Dean Karnazes

Dean Karnazes Speaker Biography

TIME magazine named Dean Karnazes as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in the World." Men's Fitness hailed him as the fittest man on the planet. An internationally recognized endurance athlete and bestselling author, Dean has pushed his body and mind to inconceivable limits. Among his many accomplishments, he has run 350 continuous miles, foregoing sleep for three nights. He's run across Death Valley in 120-degree temperatures, and he's run a marathon to the South Pole in negative 40 degrees. On ten different occasions, he's run a 200-mile relay race solo, racing alongside teams of twelve. Dean has swum the San Francisco Bay, scaled mountains, bike raced for 24-hours straight and surfed the gigantic waves off the coast of Hawaii and California. His long list of competitive achievements include winning the world's toughest footrace, the Badwater Ultramarathon, running 135 miles nonstop across Death Valley during the middle of summer.

His most recent endeavor was running 50 marathons, in all 50 US states, in 50 consecutive days, finishing with the NYC Marathon, which he ran in three hours flat. Nobody thought this would be humanly possible prior to Karnazes historic undertaking.

Dean and his incredible adventures have been featured on 60 Minutes, The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS News, CNN, ESPN, The Howard Stern Show, NPR's Morning Edition, the BBC, and many others. He has appeared on the cover of Runner's World and Outside, and been featured in TIME, Newsweek, People, GQ, The New York Times, USA TODAY, The Washington Post, Men's Journal, Forbes, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, and the London Telegraph, to mention a few. He is a monthly columnist for Men's Health, the largest Men's publication in the world.

His first book, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, was a National Bestseller and the #7 selling sports book worldwide. His most recent work, 50/50 - How to Achieve Super Endurance, has received widespread acclaim as a story of both inspiration and aspiration, "His writing offers that rare peek into the mindset and motivation of an extreme athlete," writes book critic Linda M. Castellitto in her gleaming review of 50/50.

Always wanting to do more, to give more, to help others in need, Dean has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity through his running and sports career. He has participated in the Leukemia Society of America's "Team-In-Training" and "Man of the Year" programs, has raised money for the Special Olympics and has selflessly contributed his time and energy to numerous youth fitness programs and environmental causes. For his tireless efforts, Dean was awarded the prestigious 2008 Community Leadership Award by the President's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports.

Beyond being a celebrated endurance athlete, philanthropist, and bestselling author, Dean is an accomplished businessman with a notable professional career working for several Fortune 500 companies and startups alike. A graduate of the McLaren School of Business & Management, he is uniquely able to demonstrate how the lessons learned from athletics can be applied to business, and he is able to convey, with authenticity, the many insights he has gleaned along the way as an athlete and business professional.

Dean is a sought-after speaker who has captivated and inspired audiences across the country with his stories of persistence and perseverance. His dynamic, engaging and rousing presentations focus on going beyond perceived limitations to be the best that you can be. He talks about unlocking an inner strength to achieve extraordinary results. His real-life examples explore the topics of dealing with adversity, overcoming obstacles, setting and reaching lofty goals, the importance of teamwork, even in solo endeavors, and excelling in a competitive, and often confusing, world. In his presentations, he examines and discusses the essential ingredients necessary for high-achievement and developing the ability to prevail and preserve against staggering odds.

Dean is believable because his achievements and accomplishments are real, and he delivers his message with the insight and candor that only an individual who has lived through such experiences can. His tales of endurance and perseverance are often comical, sometimes tear-jerking, and always thought-provoking and entertaining. His roster of clients includes: Nike, Google, Sony, PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, Apple Computer, Merck, Toyota, Starbucks, Accenture, Stanford University, Yale, JP Morgan Chase, and a host of others.