Several years ago, Noblesville Firefighter/Paramedic Dan Milligan began running ultra-marathons. He routinely trains for hours to compete in races that range up to 100 miles.
Milligan is a veteran of 10 of these 100-mile ultra-marathons, and this past weekend he tackled a new challenge. Accompanied by his wife Anne Marie and their 13-year-old son Jack, he traveled to Pekin, Ill., to compete in the 200-mile Potawatomi Trail run. That is the equivalent of running from Noblesville to Grand Rapids, Mich.
The course is a 10-mile loop mostly of single track dirt, some prairies and several creek crossings. The elevation gain is 1,600 feet every loop. Dan completed that loop 20 times in just over 72 hours.
Milligan is an avid runner and last month he competed in his ninth consecutive Carmel Marathon, but for the first time ran it with his son Jack. They continued that partnership this past weekend in Illinois where Jack ran parts of the race with his dad. On the 20th and final lap, Dan and Jack ran side by side and the two crossed the finish line together.
“My favorite part of the whole experience this weekend was the 30 miles I ran together with my son,” said Milligan.