Meet Karl Meltzer, the Red Bull Human Express

Tuesday, October 12th was my 45th birthday. Wow, that is only 5 years away from the big 5-0! How did that happen? How did I go from 29 to 45 in what seems to be only a couple of years?

Anyway...

Not much happened on my birthday. It wasn't a very eventful day and for the first time in several years, we didn't even process chickens on my birthday! Dan the Man and I just kind of took it easy.

I did make a wonderfully delicious pecan pumpkin roll cake for my birthday and I will share that recipe with you in another post.

Like I said, the day was pretty non-eventful until around 5 pm. Dan the Man had gone outside to feed the cattle and do his chores while I sat inside and procrastinated about going out to feed the chickens and doing my chores. Besides, it was my birthday, shouldn't I have the day off from doing chores? I think so, but I guess Dan the Man didn't think so.

So when I finally drug my sorry self outside I noticed that Dan the Man was talking to some guy on a mountain bike in the drive way. Who was this guy? Definitely not from around here, that was for sure! I could tell, because I know you can't buy those particular mountain bikes at Wal-Mart and the majority of country folk who have mtn. bikes in Western Nebraska, which isn't very many, buy theirs at Wally World! You know I once lived in Winter Park, up in the mountains, where they actually have a reason to own mountain bikes. I even did a little biking while I was there. Miss that stuff, that's for sure...

Anyway...

As I approached them, the bicycle guy introduced himself as Ted and said he was with a group that had a guy who was running the Pony Express Trail and they were looking for a place to stop for the night and set up camp with a couple of RVs and a few vehicles.

Really? How cool is that? These kind of things don't happen around here...

Of course we told Ted that they were more than welcome to stop here for the night. Dan the Man and I took Ted down to where we stack hay and told them they could set up down there. Ted was very appreciative and said he would ride his bike back to where the runner and team was and let them know he had found a place for them to bed down. I mentioned that I had a blog and asked if I could possibly interview the runner for my blog and maybe for an article for the paper. Ted said that probably wouldn't be a problem and he would let me know when the runner was going to be here and I could come down.

So, as Ted drove off on his bike to catch back up with his group, Dan the Man and I finished up our chores. A little while later the wagon train started coming into our yard. Ted said the runner would gladly talk to me between his two dinners. Two dinners?!?

I had just enough time to grab my camera and a notebook when Ted came back down to the house and said that they were ready for us to come over. I also grabbed a dozen farm fresh eggs for our guests. Then Dan the Man and I saddled up our pony, the 4 wheeler, and trotted off to the stack yard.

The Red Bull Human Express RV

Here is a picture of one of the RV's that they had. The cows were very curious as to what was going on! Such excitement on the Open A Bar 2 Ranch for a Tuesday night, let alone any night of the week!

The girls wondering what all the excitement was about!

Ted took us in and introduced us to Karl, the runner, and the rest of the crew. Karl was lounging on the couch with his feet up and icing his ankles. You really need to click on the links below to read the whole story about Karl and what he is doing.

Karl is a world class endurance runner. He is running the Pony Express Trail to commemorate the 150th anniversary of "those crazy mailmen on horses, running mail and messages from Sacramento, California to St. Joseph, Missouri." Uh... does that sound crazy to you? Well, it certainly did to Dan the Man and this little Country Chicken Girl.

Some facts I learned from Karl during our conversation. He runs anywhere from 50 to 60 miles a day. I told him I try to walk 4 miles a day. "Big whoop," I am sure he was thinking! LOL I asked him how often did he go through a pair of shoes? He said about every 300 miles or close to a pair every week. As for the "two dinner" thing I mentioned earlier, Karl eats two dinners because he is burning soooo many calories each day running that he needs that much or a caloric intake each evening.

Karl Meltzer and the Country Chicken Girl

Karl's Feet!

I have to tell you I was mesmerized by Karl's feet. I hope he didn't think I had a foot fetish or something! LOL But golly gee, I still can't wrap my little pee-brained country chicken girl mind around what it must feel like to run from Sacramento, California to St. Joseph, Missouri. What about even traveling 50 to 60 miles a day, on foot. Jeez, I don't think I could do it, but wouldn't it be fun to at least try. Oh the things you would see.







So you think this guy might be a nutcase? Well, this isn't the first "crazy" stunt he's pulled. In 2008 he ran the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail. Check it out here:

Where's Karl: 1 man. 2,174 miles. 47 days

I should have asked him what was next on his "to do list." Hey Karl, if you read this, why don't you leave a comment and let us know!

After our brief talk, Dan the Man and I saddled up the four-wheeler and headed back to the house. On our way out the door, Ted asked us if we wanted some Red Bull. We had to admit to them that neither Dan the Man or I had ever even tried Red Bull. Just isn't something that goes hand-in-hand with our line of work, but hey, anything with the word Bull in the name should be included in our work so we took them up on their offer. Besides it might compliment my awaiting birthday pecan pumpkin cake roll. Which, by the way, we invited the crew to come join us in having, but they never came up to join us. I guess they were probably too tired. Too bad for them, because it was awesome! Even with the cola flavored Red Bull. But I have to be honest, I think that the sugar free Red Bull tastes a little like cough syrup!

Red Bull and Pecan Pumpkin Cake Roll
Doesn't get much better than this...

Well, a cup of coffee would have gone better, that's for sure!

Ummmmmm....
Hey Red Bull, feel free to use this picture in your next ad campaign...

Country Chicken Girl LOVES Red Bull and so will you!

Click on the videos for October 12th and & 13th to see our place! How exciting!!

Here's Karls' website:
Karl Meltzer's Website


Check out this site to track Karl's progress. If you click on the video clips for October 12th & 13th, you can see our place. How exciting!
Red Bull Human Express Website

Good Luck and Good Job Karl!
We'll be following you and rooting for you until the end!