Wardian merges quality, quantity

Michael Wardian has heard these questions a lot.

How can he run three high-quality marathons on three consecutive weekends as he did from Sept. 27 to Oct. 12? How can he run back-to-back high-quality marathons as he did on consecutive days in March?

How can he finish five-kilometer races in 15 minutes, then the next weekend cover 50 miles of trails in less than six hours?

On foot.

“It’s almost become a canned answer,” the 34-year-old Arlington resident said. “For me, it’s a good way to test myself - to push myself to get to the next level. I’m a pretty competitive guy, so I’m always looking to do my best. I don’t like getting passed by anybody.

“I like to line up on the starting line. It’s you against the clock, you against everybody. For me, it’s about being competitive.”

Wardian already has 45 races under his feet this year and the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday. Of those 45 races, 12 were marathons, two were 50Ks and one was 100K.

The amazing story of Michael Wardian isn’t that he can run so much. Many other runners in the United States, including popular runner and author Dean Karnazes, traipse coast to coast or slog through 52 marathons in 52 weeks or nearly hallucinate for parts of a 150-mile endurance test.

The amazing story of Michael Wardian is that he runs these races at such a high speed, and just as incredible, he recovers quickly so he can do it again.

“The first thing that comes to my mind about Michael is that he is resilient because it’s amazing that he’s 34 years old and continues to run at such a high level and compete,” said close friend and frequent running partner Chris Farley, who owns Pacers running stores and sponsors Wardian as a member of Pacers racing team. “And we’re not talking about just 5Ks. We’re talking about the marathon and ultras, too. And to have a full-time job and a family, it’s amazing.”

Resilience like what he showed during 22 days in March, when Wardian went on a tear with four marathons a week after winning the 2008 USA 50 km Championships in 2 hours, 55 minutes.

On March 9, he got a runaway 2:34 victory in the Lower Potomac River Marathon. On March 15, he was the runner-up at Shamrock in Virginia Beach in 2:24. On March 29 and 30, he won the National Marathon in the District and finished third in 2:30 in the Knoxville (Tenn.) Marathon.

“I don’t know how he doesn’t get injured,” Farley said. “You would think the constant pounding on the legs would break you down. Somehow he is immune to that. I really cannot explain it except that he has freaky genetics. A number of us guys are actually jealous of his genetics. It is something that just works for him.”

Wardian’s genetics have more than worked for him. They have helped get him to two Olympic marathon trials (2004 and 2008) and win 16 times this year.

“I think there’s two very unique aspects to Wardian,” said former elite marathoner and former National Marathon race director Keith Dowling, who watched Wardian win his race three years in a row. “First, the ability to recover. The ability to run back-to-back marathons, he’s been able to circumnavigate the injuries and put together some incredible things.”

Wardian’s title at the 2008 USA 100 km Championships in Madison, Wis., was the one he wanted most this year, punching his passport to Italy in two weeks for the 100K world championships.

“To me, marathons and ultras are two different sports,” Farley said. “The ultra is a totally different animal than even the marathon. … I cannot hate on him for wanting to be national class at both. I just don’t think he’ll be the best in the nation until he focuses on one thing. But he sure is one-of-a-kind.”

Nonetheless, the focus this weekend is on the Marine Corps Marathon.

“I’ve never run well [at Marine Corps],” Wardian said.

Marine Corps was his first marathon, a 3:06 in 1996 that earned the former college lacrosse player a Boston Marathon qualifier. He last competed here in 2005, finishing in 12th place in 2:31, his second-slowest time that year.