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In this issue, Carol O’Hear, MD, PhD, discusses
ultra-running and trail-running – and putting mind
over body. Dr. O’Hear completed her pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital in 2014 and joined Genentech
in South San Francisco, California, as an assistant
medical director.
Going the Distance
Carol O’Hear, MD, PhD
Join Dr. O’Hear
on the ASH
Foundation
Run/Walk on
December 6,
2015. For more
information,
visit webapps.
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org/runwalk.
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What is “ultra-running”?
“Ultra-running,” or “ultra-distance running” is defined
as anything over 26.2 miles, or anything longer than
a traditional marathon. I love all types of running and
over the past several years, I’ve run everything from
the mile, to 5Ks, traditional marathons, all the way up
to 100-mile runs. My preferred type of running is trail
ultra-distance, and I try to do at least one 100-mile
run each year. Usually, these long-distance races are
run in one stretch, which means running through the
night, and usually through the mountains.
to Seattle, signed up for a 50-mile trail race and
started working toward that goal.
There’s a wonderful sense of fellowship within
ultra-running that I haven’t experienced in other
sports. It’s an interesting sport because technically
everybody is running for themselves. However,
when you’re out there in the mountains for so
long, you realize that you are dependent on other
people. If you need help, other runners are often
more than happy to sacrifice their own race times
to offer their assistance.
When did you start running? Did you participate in
any other sports?
I started racing when I was seven or eight years old.
At that time, my motivation was to spend more
time with my dad, and we trained for and ran 4Ks
and 5Ks together. At my middle school, the only
organized sport available was cross-country, so I
joined the team, although my motivation then was
the free pizza party at the end of the season for
kids who ran more than 60 miles.
In high school, I played basketball and tennis,
but I realized that I preferred the camaraderie and
the competition in cross-country. I continued to
focus on running through college and graduate
school, and while I was back home in Indiana for
Christmas break, I ran my first 10-mile trail race.
Do you have any horror stories of running on the trail?
I ran the Leadville 100-miler in Colorado, which is
famously known being one of the highest 100-milers.
It is run between 9,000 and just under 14,000
feet elevation. The first time I ran it, I was living in
Seattle, which is basically at sea level, so starting a
race at 10,000 feet was quite a shock to my system.
Around mile 70, in the middle of the night, I became
hypothermic and started hallucinating. Luckily, it
wasn’t anything terrifying: I hallucinated that there
were people cheering me on along the side of the
course, and that there was a pizza waiting for me just
a few more yards ahead. I suppose pizza is a running
theme in my running career … .
But I got through the night with the help of a
great pacer and a baggie of warm mashed potatoes
and bacon from an aid station. Things started
looking better the next day, and I found the energy
to finish the race – barely.
The biggest challenge in preparing for these
runs is to train your legs to run even when they
are tired. You have to keep telling yourself that it
will get better. Don’t give up yet because there will
be a second wind, a third wind, and a fourth wind
… . There will be highs and lows, and you have to
mentally trick yourself to power through the lows.
What prompted you to enter that race and to start
ultra-running?
After college, I started running farther and farther,
so it was a natural progression. That year I ran
the 10-miler was also the first year Trail Runner
magazine came out. All of the runners were given
a copy of the first issue, and I read that magazine
so many times that the pages started falling apart.
My favorite article was written by a man who had
just finished what’s called the “Grand Slam of UltraRunning,” which e ntails running the four oldest 100mile trail races all in one summer – basically running
400 miles within the space of 12 weeks. I thought,
“That sounds like fun. I can do that.” So, I went back
ASH Clinical News
What stands out as the proudest accomplishments in ultra-running? Are there any trails or
races that you still want to tackle?
In 2004, I finished as the third-place female at the
Photo caption
Western States Endurance Run (the oldest 100-miler
in the country with a long and rich history in the ultrarunning community), with a time of 20 hours and
24 minutes. To be able to go out there as a relative
newcomer and do well was pretty amazing.
And, in the summer of 2008, I finally finished
the “Grand Slam.” That summer ended up being a
very sub-optimal time to run those races: weather
conditions were bad, and, because it was the
summer between the first and second years of my
residency, I wasn’t able to train very well. A race
weekend entailed taking overnight call, leaving the
hospital in barely enough time to fly or drive to the
race for runner check-in, and starting running at 4
or 5 a.m. the next day.
Obviously, my times suffered as a result of
that crazy schedule, but I actually improved as the
summer went on, to the point that I finished the
fourth and final race as the first-place female. In
the end, it was wonderful to come full circle and
achieve the “Grand Slam” goal that sparked my
interest in ultra-distance running.
Clearly, ultra-running requires determination
and endurance – do you find yourself using those
skills in your career as a hematologist?
Absolutely – I feel like I use all of the skills that I
use in running in hematology. I don’t ever run with
music, so I spend all of those hours on the trail
thinking and processing things – including what’s
going on at work, troubleshooting and prioritizing
the projects I’m working on.
I don’t give up easily, in work or in running.
There are ups and downs in each part of my life,
and in both running and in my career, I’ve learned
to focus on the positives rather than get bogged
down by what’s going wrong. I believe I’m much
more effective at work because I run.
Also, because I’m now accustomed to being
up all night running, staying up on call in the
hospital never bothered me. It’s a lot easier than
running 100 miles! ●
October 2015