PASSAIC, N.J. — A New Jersey man recently completed a marathon unconventionally, running the 26.2 miles in spurts over a 24-hour period.

Luis A. Ramirez, who is from Passaic, New Jersey, lived and worked as a U.S. Marine Corps Security Guard at the U.S. Embassy’s Moscow, Russia and Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina (BiH), from 2001-04. He is currently an entrepreneur based in Columbus, Ohio.

The 40-year-old started running recreationally in elementary and high school as a training regimen for school sports, specifically baseball and wrestling, from 1994-98. He continued running for fitness purposes in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1998 to 2004.

“I ‘had to’ run each time because someone else ‘mandated’ it,” Ramirez said. “I started to have some fun with running when I ran my first half-marathon in Moscow. It was just for fun with several of my colleague Marines and diplomats on Aug. 10, 2001. This ‘fun’ continued with the hash harrier runners in Sarajevo, BiH.”

Ramirez said he “truly” started to enjoy running in 2008 in the midst of confusion and pressure while his daughter battled for her life in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

“My daughter spent six months recovering from congenital diaphragmatic hernia surgery at a New York City NICU and an additional six months receiving physical therapy at a New Jersey hospital,” he said. “As you can imagine, that entire year was filled with complete confusion on many levels. I was left with more questions than answers. I experienced many dark moments alone which pressured me to rely on alcohol to pass my days.”

A year after her birth, Ramirez said he decided to take action, make a change, and attempt to control his dependency/behavior.

“I ran my second half-marathon on Jan. 25, 2009, at the Central Park Half Marathon. It was painful, it was great, it was an emotional rollercoaster. I decided to open up about my experience with colleagues while I worked at Mercedes-Benz headquarters. This may have changed my trajectory in the running community. A colleague offered his spot to run at the Boston Marathon. I did not hesitate and jumped at his offer. I finished the Boston Marathon on April 17, 2009, without any marathon training. The rest is history. I continued running marathons and half that entire year,” he said.

After running his second Boston Marathon in 2010, Ramirez said he stumbled across many people continuously telling him to slow down as it may harm his body, but he said he encountered countless articles of ultramarathon running.

“I was very confused. Some said stop, while these group of people didn’t stop. I was curious. My curiosity led me to run the Green Lakes Endurance Runs on Aug. 29, 2010. I blacked out after running 48 miles in an attempt of completed 100KM I did not let that deter my ambition and went back at it. I ran the NYC Marathon, Steamtown Marathon, and ran my first 50-miler at Virgil Crest,” he said.

Most recently, Ramirez signed up for the Vilnius Marathon in Vilnius, Lithuania, held on Sept. 13.

“I was not physically there, but ran 26.2 miles (marathon distance) in New Jersey since I committed to run it ‘virtually’ with a friend of mine which did run the Vilnius marathon,” he said.

Since his business, Fidelis NA, LLC, slowed down dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
time was on my side and I decided to get creative.”

“I had previously filmed my runs in a point of view method as a way to document my travels and adventures. After the pandemic, I started to share these recordings publicly through my YouTube channel as a way to motivate people to exercise on a treadmill or outside. This new hobby gave me the idea to obtain a Level 1 running certification from Road Runners Club of America (RRCA). After obtaining the certification I started to help people to train effectively for a marathon.

“Using my personal ultramarathon experiences and this certification, I decided to put myself through one of these training sessions to ensure it was effective. During this process I made a commitment to run the marathons virtually (Vilnius Marathon and Marine Corps Marathon) with the individuals I was helping to support their endeavors and journey into the marathon,” he said.

However, there was an issue Ramirez did not foresee for the Vilnius Marathon: he was driving to New Jersey from Ohio the morning of Sept. 12 when he realized he had to run the marathon the next day.

“I wanted to kick off the marathon at the exact time the Vilnius event was starting, but I was tired when I arrived after my long car ride. I could have easily dismissed the idea and not ran the following morning. But I am a man of my word and decided to start an unconventional marathon as soon as I arrived to the Embassy Suites Hotel located at Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.

“I quickly noticed major flaws in the lack of planning on my behalf. For starters, there was no course nor mapped out route. I did not bring any traditional nutrition nor appropriate weather gear. I did not bring a flashlight. I did not rest properly after driving ten hours. I had to balance my time with my family while squeezing in 26.2 miles. It was a mess,” he laughed

However, he said he decided to make the best of it and filmed his experience in hopes of motivating anyone contemplating to run a marathon, even if it is unconventional and not in one straight shot.

“I ran the distance of a marathon under a 24-hour period. I went through four iterations of schedules/plans. I originally intended on running three segments at specific times, but quickly realized the plan was going to interrupt my family time. I also had to cancel my second plan since I did not have a safe area to run.

“My intention was to run through Berkeley Heights, but realized the location of the hotel is not suited for running long distance. I ended up mapping out a plan on the spot to start my journey late in the evening of Sept. 12 directly on the parking lot of the Embassy Suites hotel an hour after I ate dinner – not the smartest idea. Not properly digesting my food was not fun.

“Running six miles on the parking lot was interesting in itself. If I recall, the distance from point to point (each lane) was barely 100 meters. I filmed myself discussing how uncomfortable I felt during my initial six miles of running plus I show images of the entire parking lot. Luckily, I was a mentally prepared to tackle this challenge.

“The second leg was 6.2 in the early morning of Sept. 13. I squeezed this leg in before my family and I spent the day in New York City. We spent nearly two hours on the morning of Sept. 13 trying to find breakfast. This was after I ran my second leg and I was starving. I only had oatmeal from Starbucks.

“We later spent the latter part of the morning and the early afternoon walking around the Financial District of New York City and The Battery. Again, this adventure added extra miles on my feet plus hindered my ability to rest and eat properly. When we finally sat for lunch, a seagull strategically swooped face first and ate my sandwich while I ate it at The Battery. With no desire to buy more food, I had to eat my son’s leftovers to get some nutrition.

“The third leg was a 10-mile run as soon as we arrived back into the hotel. These 10 miles were a drag. I ran very slowly as the time on feet, time sitting in the car, lack of sleep, lack of proper nutrition, and walking all day finally caught up to me. I also experienced chafing which was not fun at all. I did not want to stop as I needed to fulfill my commitment to my friend in Vilnius. I stopped after the tenth mile because of hunger and chafing.

“I finally ran the last four miles late at night after a very short rest in my hotel room. … I was extremely pleased considering everything I had to overcome: road trip, no course, no nutrition, etc.,” he said.

Ramirez is still planning to run the Marine Corps virtual marathon soon, and is planning on running 48 miles in 48 hours by running four miles every 4 hours.

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