He crossed the finish line, but kept on going.
Dan Miller, 32, of Bismarck began walking on a Scheel's Sports treadmill at 10 a.m. Tuesday, aiming to break the Guinness Book of Records mark for treadmill walking of 137.6 miles in 48 hours, held by Paul Shields of Yorkshire, England. When he surpassed that mark at about 8:30 Thursday morning, he kept on going and finished at 139.76 miles.
The two days of walking broke Miller down a bit -- he lost 7 pounds, his feet were covered in blisters and his legs were swollen. He'd had only an hour of sleep in about 24 hours, broken into 10-minute intervals. He was losing his balance, was tired and dizzy and badly needed a shower.
But it was no big deal for Miller. A runner for only a year, Miller finished his first marathon, the Bismarck's YMCA race, third in his age class. And in October, he set out to run the Maah Daah Hey Trail in 24 hours. He made it 35 miles before his support crew -- two friends meeting him at stops for food and water -- handed in their resignations because of the weather.
His race against a record Thursday was another one of his "wild hairs." A salesman for Scheel's, Miller read about Shields' record in the back of a distributor magazine for treadmills. He decided about a month ago to do his 48-hour walk of insanity and is relieved that it's over.
"I don't like setting my mind on something and not accomplishing it," he said. "I like to get it done."
Now that this challenge is over, Miller can move on to the next one, even though he hasn't figured out what that will be quite yet. He says tackling the Maah Daah Hey is still on his "to do" list, but it might not happen as early as he'd planned. He needs to let his blisters heal.
Miller's accomplishment didn't serve just his personal satisfaction. He will be donating $570 collected from passersby to the Ruth Meiers Hospitality House.
Marci Narum, executive director of Ruth Meiers, said she was excited when Miller talked to her about doing something to help.
"When Dan approached us to do this fund-raiser, raising money was his first priority. Breaking the record was an afterthought," Narum said. "We were very excited and honored. Any time someone decides they want to do something for the organization it helps. Every little bit counts."
While Miller rests up today, pampering his aching limbs, he'll be looking back on his accomplishment. The tread of the treadmill was worn down as he walked, but the tread of his shoes fared much better. He plans on sending the shoes back to the company to tell them what their shoes can really do. And what he really did. |
