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Back Talk | Charlie Engle

By Andrew Keatts

Race Across America contestant Charlie Engle

Charlie Engle conquered drug and alcohol addiction on July 23, 1992. He then became an inspirational speaker, imploring audiences to follow one piece of advice: do something now! Since 1989, he has completed over 200 marathons, triathlons, adventure races, and ultraendurance events. In February 2007, he and two teammates became the first people to run across the Sahara Desert, a 4,500-mile journey. The trio ran an average of 45 miles per day for 111 consecutive days. A small film crew followed them, culminating in the release of Running the Sahara, a documentary of the feat narrated (and executive produced) by Matt Damon. Engle arrives in Annapolis this month as a contestant in Race Across America (RAAM), a 3,000-mile bike race from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis. Engle competed in RAAM in 2005 as part of a four-person, coed team. (They won their division.) This is his first year competing as a solo rider.


What's Up?: How did you get started doing these ultraendurance events?
Charlie Engle: My ultracareer started about 10 years ago. I did half a dozen ecochallenges, mostly triathlon and adventure racing. What I discovered was, for me, all lessons in life—life experiences—are learned from suffering. We aren’t built to learn from things that come easy. I put myself in a lot of uncomfortable positions, knowing that if I could get through to the other side it would bring about personal growth—or at least it better, or I had needlessly put myself into some painful situations.

I was a serious crack and meth addict from when I was 19 to 29. The fact of the matter is, as bad as those experiences were and as destructive as they were, they served as a platform for me to understand that I could use that same idea for good. Those years were involuntary suffering; I call what I do now “voluntary suffering.” I chose to be here. So it’s something that I look at as a way to push myself farther and, hopefully, allow for more growth. And hopefully, I’ll have something to share with people when I’m done.

I genuinely believe that people don’t take enough risks. Most people don’t want to take on something unless they’re sure they can do it. I try to influence people to think the exact opposite: go do something you think you can’t do, something you’re sure you’re going to fail at. Even if you’re right, the lessons learned from that are much more valuable than continuing to complete the same race each year.


WU?: What are your expectations for RAAM this year?
C.E.: I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to do in RAAM. I’m going there to compete, not to just have the experience. I’m going to be as competitive as I can be. I have no idea how I’ll do, and that’s exciting for me.

WU?:What’s most memorable from the last time you did it?
C.E.:With four riders and half a dozen crew all in one RV, it was almost like a roving party. Not in the sense of how I used to party, but as in we were all having fun. And we were tired but loved having this experience crossing the country together.

This time, it will be a much lonelier experience. In a sense, the thing I’m looking forward to is the solitude. Like most people, I live my life with an iPhone, a BlackBerry®, and a computer in front of me most of the time. Right now, I’m conducting this interview while I’m training. I’m on the bike right now, as we speak. I look at the 10 days of RAAM for me as a crazy escape—not a vacation but an escape from my real life. I get to get away from those devices, focus on the country and the race, and sort of shut off from the world.

WU?: In regard to crossing the country, what stuck with you most about RAAM?
C.E.: Even when I’m riding as fast as I can, the terrain is going by much slower than in a car. The opportunity to experience what I’m riding through is so much greater. We, as Americans, tend to think we know our country, but very few of us really do. It’s great to be forcefully slowed down so you have no choice but to see your country. I ran across the country last year, and it’s really the same way.

The idea of crossing the country is really pretty spectacular. It’s something everyone thinks about, athlete or not. As Americans, a hundred years ago we were a country of explorers and expeditioners and adventurers. A hundred years later, we have so much access to the world, but we probably actually experience less of it personally. We see it through our computer. That’s one lesson we could learn from Europeans and Australians. They’re known for going away for a month to travel. We just don’t do that sort of thing here, mostly because their work allows them to and ours doesn’t. But that’s something we could learn from them.

WU?: What’s the sensation like when you cross the finish line of an ultraendurance event?
C.E.: I have learned through the years, in finishing dozens of events, a handful of long expeditions, that the overwhelming feeling I have is sadness. I push so hard to finish, that the finishing itself is very anticlimactic. It literally lasts a half a second. I hate clichés, but in this case it really is about the journey, not the finish. I want to appreciate RAAM for what it is: my first attempt at riding a bike all the way across the country alone. I’ll never get to do that again for the first time. I might be able to do it dozens more times, but those will all be different experiences. Now, that being said, that first postevent shower and meal, and sleeping more than two hours, will be very nice.

Tags: ultracareer Charlie Engle Race Across America

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