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Keith McCord ReportingWith all the negative stories from Iraq about the war, car bombings and political unrest, here's something positive. It's the story of a Navy Lieutenant who grew up in West Valley, who has just set a world record.
Lt. Buck Herdegen is a runner. He's been in Baghdad for about six-months and he just set a distance record with a treadmill.
Lt. Herdegen is stationed in Baghdad right now, working with the Multi-National Security Command. He's due home in a few weeks and he's planning to run in the Salt Lake City Marathon in June. We spoke to him via satellite today and he told us he spends a lot of time in the base exercise facility, running 50 to 60 miles a week.
Recently, his brother, who's also in the military, read about a fellow Navy Lt. who had set a treadmill record--running 50 Kilometers in 3 hours and 41 minutes. Lt. Herdegen was committed to beating it.
Lt. Herdegen: "I was completely exhausted. It was the hardest run I've ever done."
Last month, with many of his comrades urging him on, Lt. Herdegen started running and running and running. He said he was strong through the first 43 kilometers, then it got tough.
Lt. Buck Herdegen: "It's really impossible over a run like that to stay fully hydrated. Your body can't absorb enough fluid that fast. So I tried to drink as much as I could, but I was feeling really dehydrated at that point."
But he kept at it, and three hours, 38-minutes and six seconds later, he'd set a record. He beat the previous record by three-minutes, 47 seconds.
Lt. Herdegen: "The gym was almost full of people, and they spontaneously erupted into a cheer. It was really gratifying. I was really exhausted, so that really lifted my spirits."
He said it was a morale booster for everyone. Lt. Herdegen expects the runner who held the previous record, also a Navy Lieutenant, to try again. The Guiness Book has yet to verify the record.
By the way, 50 kilometers is about 31-miles.
