Man runs from Texas to the Springs to do the Pikes Peak Marathon

We often think that which deviates from the norm is crazy.

Why run 26.2 miles, as 773 people did in Sunday’s Pikes Peak Marathon, when a car works?

Why put the body through abuse akin to medieval torture?

If running a marathon up and down a mountain is crazy, then Alan Brock, a resident of Pflugerville, Texas, has taken crazy to a new level. Brock ran from Austin, Texas, to Manitou Springs to compete in possibly the most grueling marathon in the nation.

Including the marathon, Brock covered 918.4 miles in 40 days.

That’s 918.4 miles that included long runs in central and west Texas humidity. If it wasn’t the humidity hurting him, it was the undulating hills. When it wasn’t the hills, it was the nostril-clearing smell of Lamar’s commercial feedlots. Still, Brock averaged 23.48 miles a day through the first 38 days.

He rested on Day 39.

What a slacker.

Seriously, though, even while shaking our heads, we should be applauding the feat. Brock was running in hopes of helping to curb childhood obesity, trying to raise money for Youth InterACTIVE, an Austin-based program geared to getting and keeping children physically and socially active.

Brock, 45, finished the Marathon, his third on Pikes Peak, in 8 hours, 33 minutes, 20 seconds.

As Brock said, “I’m slow, really slow.”

After 918.4 miles, nobody expects a Road Runner.

“Oh, the man is a god, amazing, amazing ...” fellow Texan Brenton Buxton said.

Having completed the Pikes Peak Ascent or Marathon 42 times — including 17 years of running both — Buxton, 44, is no stranger to extreme running.

“It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen anybody do, but my hat is off to him,” Buxton said. “I am in awe of his endurance.”

Boulder resident Dave Mackey, who finished second to Manitou Springs’ Matt Carpenter, also shook his head thinking about what it would take to complete Brock’s accomplishment.

“I don’t know, Jesus? Buddha? Some other-worldly being,” Mackey, 37, said. “I couldn’t do it. No way. That’s a different breed there.”

For Brock, it took hitting rock bottom before he could start living the life he wanted.

From 1992 to 2004, Brock’s life spiraled downward.

His marriage was dissolving. So was his work as a minister.

Add that to the everyday stress of dealing with having young children and Brock was a welcome entry into hotel depression.

He turned to food and beer and more food and, still, more food. Food became Brock’s mistress, and he visited often. Brock put more than 100 pounds on his 5-foot-8 frame — ballooning to 287 pounds by October 2004.

“A person sometimes eats to try and fulfill this void in their life,” Brock said. “So I asked myself, ‘Is this really doing that? Is eating everything in sight and just sitting around really making me feel better about life and making me happy?’

“Obviously the answer was ‘No.’ So I changed it.”

Brock entered a weight management program in the fall of 2004. He started running again, too. Fifteen minutes on the treadmill turned to 30 minutes, which turned to a 5K.

Eventually Brock ran a 10K and a half marathon.

From October 2004 until August 2005, Brock went from 287 pounds to finishing the Pikes Peak Marathon in 8:21:27 — weighing 186.

“When you’re no longer in the career you were in, when your marriage has failed and you’re sitting at 287, are you going to sit there and be miserable or are you going to take control?” Brock said.

Brock said food used to be his friend. However, constantly giving a false sense of satisfaction, it wasn’t a good one.

“Food is my fuel now,” he said.

Brock admits it’s a little extreme to do what he did. But running played a big role in helping him regain control of his life.

So, it’s not crazy that Brock chose running as a way to raise money and more awareness for childhood obesity.

It would’ve been crazy if Brock deviated and didn’t run.