedule—and became a one of the nation's top long distance runners. Over mountains, through deserts, Gallaudet's president runs even more than a university.

Gallaudet's President I. King Jordan is almost always on the run. When he is not busy working with the U.S. Congress, advocating for deaf people, or managing the world's only liberal arts university for deaf students, Jordan may be found in sneakers and comfortable clothes—and running.
"From November 91 through October '96, I ran a marathon a month," said Jordan, responding to World Around You's questions via e-mail. "I ran 60 straight." Last summer, Jordan graduated from marathons to ultramarathons, competing in the 1996 Grand Slam in the Wasatch Front Endurance Run, in the mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah.
Marathon races, which trace their origin to the ancient Greeks, are 26 miles and 385 yards. Ultramarathons are 100 miles. The Grand Slam was four of them, completed within a four month summer and within a certain time limit for each. Jordan, like the other elite running participants, ran through rugged land. He crossed mountains and deserts, and forded streams. He faced rain, ice, snow, as well as temperatures that climbed to 100 degrees.
"I carry a small fanny pack with energy bars and water bottles," Jordan noted. "When I run out of water, I fill bottles with water from nearby streams and purify the water with iodine pills. I often run for several hours at a time." Only 66 other men and women have successfully completed the four-race run since it started 10 years ago.
Jordan has another 100 mile race planned for June and a 50-mile race planned for spring. But his "most memorable" race was his first, he said, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.
"Running is a fantastic feeling," Jordan said. "To be so independent and so alone with nature... it is more relaxing than I can possibly tell. You have to experience it."

General comments may be sent to: ISCS.ClercCenter@gallaudet.edu