The Extra Mile Personified

For finishing the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd, Ferraro was awarded a belt buckle, the custom trophy for all finishers of ultra marathons. Ferraro added to his collection of buckles at the Prairie Spirit Trail race in Ottawa, Kansas after finishing another ultra in March 2014. PHOTO: Kendall Burchard

By Kendall Burchard

For junior Nathan Ferraro, avid runner, Navy veteran, and architectural engineering major, going the “extra mile” is only the beginning in his pursuit of excellence.

“It was a 103 mile course, but then they gave you an optional 1 mile stretch that’s up this giant hill,” said Ferraro, describing the finish line feeling at his first completed ultra marathon.

“’This one mile isn’t going to stop us from finishing or not finishing this race,’ so we went and did it,” said Ferraro.

An ultra marathon is a 100 mile race run in under 30 hours in an extreme test of endurance and strength. The first time Ferraro attempted to run an ultra, he collapsed at the 71 mile marker after running for 17 hours straight.

“Most people will never know what it’s like to not be able to stand anymore,” said Ferraro, “knowing how I felt there, that really puts the rest of the world in perspective.”

After a second failed ultra, finishing a race became a “chip on his shoulder”.  In October 2013, Ferraro finally crossed the finish line of the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

But while Ferraro’s was experiencing success in the marathon world, his bigger test came in the classroom. After Ferraro’s enlistment ended in December 2011, Ferraro enrolled at Pennsylvania State University, and studied there until May 2013 when he transferred to the University of Oklahoma. 

Originally from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Ferraro struggled to find motivation in the classroom early in life.

“When I was in high school, I wasn’t bad, but school was not very important, like we didn’t need AP English to join the military, and I always had it in the back of my mind that I was joining the military. So I graduated with a 2.5? Not very good. I was not a good student in not a good school,” said Ferraro.

His idea of what was important changed when he joined the Navy at 18.

Besides the physical and psychological challenges associated with the military, personal challenges also plagued Ferraro. Married at 18, Ferraro was divorced at 21 after military life became too difficult for the young couple.

“Military’s hard on relationships, especially when you’re both really young,” said Ferraro, “I thought I was at the bottom. I’m 21, I’m divorced, I’m working a job I don’t particularly enjoy.”

 Ferraro sought out a challenge to cope.

“I figured I could feel sorry for myself, drink like everybody, or I could do something, build some self-worth, make myself feel better, accomplish something. So I decided I was going to train for a marathon,” said Ferraro. Within 10 months of the divorce, Ferraro had completed his first IronMan competition, and had turned his sights on his next test—the completion of an ultra marathon.

            Ferraro’s running and studying have done more than provide a new challenge for the go-getter—they have also served as an inspiration to his family. Ferraro’s younger sister, Natalie, a senior airmen in the Air Force, has started taking classes at a junior college and is preparing to run her first marathon in May.

            According to Ferraro, Ferraro’s mother, Betty, cries on the phone each time Ferraro calls home to update his family on running and school. After being selected by university administrators as a member of PE-ET, the prestigious top 10 senior honor society, Ferraro’s call home was particularly emotional.

“I told my mom I was a top 10 senior at the university. I don’t know if that’s actually accurate, but, man, she cried so bad,” said Ferraro, “I don’t try to make her cry, but she always does.”

Susie Broach, an advisor for OU’s Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts and Ferraro’s “second mom”, agreed with Ferraro.

“I'm not sure that he fully understood completely the extent of what he had achieved until he had sat through the entire awards ceremony. Towards the end, he leaned over towards me and whispered, ‘If my mom were here, she would be crying her eyes out she would be so proud.’ His parents should be very proud of their son. I am,” said Broach.

             Ferraro plans to spend an extra year at OU after graduating in May 2015 to complete his master’s degree, and then plans to pursue a doctorate in engineering. Ferraro hopes to design and build his own home after completing his education, and looks forward to one day rejoining the Navy as an officer.

Ferraro runs daily at the Huston Huffman Fitness Center. Here, Ferraro discusses his thought process while running as he progresses through his post-race workout during his recovery from the Prairie Spirit Trail ultra.

VIDEO: Kendall Burchard, runtime :53