KEY WEST, Fla. – Anyone who has worked a 15 and a half hour day knows how exhausting it can be.
But Marc Burget's day was more tiring than most. The Jacksonville man's time of 15:34:22 was nearly an hour faster than his closest pursuer as he won the Keys 100 Ultra-marathon Saturday in Key West. He averaged a 9:20 mile for the duration of the race.
Burget, 43, who also won the two-day Donna 110 in February in Jacksonville, was the fist to cross the finish line of the 124 runners who finished the race, dubbed "The Original" ultra-marathon.
"This was a race all about patience," Burget said on his Facebook page. "Even though I love the heat , we entered this race with the plan of running around a 9 minute pace to combat the effect. It was so tough to start the race and watch the leaders take off without me. We stuck to the plan and by Mile 20 had pulled in several of the leaders. By mile 40 we were running in the Top 2 and decided to back the pace down to 9:30. Over the next 50 miles we consistently stayed on pace and felt very strong throughout. Not quite sure how far the competition was behind, we laid it all out and ran as hard as we could for the last 4 miles trying to gain as much time as possible."
Burget runs for a fundraising team called Team Hope Floats, raising money for breast cancer research. It's a cause that is close to his heart. His wife Christina received a clean bill of health this spring after her battle with breast cancer. You can donate to the cause via his fundraising page on Facebook.
In preparation for the Keys 100, Burget ran three marathons in four days. He spent the "off-day" on a leisurely 10 mile jaunt. He also plans on running the 153 mile Spartathlon in Greece, the Daytona 100 in December and he plans on running the Donna Ultra-marathon again next February. At some point, there is a slim chance, he will take it easy. Just don't count on it anytime soon.