Have a hard time getting motivated to go out and run? Do you think you are not made to run? Here is a story by Cameron Morfit of Runners World about Jeff Clark a truck driver who changed the view of many to get out and run.
Trucker culture as depicted in 1970s movies like Smokey and the Bandit tells us there should be coffee cups and cigarette butts strewn about Jeff Clark's white semi-tractor. But in fact it's full of empty water bottles and raisin boxes. The only fast-food wrappers are from Subway, whose sandwiches Clark eats with a runner's restraint, turning a foot long into two six-inch meals—one for now, one for later.
There are plenty of marathon truckers. But Clark, 50, who hauls freight around the Midwest Sundays through Fridays, is a trucker who runs marathons, as the "26.2" decal on his rig attests. There are wipes and baby powder in his console for cleanups when a post run shower isn't possible. And he favors a particular truck stop by the Illinois/Wisconsin state line not for its gravy fries but for its proximity to a running trail.
"The healthier you are, the more alert you are," Clark says. "And that helps when you're driving 700 miles in one haul. Driving long is like running long. You need endurance for it."
It's a realization Clark came to five years ago, when he took a look at himself in the rear view mirror and winced. After 20 years of sedentary driving and daily staples like Mountain Dew and cheeseburgers, he wondered how much longer he could pass his yearly Department of Transportation physical. Plus, heart disease runs in his family—he's lost his father and a 33-year-old brother to coronaries. "Then I read a statistic that bothered the heck out of me," he says. "The life expectancy for an over-the-road trucker, one that sleeps in his truck, is 61."
That was enough to get the married father of four moving. He started walking around rest stops. Those walks became jogs, then long runs. A year later, Clark ran the Green Bay Marathon in his Wisconsin hometown, finishing in 4:55. Since then, he's run five more marathons and six half-marathons. Along the way, he's lost 30 pounds (down to 206) and has inspired others to follow his lead.
"Jeff has been a big encouragement to truckers," says Carolyn Mason of Truckers News, which named Clark its 2009 Health Hero. "Running is the perfect fitness choice for their erratic schedule. Jeff is proof they can make it work."
Erratic is an understatement. To the question of whether Clark runs in the morning, afternoon, or evening; before, after, or during a haul—the answer is yes. He logs his miles whenever he can.
"Sometimes my run is less than ideal—along a busy road or through an industrial park," Clark says. "But every once in a while I find a gem of a route. Running lets me see towns off the interstates. That's not something most truckers get to do."
If Clark sees truckers walking or jogging at a truck stop, he'll encourage them to hit a trail or head through town. He wears his old race T-shirts, a sartorial choice that alone can be enough to spark conversation. He self-published a book to sound the alarm on trucker morbidity and carries copies in his truck to hand out. He wrote a blog for the Green Bay Press-Gazette leading up to the 2009 Green Bay Marathon. And he Tweets.
"I see his posts and think, If he can do it, then so can I," says Linda Caffee, a fellow trucker who has been inspired by Clark to walk and has since lost 50 pounds.
Clark eats better now that he buys fruits and vegetables and stocks them in his truck's fridge. He says he looks "like a giant SpongeBob SquarePants, not your typical marathon runner," but, says wife Roxanne, "He's in much better shape. He's stronger and has more energy."
The movement to shape up seems to be broadening. Truckers News tells its readers that 34 laps around a big rig is a mile, and encourages healthy eating habits. Clark senses the message is getting out.
"I used to never see truckers run," he says. "But now I see someone running a few times a week. Maybe we are making a difference out here."
