The marathon or long distance running has a deep history. The name marathon dates back to around 2,500 years ago in 490 BC when Pheidippides, a Greek courier, was sent to Sparta to request help in Marathon (Greece). He ran 150 miles in two days. Michel Bréal, however, originally conceived the idea of the marathon as a race for the first modern Olympic Games featured in Athens in 1896. American spectators transported the idea of marathon races to Boston, USA in 1897; and the rest is history. We fast-forward to modern times in the US where we find a 6’6” ultra-marathon runner with an incredible ability to run 50 to 100 miles a day. He is a living testimony that the raw vegan diet is the basis of endurance and strength.

Hi, my name is Kristopher Aaron. I am a 100% raw vegan and ultra-marathoner.

Kristopher Aaron was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Gifted with a tall stature and athleticism, he played college basketball at Syracuse University. During that time, Kristopher began running as a means to stay physically fit. Although he has since left his “hoop dreams,” Kristopher has been running for about 12 years while sharing the benefits of a raw vegan diet to groups around the country. In 2001, Kristopher was asked, “Have you ever thought of running a marathon?” The thought had never occurred to him. Two years later, Kristopher entered his first marathon.

And so in 2003 I decided to run a Chicago marathon and I finished it in 3 hours and 58 minutes, which is very respectable, especially for a first-time runner. From that point, from 2003 up until today, I’ve run many marathons, many half-marathons, and I’ve developed a passion for running and fitness.

Kristopher’s desire to be fit ultimately led to diet concerns. He grew up eating the traditional American diet of fast hamburgers, barbecues, and fast food. For a quick fix, he resorted to colonics. His therapist was candid about what she removed from his system.

She used to talk things like, “Kris, you need to change your diet, because what is coming out of you with this colonics is abominable.” And I thought she was nuts because she didn’t cook any of her food. She was a raw vegan. But I saw her live out this lifestyle. I saw how good she looked. I saw her doing green drinks, every day, like 64 ounces of green juice every day. She was like, “Well, you’ll feel better and it will help your running if you give up meat.” And that was really one of the things that influenced me. And then she showed me this DVD called “Eating” and it had slaughterhouses.

This DVD would prove pivotal in changing Kristopher’s relationship with life and with food. The award-winning documentary film written, produced, and narrated by Mike Anderson is used in wellness clinics throughout the world to encourage people to change their diets and restore their health. Within 88 short minutes, “Eating” examines the consequences meat eating, and also addresses the impact of our dietary choices on global warming, the environment, and animal agriculture.

And I started seeing how animals were treated in slaughterhouses, and it just affected me a lot and that is really what got me looking at the slaughterhouses there. It’s really putting the two together, like, “Why do we suffer so much on this planet?” Well, we sow a lot of suffering, so it’s only natural that we reap a lot of suffering. And meat eating, what I found, just from my own personal experience, is it’s unnatural. So we already know by our natural design that we are not designed to eat meat, and so that’s what made me decide to go vegan.

Kristopher was also influenced by a book titled “Nature's First Law: The Raw Food Diet” co-authored by Stephen Arlin, Fouad Dini, David Wolfe, R.C. Dini, Marc Wolfe, and Ken Seaney. Kristopher went from being a vegan, to being a full-fledged raw vegan and has never looked back. He now devotes his time to sharing messages of great health through personal consultations, lectures, food preparation, and physical training. Kristopher has been invited to speak publicly and at doctors’ offices in Chicago on the benefits of a raw plant-based diet.

When Vegetarian Elite returns on Supreme Master Television, we’ll join Kristopher at one of his marathons to see what a 100-mile race is really like!

Welcome back to Vegetarian Elite on Supreme Master Television and our feature with raw vegan ultra-marathon runner Kristopher Aaron. Running requires courage, determination, strength, and endurance. The goal of many runners is to participate a marathon. Then there are runners, like Kristopher, who feel a regular marathon of 25 or so miles just isn’t long or challenging enough.

These are your ultra-marathoners, who will run between 30 to 100 miles within 12 to 48 hours, in all kinds of trail conditions and weather. Supreme Master Television joined Kristopher Aaron at the Northern Trail in Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin, USA, where he prepared for its 15th 100-mile timed ultra-marathon. This would be Kristopher’s first 100-mile run.

I’m the only raw vegan in the whole race. One of my objectives for doing this race is to show not only myself but others, how far we can take it. Who would have thought that man could run a 100 miles nonstop, and especially on a natural diet, without any animals and without any cooking.

Tim Yanacheck, one of the directors of the Kettle Moraine 100, was glad to have Kristopher’s participation.

Kris is the first vegan, the first raw vegan I am aware of to ever run a 100 mile race. I know we’ve never had a raw vegan run the Kettle Moraine 100 in the 15 years we’ve been here. I am very curious and interested in knowing how he will fair without eating the usual foods that ultra-marathoners eat. Ultra-marathoners eat many processed foods, lots of sugar and cooked things. I hope he does very well. He could set a trend.

While Kristopher may be the first raw vegan to participate in the Kettle 100, many successful ultra-marathon runners and triathletes lead veg lifestyles. Take for example Scott Jurek. The vegan marathon runner holds the 24-hour United States running record for logging more than165 miles at the World Championships for the International Association of Ultra Runners. Beyond finishing the race, Kristopher Aaron sought to raise awareness for a number of issues.

One of our goals is to show, is to fuse the two extremes of nutrition and fitness – fitness at a high level and nutrition at a high level – to not only help ourselves with regard to our physical body, but to help the planet as far as the impact that we have on it with regard to the methane, animal agriculture, and a host of other things.

What is the rigorous training like for such an event? Kristopher gives us some insight:

I’ve been training for the last eight months. Now my training days were very intense. Some days, some weeks I probably got up to 120, 140 miles running. Whereas I probably did 30 miles one day and then woke up the next day and did another 35 miles. And not to mention maybe 500 push-ups per day – 500 push-ups, in sets of 50.

The participants have mostly all arrived and the marathon is about to begin in a few moments.

The weather’s great, we’re in the hills and it looks to be a great, a great course, a great race. The race officially starts at six o’clock. They give us 30 hours to negotiate the course, the mountains, the big hills, and my goal is to finish this race in 24 hours or less. So I have quite the challenge ahead of me. As we go through the journey today, I’m sure you viewers will get an opportunity to see me – you’re seeing me fresh now – but as the time progresses you’re going to me in the different stages – 5 miles, maybe mile 10, mile 15, 23 or whatever. And so this is the journey. We’re all going to go on it together, okay.

Kristopher gives us a briefing before he heads off for the run.

This right here is what we called a timing chip. This is what we use, this is what the race uses to track your time. So as we’re running across the course, there’s going to be little mats that we run across and this will be able to give us an accurate time as far our running. The race will start in about 10 minutes, so wish me good luck and especially for the timer chip. Thank you.

Supreme Master Television cameras met up with Kristopher Aaron nearly a quarter way through the marathon. He explains how he is feeling at this point in the race.

This is an experience. This is an absolute experience! I mean to think, we’ve done about what 23.5 miles. Still, you got about 77 more to go. I’ve experienced many, many emotional highs and lows, and it’s like, “How in the world I am going to do 100 miles, and we’re like only at mile 24.” I’m not even a quarter way done with this race, but I am not going to stop until I finish it. And that’s the goal.

Almost halfway through the marathon, Mother Nature decided to make the race more exciting and challenging. Because of the heavy downpour of rain, and the immediate and extreme drop in temperature, most of participants were forced to change their strategy and pull out of the race for safety.

Halo, friends. I am back in the van with friends at the Nordic Trail at the Kettle 100. Now you may be asking why am I back. Well, around mile 47, actually before mile 47 at about mile 35, it’s started raining cats and dogs. So I literally ran for almost 12 miles in torrential rainstorm. As the result, the trail became very muddy and there were so many mud puddles. And then, my legs, they felt like cement.

They felt real heavy, and I couldn’t run anymore but I could walk, I could speed walk. And my goal, I just said, “Well, listen, I’m just going to walk the rest of the way.” But here’s the challenge – when it started raining, now keep in mind it was very hot and warm earlier during the day, but it became very cold. And the rain came down and I had on a little singlet t-shirt and so I was freezing. I am literally, literally over 10 miles, I am just shivering.

So yeah, as far to summing everything up, as far as the experience, this is an incredible experience because it showed what we can do as far as for me personally, you know, if you make up your mind how you can just push your body to the limit. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have been chosen by Supreme Master TV to represent the vegan world, and show what we can do when we put our minds and hearts to it. So, thank you.

Kristopher Aaron recently confirmed with Supreme Master Television that he will be running the 100-mile marathon again in 2011. He is very excited for another opportunity to demonstrate the fortitude that comes from a raw vegan diet. He once said, “I consider myself and my mission to be truly transcendent because I have joined together a 100% raw diet combined with extreme physical fitness in the area of running.”

Kristopher Aaron, thank you for allowing Supreme Master Television viewers to experience the various sides of marathon running, while continuously sharing the benefits of a plant-based diet. Your bright smile and your faith in fitness and the raw vegan diet surely compel many to appreciate and follow your example.

For more information about Kristopher Aaron, please visit his web site at: www.KristopherAaron.com

Faithful viewers, it was a joy to have your company on Vegetarian Elite. Coming up now on Supreme Master Television is Between Master and Disciples. May we soon enjoy the day when humanity embraces a sustainable diet for a kinder future.