1984 Eastern graduate among the unique few to compete in 138-mile ultramarathon races in Arizona
Collin Whitchurch/Sports Editor
Perry Edinger competes in a race during the 1982 cross country season.(Courtesy 1983 Warbler Yearbook)
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When Perry Edinger was growing up in Mattoon, he always knew he could run.
"It was the one thing I was good at," he said. "I was always pretty fast. But thought eventually I would move out of it."
Not only did Edinger not move out of it, he became something of an expert at it. Edinger, a 1984 Eastern graduate whose name can still be found in the school's cross country record books, doesn't just run anymore. He runs 135 miles at a time, the equivalent of a trip from Charleston to St. Louis, and he does so in just more than a day. He does it at temperatures as high as 120 degrees, and at depths as low as 282 feet below sea level and as high as 8,360 feet above sea level.
What Edinger competes in is called the Badwater Ultramarathon, a race only the best of the best compete in, 86 total in this year's race, which he finished ninth in.
But when the 48-year-old returns home to speak to the kinesiology and sports science department Oct. 3, his first trip home since 1992, don't expect him to be tooting his own horn about his ultramarathon adventures. He likely won't tell you about how he was Lance Armstrong's guide runner when the seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor competed in the Boston Marathon two years ago unless you ask.
Nor will he talk about his friendship with former NFL star and war hero Pat Tillman, who gave up millions of dollars in the NFL to fight for his country and was killed in action five years ago. If you ask about these experiences, he will be more than happy to share a story or two with you, but for the former athletic trainer and current research coordinator at an orthopedic clinic group, gloating just isn't his style.
"He's a humble guy. He won't tell you a whole lot," said Thomas Woodall, Edinger's cross country coach at Eastern his freshman and sophomore years.
Woodall, who taught at Eastern for 35 years but is now retired and serves as a professor emeritus, is one of the few people from Eastern who Edinger still keeps in close contact with. And it was Woodall who convinced Edinger to return home and share his knowledge with students.
Woodall said Edinger would meet three separate times during his stay at Eastern over homecoming weekend.
He plans to meet with exercise classes in Lantz Arena on the morning of Oct. 3, speak to athletic trainers and athletic trainer students for the university that afternoon, and in the evening he's going to speak about running at First Baptist Church, 2800 S. University Drive.
Although the location of the evening event is off campus, Woodall said it is open to the public and is still a university-sponsored event. He said the event had to be moved off campus because by the time Edinger's visit was secured, all the locations on campus were already booked. But Woodall is confident that Edinger's experience with running and the 13 years he spent as the head athletic trainer at Arizona State University will prove vital to those who attend.
"We'll have him talk about different things such as 'How do you run for 29 years straight?'" Woodall said. "He'll talk about different fuels, training for it, the mental aspects."
Edinger said he gives speeches in Arizona similarly to the one he plans to give at Eastern. He said he is excited to come back and visit family and friends he hasn't seen in quite some time. His last visit was in 1992 when he interviewed for the head trainer job at Eastern.
"Like any school, people move along and some of the people I was here with have moved along which is fine," Edinger said. "Some people I know from Eastern are my closest friends."
Woodall says it would have been impossible to predict that Edinger, or anyone for that matter, would be competing at the level he is at today.
And he's one of the many who is amazed at his endurance.
"There's only a small percentage of people who can endure the training to be that successful without injury to their body or mind," he said. "Perry, the last five or six years, has been so disciplined. There isn't anything that comes up he can't endure."
For Edinger, it's just another goal accomplished. He doesn't run for the fame or the fortune, in fact, runners who complete the Badlands Ultramarathon in fewer than 60 hours receive only a T-shirt.There is no prize money.
So when he returns to Eastern this weekend for the first time in 17 years, it is likely to be filled with memories and he's excited for the occasion.
"Times change and your life makes changes," Edinger said. "But the one thing I could always do is run."
Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.
