Newtown’s Marathon Man Keeps Going, And Going, And Going…

By Steve Bigham

Newtown resident Bruce Goulart was back in town Monday after running an incredible eight marathons in eight days in Ohio. Tired? Not at all. In fact, he says he would have gladly run eight more.

He’s a regular Forest Gump. No blisters, no sore joints. He actually seemed refreshed – as if he had just returned from a trip to the Islands. Sitting in his home earlier this week, the 49-year-old talked about this impressive feat, which just may have been a world record.

“I would doubt anyone else has ever done that,” Mr Goulart said, acknowledging that there are few who would even want to try it. Some people don’t even run 26.2 miles over the course of their lifetime. Experienced runners may do two or three marathons a month.

For the Newtown resident, this has become something more than exercise or competition – it’s an obsession, and he’s loving every minute of it. Don’t expect Mr Goulart to break any speed records, but he’s not trying to. He simply likes to run. The fact that he never, ever gets tired is icing on the cake.

“It’s the high I get. It’s the sense of self-satisfaction and accomplishment,” he said.

Taking a few days off from his highly-successful construction business, Mr Goulart traveled the 14 hours to Vandalia, Ohio on Christmas night to take part in the annual “Ohio Six-Pack” – a series of six consecutive marathons with only a good night’s sleep in between each. Only one man had ever completed all six, and Bruce was determined to become the second. He completed all six with ease. Thanks to an unlimited energy source, Mr Goulart went on to do two more before coming home.

“I woke up every morning and said, ‘time to run another marathon,’” he quipped.

All told, he ran 209.8 miles, and he did them all in the same pair of ratty old running shoes.

“I’ve had the same pair for two years now. I just keep running in them,” he said.

Incidentally, Bruce doesn’t train for these events. Why would he need to? He’s constantly running in marathons.

“That’s my training,” he said.

Bruce also runs in the big races: New York (where he once finished in three hours, 12 minutes), Boston, etc; but he considers himself more of a tri-athlete than a marathon runner.

He plans to compete in a double “Iron Man” event soon. For those of you unfamiliar with this event, it’s a 4.2-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile marathon multiplied by two. This guy may look like an average man on the outside, but inside he’s the Energizer Bunny. There does not appear to be anything that can slow him down. He doesn’t get tired. Nothing gets to him. Not even he can figure it out.

“I do it because it’s there,” he said. “For example, with the double ‘Iron Man,’ if it’s there, it must be attainable. It exists, so I want to try it.”

And, this single father of two grown daughters (Lisa, 32, and Donna, 30) has never been happier. His business is flourishing, he can run like a clock, and his sense of well-being blossoms each morning that he awakes.

“I am in full control over my own destiny and happiness, and I love it, man.”

Bruce, a grandfather to six, also recently ran in the Knickerbocker 60-kilometer (37-mile) race in Central Park, and plans to begin taking part in “weird” events. In March, he will be part of a four-man team, which will compete in a 24-hour Navy Seal drill.

“For an entire day we’ll have to run, do push ups, carry partners on our backs and other stuff,” he explained. “It should be fun.”

Bruce Goulart would drive even the nastiest drill sergeant crazy.

Bruce and his girlfriend, Jan Brown, are heading to San Diego, California in June to compete in the Rock & Roll Marathon. It will be Jan’s first marathon. For Bruce, who often runs with his younger brother, it will be another marathon in another state. He’s trying to run marathons in all 50 states.

The other side to Bruce Goulart is the giving part. He has volunteered his time with the Knights of Columbus for several “At Our Gate” home repair projects.