He Depresses Me

I do not know what you think about the flip flop runner, but I think he depresses me. I can barely slog my way through a marathon under the best of conditions. I have to fight my ass off just to get in under 4 hours and I usually do that gritting my teeth and sprinting to the nearest porta potty.

Then this dude comes along and runs the Baltimore Marathon last weekend in 2:46. Impressive time, no? But, he also did it in a pair of flip flops. Hot dang if he doesn't look happy. I first heard about this guy from Miss Zippy who is a member of his running group. But, then Runner’s World interviewed him and now he is a celebrity. I wish Tosh.O would have him on.

I wanted more info on flip flop man. All I know is he looks to be having the time of his life. I want to ask him - wasn’t your weenus hurting (isn’t that what you call the area between your big toe and second toe)?

Maybe he is wearing a special flip flop with super powers. Maybe he is a pro athlete who has the best coaches and nutritionists and foot massage therapists. Maybe he cheated, stopped at Wal-Mart at mile 25.2, threw away his $200 running shoes and put on the flip flops. No, he is the real deal, just a regular dude like you and me with crazy running talent.

Here’s what I found out about our friend:

Name: Keith Levasseur

Age: 34

Hometown: Glen Burnie, MD

College Attended: University of Maryland

Profession: Program Manager

Running History: Ran cross country and track in high school, stopped for awhile, resumed running in 2008 to get back in shape.

Legs: Nice

Tattoo: Yes, on left bicep, but I can’t tell what it is (he was in the Marine Corps, so maybe it has something to do with that). Or, maybe it is a smudge mark from changing his oil.

Brand of flip flop: Reef (retails for about $40)

Marathon PR: 2:38 (Marine Corps Marathon, 2011 – in traditional running shoes)

Half Marathon PR: 1:17

100 Mile PR: 24 hours, 44 minutes

Furthest he’d ever run at one time in flip flops before last weekend: 14 miles

Next Step: Filling out paperwork to get into Guinness Book of World Records for running the fastest marathon in flip flops.

I love it when people do surprising things that make all of us shake our heads and wonder, “How the crap did they pull that off?”

What did you think of this guy? Impressed or do you think he is nuts? Impressed, dude’s a stud. 

Have you or would you ever try running in flip flops? I ran in flip flops once when I was ten and trying to catch the ice cream truck.

SUAR