His feat of 63 marathons in 63 days is now a movie

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For most people, a marathon or triathlon or even an ultra race is the pinnacle of physical accomplishments. But not for Tim Borland. He wasn’t satisfied with one or two marathons, or even four or five. Or 20.

In fall 2007 the then-31-year-old from Los Gatos ran 63 consecutive marathons in 63 days, an almost unfathomable triumph. The feat was made into a movie, aptly titled, ‘Feat,’ which is slated for a couple of film festivals as producers seek distribution.

‘Feat’ tells the story of Borland, who ran 14,000 miles in 29 states (and part of Canada) to raise awareness for ataxia-telangiectasia, a rare childhood disease with which a friend’s daughter had been diagnosed. For this A-T CureTour, Borland ran while pushing a stroller either occupied by a child wtih A-T or a with sign bearing the name of a child who had died from the disease. The movie also follows three families with children going through various stages of A-T.

Borland was included in a story we did in September 2007 on people who attempt monumental physical exploits to garner awareness -- and sometimes funds -- for various causes. Such exploits have a long history, but not all who attempt them achieve their goals. Many run out of money, some run out of energy, and others are derailed by in-fighting and poor planning.

A-T may not have become a household name everywhere, but Borland is happy with what he accomplished. And he did it, he says, with little physical trauma. Yes, there were some rough days in the beginning (including diarrhea), but after the fourth week it was pretty much smooth sailing.

‘I never once got a blister,’ he says. ‘I never had a toenail turn black, never had any chafing. I did have some muscle cramping, and a couple of days my legs flared up.’ But starting at week five, he says, his times started improving.

‘I felt just ... not human,’ he says, and laughs. ‘I was like a machine, able to crank these things out.’ Borland consumed about 8,000 calories a day and figures he went from about 18% body fat to 8%, but only dropped about 10 pounds as he added muscle.

He credits his success to a combination of being passionate about this cause, his religious faith, expert training and good genes. It makes those lame excuses most of us come up with to avoid exercise seem even more lame. But he also believes much of the increased interest in marathons and triathlons overall can be chalked up in part to people wanting to run for a cause or charity to which they feel tied: ‘It’s amazing the inspiration they have,’ he says, ‘to get off the couch.’

Borland has more amazing feats in store -- he’s in the process of planning a marathon a day for 143 days in 2010 to draw attention to the plight of the world’s 143 million orphans. He wants to take this event global (stay tuned to his website for more information). In December he heads to Dallas for Strides Across Texas, a 481-mile run to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

‘I feel like I was given a gift to do things like this,’ he says. ‘If I could survive the A-T CureTour in the health I did, maybe it means I have something most people don’t, and maybe I can do life-changing things with it.’

-- Jeannine Stein

Tim Borland runs with supporters and members of the Charleston Running Club in Charleston, S.C., on day 52 of the A-T CureTour in 2007. Photo credit: Feat Productions