RUNNING NOTES COLUMN
Local runner is poster child for fitter city
Once weighing in at 305 pounds, he's training for his first marathon.
By Brett Hess
For The News-Sentinel
David Craker has always considered himself a poster child. They were not always positive posters, either.
Growing up outside Chicago, he was always the last picked for playground games. In high school, he dreaded the day of the timed mile, in which inevitably the rest of the class would wait on him to finish. As an adult, it only got worse.
In recent years when Shape Magazine picked (or picked on) Fort Wayne as the least-fit city in America, they could have published a photo of Craker next to the story. And when Men's Health magazine selected Fort Wayne as the fattest city, again, a 5-foot-11 and 305-pound Craker could have been the poster child.
“My brother was a (Illinois cross country) state champ, but I always struggled with my weight,” Craker said. “When I stepped on my scale and it read err for error, I figured that was enough.”
That was in January 2006. Now the 178-pound Craker is a poster child for this fall's Chicago Marathon. Craker is doing a weekly on-line diary for marathon's Web site (www.chicagomarathon.) as part of the race's “Inspirational Bank.” There, other runners can read about Craker's remarkable transformation from morbidly obese computer technician to, well, a poster child for healthy, active living. (To follow Craker's diary, click on the “Inspirational Bank” link two successive times and then “withdrawal” and finally “on-line diaries.”)
“I've come a long way in a pretty short time,” Craker said, in an obvious understatement. “Everything is still new. This year I've run my first race, then a half-marathon; now I'm training for my first marathon.”
Craker didn't go from morbid obesity to the Chicago marathon overnight, even though it seems like it. And running a marathon wasn't in the plans when he contacted Lutheran Weight Management. Taking a step back from death was.
Along with a body mass index of 42.5, Craker suffered from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high liver enzymes and a skin discoloration called acanthosis nigricans. And he had sleep apnea. If he couldn't lose the weight, Craker faced bariatric surgery.
Craker began his transformation on Valentine's Day 2006. As part of the 48-week weight-loss program, he began with a 14-week liquid diet. Although the weight was dropping fast, he knew diet wasn't enough.
“I've dieted before and always gained the weight back,” he said. “I wasn't going to make that mistake again.”
Craker began by walking 30 minutes each day, taking the 99-step climb to work instead of the elevator and parking in the back of the lot.
“I could barely go 2.5 mph,” Craker recalls. “But in two months I was bored so I went to the elliptical trainer, and two months later I was back on the treadmill jogging at 5.5 mph.”
By then it was December, and Craker was purchasing his first pair of “real running shoes” and signing up for the 2007 Chicago Marathon.
“I had never even run in a road race before, but I wanted to do this,” Craker said of the marathon. “I just love running and how I feel.”
He soon hooked up with Tammy Behrens' PR Training group, which caters to newcomers.
“They have been so supportive,” Craker said of PR Training. “It's a great program. Actually, the entire running community is great. I was surprised that it's not ultra-competitive. Everyone knows that only one person wins the race, so we are all out there together, cheering each other on.”
Along the way Craker ran and completed in the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon (13.1 miles) in May and finished in a very respectable 1 hour, 59 minutes. He is at stage in his running where every day brings a new experience.
As for being a poster child, and a positive one at that, Craker says it's been very therapeutic.
“Sometimes I wonder what else I can write about,” he said. “But I want to encourage other people. If you are highly motivated, you can lose the weight in a nonsurgical way.”
Once weighing in at 305 pounds, he's training for his first marathon.
By Brett Hess
For The News-Sentinel
David Craker has always considered himself a poster child. They were not always positive posters, either.
Growing up outside Chicago, he was always the last picked for playground games. In high school, he dreaded the day of the timed mile, in which inevitably the rest of the class would wait on him to finish. As an adult, it only got worse.
In recent years when Shape Magazine picked (or picked on) Fort Wayne as the least-fit city in America, they could have published a photo of Craker next to the story. And when Men's Health magazine selected Fort Wayne as the fattest city, again, a 5-foot-11 and 305-pound Craker could have been the poster child.
“My brother was a (Illinois cross country) state champ, but I always struggled with my weight,” Craker said. “When I stepped on my scale and it read err for error, I figured that was enough.”
That was in January 2006. Now the 178-pound Craker is a poster child for this fall's Chicago Marathon. Craker is doing a weekly on-line diary for marathon's Web site (www.chicagomarathon.) as part of the race's “Inspirational Bank.” There, other runners can read about Craker's remarkable transformation from morbidly obese computer technician to, well, a poster child for healthy, active living. (To follow Craker's diary, click on the “Inspirational Bank” link two successive times and then “withdrawal” and finally “on-line diaries.”)
“I've come a long way in a pretty short time,” Craker said, in an obvious understatement. “Everything is still new. This year I've run my first race, then a half-marathon; now I'm training for my first marathon.”
Craker didn't go from morbid obesity to the Chicago marathon overnight, even though it seems like it. And running a marathon wasn't in the plans when he contacted Lutheran Weight Management. Taking a step back from death was.
Along with a body mass index of 42.5, Craker suffered from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high liver enzymes and a skin discoloration called acanthosis nigricans. And he had sleep apnea. If he couldn't lose the weight, Craker faced bariatric surgery.
Craker began his transformation on Valentine's Day 2006. As part of the 48-week weight-loss program, he began with a 14-week liquid diet. Although the weight was dropping fast, he knew diet wasn't enough.
“I've dieted before and always gained the weight back,” he said. “I wasn't going to make that mistake again.”
Craker began by walking 30 minutes each day, taking the 99-step climb to work instead of the elevator and parking in the back of the lot.
“I could barely go 2.5 mph,” Craker recalls. “But in two months I was bored so I went to the elliptical trainer, and two months later I was back on the treadmill jogging at 5.5 mph.”
By then it was December, and Craker was purchasing his first pair of “real running shoes” and signing up for the 2007 Chicago Marathon.
“I had never even run in a road race before, but I wanted to do this,” Craker said of the marathon. “I just love running and how I feel.”
He soon hooked up with Tammy Behrens' PR Training group, which caters to newcomers.
“They have been so supportive,” Craker said of PR Training. “It's a great program. Actually, the entire running community is great. I was surprised that it's not ultra-competitive. Everyone knows that only one person wins the race, so we are all out there together, cheering each other on.”
Along the way Craker ran and completed in the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon (13.1 miles) in May and finished in a very respectable 1 hour, 59 minutes. He is at stage in his running where every day brings a new experience.
As for being a poster child, and a positive one at that, Craker says it's been very therapeutic.
“Sometimes I wonder what else I can write about,” he said. “But I want to encourage other people. If you are highly motivated, you can lose the weight in a nonsurgical way.”
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