The remaining miles of frozen Indiana trails didn't bother him. He welcomed the pain ahead. He wished the race demanded all of his attention. But Talattof couldn't keep the intrusive thoughts from creeping into his head the harrowing memories of his home country of Iran that had haunted him for so long.
For years, desert heat, sandy singletrack, and high altitude had partially distracted Talattof during the grueling ultramarathons he'd grown to love. The conditions helped him temporarily forget about the trauma of his twenties, when he was an aspiring professor who became trapped in Iran. But the flashbacks always returned. They had once again invaded his headspace during the 2013 Indiana Trail 100 Mile Run.
RUNNER'S WORLD+ MEMBER
KAMRAN TALATTOF
AGE 67 FROM TUCSON, ARIZONA
WHY I RUN BECAUSE RUNNING IS MY LIFESTYLE.
In the distance, Talattof spotted three lights in the dark. Suddenly, he was transported back to the streets of Tehran. The lights reminded him of an anti-aircraft mechanism that used to light up the Iranian sky. His heart began to pound as he neared them on the trail. But soon, the three lights turned into one, and the sinister machine transformed into another runner's headlamp. Talattof took a deep breath.
As he traversed the cold Indiana night, running was Talattof's escape. But no matter how fast he moved his feet, it was also his captor.
Keep up the fight / Talattof grew up in Iran but left the Middle Eastern country for the U.S. to attend graduate school in the 1970s. After receiving his master's degree in education from Texas A&M University-Kingsville, he returned to his home country to visit family in 1979. But political turmoil was brewing. Iran's pro-Western government-led by its monarch, the Shah-collapsed on February 11, 1979, ushering in a restrictive theocratic regime.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TO RUN 26.2 IS TO FEEL ALIVE
THE SUN IS rising from the east, and the waves of the Pacific crash below to the west.
LEAVE IT UP TO A PIECE OF PAPER TO TEACH YOU TO RUN EASY
BEFORE I FELL for running, I thought the hardest thing about the sport was the fast stuff: the speedwork, the sprints, and the intervals.
WHY-AND HOW-YOU SHOULD RUN DOUBLES
Those are just a few of the titles entered into my training log for the second run of a day.
FIND YOUR RUNNING COMMUNITY, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
I SIGNED UP for my first marathon while sobbing in the back of a rideshare, on my way to the airport to fly to my uncle's funeral.
FUEL WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT
AS AN ULTRARUNNER, I'm all too familiar with the saying that long-distance running is an \"eating contest with a running component.\"
AT THE FERTILITY CLINIC, MY PAST CAUGHT UP WITH ME
I SAT IN the fertility doctor's office white walls, bare wooden desk, opaque window-alone.
THIS IS NOT AN ESCAPE STORY
AT 15, DARLENE STUBBS WALKED AWAY FROM A POLYGAMOUS CULT-THEN DISCOVERED A NEW LIFE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH RUNNING.
RUNNING WITH HANK
How my daughter's rambunctious mutt saved my sanity while she was lost to the darkness.
WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD MS.I THOUGHT I'D NEVER RUN AGAIN.
I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist.
A RUNNER'S GUIDE to sleep
Nike rocked the running world in 2018 when it released the Vaporfly 4%, claiming that the shoe could boost a runner's efficiency by that amount.
