5 minute read
Playing the long game
The 34-year-old American ultrarunner and entrepreneur has battled with addiction, but he says it was facing his flaws that unleashed his superpower.
Words NINA ZIETMAN Photography XIAOFANG SUSKITA
Greg Nance didn’t know if it was possible to run 5,079km across the United States – but he was willing to try. After all, the 34-year-old from Washington State is no stranger to endurance challenges. In 2014, he ran 250km across the Gobi Desert. Five years later, Nance completed the World Marathon Challenge, running seven marathons in seven continents over seven days. He has also set 37 Fastest Known Times (FKTs) around the globe.
So, on April 25, 2022, Nance set off from Long Island, New York. After 84 painful days and the equivalent of 120 marathons, he crossed the finish line in Ocean Shores on Washington’s Pacific Coast, the culmination of a decade-long dream. On the way, he raised more than $128,000 for the Run Far Foundation, the youth mental health charity he founded.
Yet, despite his accomplishments, Nance struggled with addiction as a young adult. “If you’d met me at 21, you’d just think, ‘This guy likes to party,’” he says. “You wouldn’t have assumed I had a problem.” Nance was a high-flying student; he set up his own non-profit while studying in Chicago and won a post-graduate scholarship at Cambridge, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But at the time he was self-medicating with alcohol and painkillers.
Running was key to pulling Nance out of his downward spiral, and it’s a lifeline he hopes will inspire others. This year he’s setting up the Run Far Club, a free after-school running programme, to encourage teenagers to train for a five-mile run while also contributing to a community-based project, such as tackling climate change. To raise awareness of this, he’s taking on another endurance challenge this summer: the Salmon Runs, a series of world-first attempts along the historic salmon highways around Washington State, including a 342km run around the Puget Sound, one of the US’s largest fjord systems. Here, Nance explains how running saved his life…
How did you first get into running?
I started track running in high school, but baseball was my primary sport as a kid. I wanted to make the major leagues, partly because my hero – my grandpa Charlie – was never able to fulfil that dream. He was the best pitcher in Tennessee as a teenager, but then he had to go and fight in World War II. When I was 16, Charlie suffered a debilitating stroke. And right as I was losing my grandpa, I got injured. My elbow swelled up like a tennis ball – a huge red flag for any team looking for a young pitcher. So the dream wasn’t going to happen.
How did you cope?
I began self-medicating, first with malt liquor, then vodka. Before long, I was mixing in [opiate painkillers] Percocet and Vicodin. I had a chemical dependency; I thought I needed them just to feel normal.
What was the turning point?
Despite the challenges, I graduated from college with flying colours. I had started a non-profit in college called Moneythink, which President Obama later named a ‘Champion of Change’. I went on to study at Cambridge in the UK, but I was effectively blowing my stipend on alcohol and drugs. In November 2011, I missed my rent. The head academic officer said, “You’re a disgrace. If I could, I’d expel you.” That was when I realised I couldn’t continue like this. A month later, I ran my first 50K ultramarathon on the Jurassic Coast and finished 10th. It was like, “Boom! Here’s what my life can be without alcohol and drugs.”
What inspired you to run 5,079km across America?
At that finish line on the Jurassic Coast, I had a big smile on my face. I realised life could be so beautiful when I wasn’t stuck in alcohol and opiate land. In that moment, a vision came to me that someday I would run from New York to Seattle.
Is there a link between the addictive side of your personality and achieving these athletic feats?
Totally. I can never quell those tendencies within me. Even when I was running across America, I began fantasising about painkillers. It was brutally difficult, but, with support, I realised I could channel that energy in a healthy direction. When I do, it’s a superpower. I think there’s a superpower within all of us. There’s the old adage that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour. If you’re consistent, you can do powerful things.
What would you tell someone who wants to break negative habits?
When you’re going through a tough thing, whether that’s substance abuse or a mental health challenge, be kind to yourself. It’s easy to read about my story and think, “I can’t do that.” Don’t be discouraged. What small things can you do today to put yourself on a healthy path? Can you drink one more glass of water? Get to bed an hour earlier? Start small and build from there. You don’t have to run across the United States to be a better, stronger version of yourself.
