Don Fallis, The Crooked Man

• Posted: July 26, 2008
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• Author: Shéamus
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• Filed under: Motivation, Ultrarunning
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• Tags: Badwater, David Goggins, Don Fallis

I realise I’ve been blogging perhaps a little too often about Badwater of late but I’ve kind of immersed myself in reading about it recently and some of the stuff I’m digging up is so unbelievably moving that it just needs to be shared with others.

Don Fallis is 65 and a type two diabetic. In 2007, he competed in the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile run through Death Valley, California, where temperatures regularly exceed 130 degrees.

This is all impressive enough, but partway through the race Fallis severely injured a muscle in his lower back, which was so painful it forced his upper body sideways at an almost 45-degree angle. It was the only way he could continue forward.

In Don’s own words:

“I started noticing lower back pain at 55 miles while going up the 17 mile climb up to Townes Pass, and by 72 miles it had become much worse. From that point the pace was painfully slow, having to stop and stretch too often to get myself upright, only to repeat the process every few minutes, especially up the steep mountain to Father Crowley’s. However, I was still optimistic that we could finish. At 96 miles we were visited by the course chiropractor, who almost pleaded with me to hang it up, saying I could do permanent damage.

Around mile 111, one of the David Goggins crew vans arrived and David’s crew emptied out and joined the crazy Canadians and our crew, clapping and cheering as Phil and I approached. The many crew vehicles lined up along the highway was an obvious indication of the rousing support by so many wonderful people. One part of me felt like yelling for joy, while the other part wanted to cry from gratitude. The tears were much tougher to control. As each mile passed, my poor ol’ tired, weak back got tighter and tighter, with the muscles spasming into larger and larger knots. Each mile, I would stop more and more frequently, trying to quickly stretch it out to where I could last until Mike could give me some brief relief. Each mile, my lean woud get more pronounced and the pain more severe. Still, Mike worked his magic, giving me relief for a few seconds before the cycle began repeating itself more severely.

At around mile 112-113, like a mirage, a Warrior appeared on the desert horizon. This Warrior came in the impressive form of Navy Seal David Goggins. You need to realize that David had just finished 3rd place overall and to put it in his words was obviously “broke down”. Well folks, from where I stood, I could certainly sympathize with him. But here he was, in his Crocs, out there only to help me reach my goal. We were the “broke down brothers”. Everyone stayed out there, cheering with the same enthusiasm, while David joined me for every painful step, while the Dream Crew continued patching me up. It amazed me to see David’s energy, as he was upbeat, positive and made me laugh through some pretty tough times. Shortly, he donned a pair of running shoes and we pushed, mile-after-mile. As we got to the edge of Lone Pine, cars started slowing to see what was going on with the pitiful-looking crooked man with the silly walk. Some crews and runners were out of their motels and on the side of the highway clapping, while tourists and locals slowed their cars to witness this scary sight. Some clapped and shouted encouragement. Others showed tears in their eyes. All the while, John Rennison and the wonderful Canadians were right there every step of the way. All of David’s crew, including his beautiful wife and wonderful mother were there every mile to my new goal. The Dream Crew never backed off for a second. I asked David to pick up a large rock on the side of the road, which I used for a short time as a counter-balance, but I soon discarded it. With just 5 minutes left on the race clock we saw race director Chris Kostman and were finally there. I grabbed a light pole for support and stood there enjoying what my mentor Vernon Char had taught me to do: “Live in the Moment.” For the past 2 1/2 days, I had been doing nothing but that.”

Don’s race was made into a sixty-minute documentary. Watch the trailer for this incredibly motivational film below, which includes footage of the scenes with David Goggins described above:

For more detail, please read There Was A Crooked Man, and Don’s own blog entries about the race here, here and here.

Very powerful stuff.

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