Charlie Engle (marathoner)

Charlie Engle (born September 20, 1962) is one of the most accomplished ultramarathon runners in the world. Charlie has won or placed in many the toughest Endurance foot races and is well known for running across the Sahara Desert in 2007. This historic and record setting run was documented in the film Running the Sahara, narrated by Matt Damon.

Early life and education

Charlie Engle was born on September 20, 1962, to mother Rebecca Ranson and father Richard Engle. His parents were students at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when Charlie was born. His mother was aiming to be a playwright, while his father majored in English. His father played college basketball his freshman year for Dean Smith. Charlie's grandfather on his mother's side was Dale Ranson, a prominent track and field coach at UNC for whom the university's cross-country course is named. In eighth grade, Charlie ran his first mile in under five minutes for the first time.[1] After living in California for a time, he moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina with his father and stepmother in 1976 and began attending Pinecrest High School.[2] He was class president and excelled in athletics. As the lead quarterback for the football team, Charlie drew attention from college recruiters and received scholarships offers.

Charlie enrolled in UNC, like his parents, but soon began to have problems with alcohol and cocaine, which caused him to falter in his academics.[2] During Engle's junior year his father, who was then living in Seattle, came to pick Charlie up after a concerned call from one of Engle's fraternity members. . .

Years later in July 1992 while Charlie was working in Wichita, Kansas, one of his cocaine binges ended with his car being shot at with a spray of bullets. He decided that day to turn to a life of sobriety and hasn't used drugs or alcohol since. Charlie began regularly attending a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that day and overcame his addiction. He frequently mentions that day as helping motivate him, stating to Runner's World: "That was my lowest low. The day when I woke up."[1][3]

Career

Charlie started running marathons in 1989.[1] His first was the Big Sur marathon and he ran in several more marathons, including the Boston Marathon, before getting sober. Engle entered his first ultra-marathon by accident in Brisbane, Australia, in 1996, thinking he was entering shorter-distance event. He still managed to win the men's division and began entering endurance competitions around the world.[4] After seeing an Eco-Challenge on the Discovery Channel, Engle registered to participate in one of the events.[1] He described himself as a "documentary filmmaker" despite having limited experience in the hopes that the statement would be self-fulfilling. When Engle was accepted into the Borneo Eco-Challenge he was asked by CBS about having him shoot footage of the event for the series 48 Hours, which ended up using eleven minutes of footage that Engle shot.[1][4] Following the Borneo challenge, Engle went on several weeks later to complete the annual Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.[3]

His camerawork for 48 Hours helped Engle get a job as part of the camera crew for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and eventually he became a producer for the show. During his time with the show, Engle continued doing work in car dent repair and continued competing in endurance events. The contacts he had developed in the entertainment industry from working on Extreme Makeover helped Engle get director James Moll to film a documentary of a Sahara expedition he was planning with two other runners.[1][4]

Personal life

Charlie Engle married Pam Smith in 1987 and she gave birth to their first son, Brett, in 1992.[2][4] They had a second son, Kevin, in 1994. The couple divorced in 2002, but have remained good friends. Engle is very close to his sons and is happily remarried, living in North Carolina.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pearlman, Jeff (10 March 2008). "Charlie Engle: Endurance Junkie". Runner's World. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Sinclair, David (21 June 2012). "Former Pinecrest Star Released From Prison". The Pilot. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Charlie Engle, Addicted to Adventure". Sigma Phi Epsilon. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Higginbotham, Adam (September 2011). "Nowhere to Run" (PDF). Men's Journal. Retrieved 27 November 2012.

External links

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