I just found this... (I wrote after my 24 Hour Treadmill Run)

My Name is David Clark. It wasn’t that long ago that I weighed 320 lbs and was hopelessly addicted to alcohol.
My mornings didn’t start with coffee or cereal as it did for most of the people I knew, my day started with violent shaking, vomiting, cold sweats and the torture of my internal demons conspiring to unwind what was left of my sanity. Until that point I had spent my whole life being the guy who had everything under control. A few years earlier I was on the national Deans List with a 4.0 GPA in college. In my business career I set national sales records and won manager of the year. I was asked to speak to large organizations and to train others to master the art self motivation. By the time I was 29 years old I owned a chain of 13 retail furniture stores. So how is it that now at just 34 years of age, with a loving family, promising career and many friends, I couldn’t manage to go one single day without drinking or drugging myself into a state of complete oblivion? Why was I so willing to forgive drinking for all the horrible things it was doing to me? Was it because I felt as if I was the one in control? How could I dismiss all the warning signs; The DUIs, the withdrawals, the health problems, the pain? Slowly, drinking wormed its way into my head and life until it had pushed out almost every meaningful thing previously there. What was left was a distorted version of what was important and how alcohol made it better.

By the grace of God one day I woke up and heard the sound of my life slipping away… and the sound was deafening. I decided that everything I thought I knew about life had to be wrong. If I was going to figure out how to be able to drink without destroying myself, I would have done it by now. If I knew so much about life and how to live it, I wouldn’t be killing myself each day with a bottle of booze and pain pills. I realized that if I didn’t change in that moment, I would NEVER change. I was beaten, I was broken and I was done. Addiction is about power; I didn’t have any, and once I realized it, I finally had a chance to change.

I didn’t know what else to do so I poured all my booze down the drain and went to an AA meeting. Shortly after that I went for a run. I fearlessly attacked any paradigm in my mind that threatened to undermine my newly found sobriety. I applied myself to my new life with a total and complete honesty and commitment that was missing in all my other endeavors. In the months and years that followed my life became closer and closer to prefect; not perfect in the sense that I had no problems, I had plenty of those, but perfect in the way that I embraced it and perfect in its simplicity; don’t drink, don’t use, go run.

I have been given the gift of an entirely new life now, and almost six years later I am still clean and sober. I have become a 165lbs ultra marathon runner and endurance sports coach. I have completed over 100 races and events in the endurance racing world. I have run countless marathons, triathlons and ultra marathons, but most importantly I have been fortunate enough to inspire many others to look fearlessly inside themselves and take a step towards a new and more rewarding life. Ultra Running in particular has become my living canvass to paint for the world a masterpiece of recovery and personal growth

I recently had the privilege to run 24 hours non-stop on a treadmill to raise awareness for alcohol and drug abuse for The Partnership at drugree.org. During the event several people asked me why I would put so much effort and time into running to inspire people that I will never meet. The reason why I do is actually simple; I feel the world becomes a better place to live each time someone overcomes a personal fear. We all want to improve our lives and be happy, but it takes really putting ourselves out there for the world to see if we are to make lasting change. To jump into the abyss completely and fearlessly is to open ourselves up for failure, and failing while others are watching is scary and uncomfortable. In my sobriety and in my running, I expose myself repeatedly and publically to this uncomfortable place to showcase to people the incredible power we all have to act in the moment. It seemed like there was no way I could run for 24 hours nonstop on a treadmill, but I thought maybe, with some help, I could run one hour on a treadmill- 24 times in a row… We as humans instinctively know we can make it through almost any hardship by going from one moment to the next. When we embrace the struggle instead of trying to control it, we just naturally start to let things unfold. In doing so, we find we can go farther than anyone, including ourselves thought possible. In the moments in life when we are faced with supreme adversity our needs, goals and desires are all focused and simplified into a singular effort or essential task; keep going at all cost to survive the storm. The redemption of struggle in life (and in ultra distance running) manifests itself over the course of a long painful beautiful journey that ends with the person reaching a new level of strength and personal power, and it begins with just a single action or thought “Take that step, and see what happens”.

Badwater 135

Wow, I don't know what to say about being invited to run the Badwater 135 this year. I suppose in a race so difficult to get in, a race where so many amazing people apply, all of whom have overcome hardship and deserve to be there, I can only be thankful for blind luck. I hit the right nerve at the right time with my application- thank you, Chris Kostman.

 If you know nothing about The Badwater 135, it is simply put the hardest footrace on the planet. It is 135 miles across Death Valley on the hottest day of the year. Runners face heat in excess of 130 degrees. And if that's not enough, the race pretty much rolls straight and down from -283 feet below sea level and finishing at the Whitney Portal at just under 9,000ft. ending with about the same amount of climbing as The Leadville Trail 100.

 So as many of my friends know, Badwater has ALWAYS been looming in the background of all my runs and races. I have said before that in many ways everything I have been doing over these last 7 years has ALL been Badwater training. The thing is- I honestly was starting to think it would never happen. I heard that a record number of people applied, including thousands of applications from all over the world, each  hoping for one of the 35 spots that are given to rookie runners... and only 100 racers total will line up at The Badwater Basin in July.

So now its time to pony up, train like crazy and hang it all out there. I guess the scary thing about getting your "title shot" as Rocky would call it, is the reality that failure becomes real too. But if I have learned anything it is to not let fear control me- fear is fuel. Fear will keep me in the 180 degree sauna making sure my body is adapted to heat, fear will make sure I eat correctly, fear will keep me on the treadmill and trail. and fear will be in my rear-view mirror as I take the first step towards MT. Whitney. Total respect for the race, but absolutely no fear- that's the goal.



Training for Valley in Colorado definitely lends itself to the extremes...

184 Degrees in the sauna after playing in the snow

Morning 2 hour run up Bear Peak

 My first week of Badwater Training:

12:40 Hours Total

8:00 Running
2:40 In the sauna (Core Work in 180 Degrees)
2:00 Indoor cycling


If you are really bored, and have absolutely nothing better to do, I will be covering some of my training and thoughts as I train for this "My Opus" of ultras. I will make no promises other than this... I will give this things everything I am. 


This Event is by The Superman Project and is dedicated to those struggling with addiction.