Runner Profile: Dane Rauschenberg to Run a Marathon a Week

Dane Rauscheberg, 29, is on a quest to run 52 marathons during 2006 in order to raise funds for the L’Arche-Mobile charity.

Dane started running marathons only two years ago. He then decided to add his own personal twist to his marathon addiction. “My original plan was to run one in every state.” But many people have done that, “so I thought of running one every week – not many people have done that.” Dane then decided to combine his quest with the goal of raising $52,000 for charity during the year.

Unlike Bob Fletcher, the author of Spaghetti Every Friday, who took a year off from his job to run marathons, Dane is continuing to work full time as a patent attorney. Dane is not worried about injuries and is optimistic about reaching his goals. Dane’s 2005 racing includes 8 marathons, 6 halfs and one ultra without injury.

Dane does not view this task as heroic and insists on being an “ordinary guy.” The message Dane hopes to convey from this project is, “Don’t be disheartened that you can’t do stuff. I want people to follow their goals and ambitions. The only time you can guarantee failure is if you don’t try.” Dane learned this from his father who lost the use of his legs in a hunting accident before Dane was born.

Although Dane does not go all out in each race, he hopes to finish them all in less than 4 hours. To date, Dane ran 3:48 at the Disney World Marathon, 3:28 at the First Light Marathon, 3:40 at the Orlando Xtreme Marathon, 3:31 at the ING Miami Marathon, 3:28 at the Ocala Marathon and 3:27 at the Mercedes Marathon.

You can follow Dane’s progress at: http://www.allsportrunning.com/fiddy2. Dane lives in Arlington, VA and is a member of the Washington Running Club.