Sandpoint runner finishes 50K race
SANDPOINT — Training to build up to his ultimate goal of running for 24 hours straight, Sandpoint’s Chuy Fragoso completed the 50K portion of the Spokane River Run on Sunday, finishing the 31 mile race in under five hours.
Fragoso, 36, had never run longer than 21 miles at once before Sunday, when he finished the grueling race in 4:48.41, good enough for 12th overall out of the 71 runners who finished.
The race served as a tune-up for September’s 24 Hours for Hank race, which Fragoso hopes to run instead of biking, which bothers his hands. He had no idea how he’d fare in the River Run, but figured he better test the waters before he bites off more than he can chew.
“If I can’t do a 50K, I’ve got no business trying to run for 24 hours,” explained Fragoso, who hopes to crack the century mark in miles during 24 Hours for Hank. “Why not make it four full marathons. 104.8, that’s the magic number.”
Self employed, Fragoso owns a U.S. Patent and his curtain system has been used at the Oscars, among other places. He fills the holes in his day pounding the pavement, running anywhere between 35-50 miles a week.
He snowboarded more than 80 runs during the 24 Hours for Schweitzer, also a fundraiser for local Hank Sturgis, who has Cystinosis. To run for the full 24 hours, Fragoso knows he’ll need to build up even more stamina. Save for his quads cramping, his body held up during the Spokane run, giving him hope.
“After 21 miles I was like ‘my body’s never seen this before,” he said, noting the course also featured a number of hill climbs, some of which he had to walk. “At mile 19 I got a cramp that made me scream like a schoolgirl, and I cramped for the last 12 miles.”
His wife and kids met him at the halfway point to give him high fives and encouragement, a welcome sight after a stretch along the trail where he went more than 15 miles without running into anyone. Having never attempted a marathon, it was the hardest he’d ever pushed himself, joking afterward that he’d set a personal best.
As if running 31 miles wasn’t hard enough on the body, Fragoso popped some advil and went out and ran some Ultimate Frisbee the following night.