I met Doug via FB and my blog and in hearing his story I wanted to make sure others could do so as well, and benefit from it. As you will read, Doug has Crohn's Disease and Diabetes but he does not let that stop him. Enjoy and be encouraged as Doug shares a little about himself.
Tell us a little about yourself not necessarily related to running: age, where born, education, area you
live in, etc…..
My name is Doug Lynch and I turn 50 July 5th (finally will be in Master division) and I was born in Louisville, KY but currently live in Shepherdsville for the last 20 years with my wife Lori.
What is your profession?
Airline Technical Writer for UPS writing and revising flight manuals and training manuals for flight crewmembers.
How did you start running and what prompted you to do so?
In the spring of 2014 after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and surviving losing over half the blood in my body from this disease and spending months in hospitals getting blood transfusions, iron infusions and every test known to man. I knew I had to become the healthiest version of myself. So I started running and when I got introduced to trail running I immediately fell in love with it.
How long have you been running?
Just celebrated 4 years running.
Did you participate in any other sports over the years?
I played basketball, football, baseball and soccer as a kid.
Did you run in grade school, High School or College? If so where?
I ran track in grade school and I ran cross country my freshman year for Louisville Saint Xavier. However, I only won one race and really didn’t like running fast for more than a few hundred meters and I gave up the sport after one season. But I was a pretty fast sprinter and ran in the Mason Dixon games back in 1984.
So we get an idea of where you have been with running can you share your PR’s for: 5K, 10K marathon and any other distance you may have run in the past.
- 5K - 23:22
- 10K - 49:07
- 10 Miler - 1:22:53
- Half Marathon Road course - 1:54:08
- Half Marathon Trail course - 2:33:34
- Full Marathon Road course - 4:16:29
- Full Marathon Trail course - 5:00:47
- Ultra 50K trail race - 7:24:20
- Ultra 60K trail race – 10:24:45
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| Grand Canyon |
My most memorable race was running with 50,000 runners during the NYCM in 2015. My most memorable run but not a race has to be running from the south rim of the Grand Canyon down the South Kaibab trail to the bottom across the Colorado River to Phantom Ranch and back up the Bright Angel trail to the South Rim again. Had a large long horn ram come down on the trail with me, just glad he decided to go the opposite direction of the way I was going.
What is your favorite distance to run and race?
My favorite distance to run and race might be the 50K distance because it not only tests my body but my heart and mind. But the main reason is I get to run in places that most people will probably never get to see.
Do you have any long-range plans?
This is the first time in 4 years I haven’t had any long-range plans. I have just finished up back to back 50K’s in less than 30 days so now it’s time to rest and recover. But like most running addicts, I am sure I will be signed up for another race soon.
What do you like best about living and running in KY?
I love the diverse trails systems we have here in KY with so many different options for terrain. It amazes me how many hidden trail gems we have here in KY and within close proximity to where I live.
What do you struggle with most with regards to running?
I struggle with health the most with regards to running by dealing with diabetes and my Crohn’s disease. I have to have an infusion every 8 weeks to keep me in remission (knock on wood over 15 months now) so I don’t have flare ups and end up back in the hospital. I won’t go into any details about my disease and the struggles I face on a day to day bases because I know while even though I may be very sick at times and struggle to even run a couple miles there is always going to be someone out there that has it a lot worse than me and I don’t believe in feeling sorry for myself. It has also taught me when running not to judge any runner, that when we toe the line on race day we really never know the story or the struggles of what it took for the runners to get there toeing the line next to us.
What do you see as a trend in running?
There are more and more trail races every week and I am seeing more and more women come into the sport and dominate. In only 4 years of running I have seen several new trail races pop up near me and I am fascinated by how many awesome women runners there are out there. As a kid my heroes were all male athletes, today that has changed.
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| Louisville Lovin' the Hills |
If you had one, well maybe two or three, things to say those that are running to encourage them what
would it be?
It doesn’t matter how fast you are going but that you are going and you are doing something positive for your body.
Any closing comments?
Running has given me so much in so little time over the last 4 years. It has taken me to places I know
I would have never been if not for running. Heck some of the places I would have never known existed before I started running. It has helped me go from an insulin shot every time I ate to just one small shot a day. July 14th of this year will be 4 years tobacco free and I am just getting started. In a few months I will turn 50, so all you Master runners out there be warned there is a new kid coming after you.
As an addition to this interview, as the race was run after Doug finished the interview: I wanted to share that Doug ran the challenging, and this year cold, Yamacraw 50K (April 7, 2018) finishing in 9:19:06 .
#RunningWithCrohns #CrohnsandRunning #Crohns
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