PUBLISHED 12/19/2006
On Friday December 15 Dean stopped running in St. Charles, Missouri. He had planned to run home to San Francisco from New York City, where on November 5, he ran the ING New York City marathon, completing his bid to run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states, the Endurance 50. Dean chose St. Charles as his finish line because it was the site of the first Endurance 50 marathon, Lewis and Clark, on September 17.
After 28 days on the road and close to 1300 miles, it was getting to be too much. Dean decided it was time to stop running to go home and be with his family, "I wanted to go back to dad mode. I have a wife and two children and I've been away from them far too long."
Dean admits the route from NYC had been impromptu. He often ended up on heavily trafficked streets. His father, who he calls Popou, served as support crew and navigator. The first week of December, Dean and Popou braved harsh road conditions when an ice storm hit while they were crossing from Ohio into Indiana. Yet many people tracked Dean down just to run with him for a day. He was thrilled so many people came out to run, and he wishes that he had been able meet and run with more, as well as visit more schools.
Our guess is we'll see more of Dean in 2007 but for now he's putting up Christmas lights and shopping for Christmas gifts.
To read more about Dean's decision to stop his Run Home in his own words, checkout his blog
