Here’s the beef: Jurek’s championship body is fueled by nothing but plant food. Photo cred: Luis Escobar
Run Meat-Free, Ultrarunner Scott Jurek talks about his move to Colorado, and how writing his first book compares to competing in 100-mile races.
Born and raised in Minnesota, Scott Jurek was a complete unknown in 1999, when, at the age of 25, he won the prestigious Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. He went on to win the race seven years in a row, setting a course record. Jurek would also cross the finish line first in the Hardrock 100 and the notorious 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon (twice). But the endurance running demi-god gets just as much recognition for his diet—he’s vegan—as for his athleticism. We talked with Jurek about his first book, Eat and Run, two days before his wedding in the foothills of Boulder, his new hometown.
What brought you to Colorado?
I’ve been racing and training for 18 years and Boulder was the place where a bunch of my younger buddies were training. I came for the altitude and the access to the mountains and the community—being energized and motivated and inspired by all these athletes here, from runners to triathletes to cyclists. I’m one of the older guys now at 38, and I find a lot of inspiration from those folks.
What made you decide to write your first book, Eat and Run?
I put it off for years because I knew how much work it would be, and I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I’d always admired and enjoyed Steve Friedman’s pieces throughout the years, and thankfully he accepted my offer to co-write the book. I wanted to do it as more of a memoir, as opposed to a cookbook or training guide, because I love to teach and thought maybe I could do that best by sharing my life story, combining the food and the running.
How does writing a book compare to running an ultra?
It’s really quite similar. Just like in an ultramarathon, there were times when I wondered, why am I doing this? And similar to a really hard stretch of trail, there were times when sections just didn’t feel right, or like the entire process was just never going to end. There were also lots of sleepless nights, much like ultra marathons. A lot of blood, sweat and tears go into writing a book, same with running ultras.
In the book, you reveal your strained relationship with your father and the impact your mother’s Multiple Sclerosis had on you. What made you decide to get so personal?
I really wanted to tell those stories because I felt like people assumed I’d always been an athlete, or came from this family that was super-gifted and athletics were part of my genes. I wanted people to know there was a struggle. Because that’s where I’ve learned the most powerful lessons—be it puking my guts out lying face down in Death Valley or having a mother who couldn’t do things like my friends’ mothers could—because that’s real life. And in the end, you really grow from those experiences. It was difficult to share those things about myself, but also cathartic.
Your book has a lot of information about veganism, but I’ve heard you don’t stick to the diet 100 percent of the time?
Yeah it happens. Usually when I’m someplace international, a remote place where maybe you just can’t eat vegan. Like the time I was snorkeling all day long on this guided trip, and decided I’m not just going to go hungry for days. Or if someone goes through the trouble of making me a special vegetarian lasagna, and it contains dairy, well, I’m going to eat it anyway. When that happens, people are like, oh no I’ve ruined my vegan streak. But really, it’s a pretty common occurrence, and not a big deal. You just go back to eating vegan when you again have the choice. You haven’t lost it. I try and keep my eye on the bigger picture. I don’t try to convince people to become totally vegan. Maybe they go meatless half the week. I’m more in the school of thought that we need to get people pointed in the right direction, and if they’re making progress, that’s my goal.
What’s beyond running for you right now?
I just got back from Kenya, doing land conservation work with the Nature Conservancy. I’m interested in nonprofit work, whether that’s conserving natural resources, working with chronic disease and caregivers or working on health and wellness and the obesity epidemic we’re having in the Western world. Running has been a vehicle for me to explore my own heath and my own potential, but it can be self-serving sometimes. So I’m looking forward to doing more outside myself, whether it’s writing more, speaking more, just getting people to take better care of their bodies on a larger scale and making that a priority.
The book ends with an epilogue about the 2010 World 24-Hour Championships, where you claimed silver. What’s your focus now?
I still have a few mountain projects I want to do, what I call trail journey runs, where you’re going from Point A to Point B, not necessarily racing. And I want to race a few other 100-milers, but I really want to break the record for the 24 Hour. That race is really different than what I love to do in the mountains, but it strips me down to the core. That’s what running is all about. •
