Run, Brandon, run!

Tamaqua’s Brandon Fogarty loves to run. But he doesn’t just run, he runs long and far.

That’s because Fogarty competes in ultramarathon races.

The former Tamaqua High School cross-country and track star finished in the Top 10 in both the Swatara Creek Run in Jonestown on Sept. 13, and in the WTF (When the Finish) Last Man Standing Ultramarathon in mid-November.

At Swatara, Fogarty - currently an electrical technology major at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology - finished seventh out of 43 runners between the ages of 19 and 29.

“This race was 34 miles long on a straightforward course. I ran it in six hours and 15 minutes, and I felt phenomenal about my results,” said Fogarty, who credits Tamaqua cross-country and track coach Tom Kanger for the inspiration to “push himself to the limit.”

Fogarty’s next marathon was a much different kind of challenge. The WTF Last Man Standing Ultramarathon became a virtual race due to COVID-19 restrictions. With no time factor, the declared winner would literally be “the last man standing.”

Since the event was virtual, participants could choose their own track, and every three hours would have to validate their distances on a Zoom website with the number of miles recorded from watches they wore on their wrists.

“I chose to run behind Leiby’s in Tamaqua near my sister’s house,” said Fogarty. “It’s three miles out and three miles back.”

On that Friday night at 11:59 p.m., Fogarty began his race, running alone with a head lamp and a support team of 15 friends and family who would station themselves along sections of the course and offer him snacks and liquids for hydration. Fogarty had to run six miles, and then three hours later, he had to do it again. The faster he finished the course, the more time he had for rest and hydration before he had to start again, and again, and again.

The average high school cross-country race is a little over three miles, while the longest race in high school track is a little under two miles. But ultramarathoning is about endurance, because in some races, the runner is trying to complete 100 miles of distance.

“Long distance runners all have highs and lows, or what we call “bonking,” Fogarty said. “After five times around the Leiby’s course, I bonked and felt fatigued, and I wondered if I had eaten enough carbs or hydrated as much as I should have. My body was telling me to tap out, and then when I rested in between, again my body was trying to tell me to stop.”

But stop he did not.

Fogarty, who turned down offers to run track at East Stroudsburg University and Moravian, ran until midnight on Sunday for a total of 103.2 miles, good enough for third place out of a field of 29 runners with 26 tapping out before he did. The last man standing and winner of the race finished on Monday morning with a run total of 118 miles.

Fogarty got his start running long distance races from a social media group of ultramarathoners. He learned that running these types of races is not just about physical conditioning, but also about mental disciplining. He physically trained with his friend, Steve Roetz, in incremental steps beginning with running five miles a day, increasing to 10 and then adding more miles per day and week.

“You have to train hard, eat right, hydrate and then the mental challenge is first, not to tap out, and then to be near the front when it’s over.”

There have been a few lows along the way - Fogarty tapped out of one race in New Jersey after running 28 miles - but they have driven Fogarty to improve and earn his Top 10 finishes.

Fogarty has an upcoming race in British Columbia. He also has his sights set on the ultimate ultramarathon - the Western States Endurance Run - a 100-mile race in California where participants are chosen by lottery from an extensive waiting list.

“I look for the next chance to push myself,” said Fogarty, who admits he’s self-driven in everything he does. “Some of the motivation is because we didn’t have an outdoor track season my senior year at Tamaqua. I lost a chance to break the school record in the mile.”

Now Brandon Fogarty runs, as he says, to “power things through” the obstacles that can make a long-distance runner quit the race. He’s also aware that his determination to succeed isn’t just about winning a race.

He’s preparing his mind to power through the marathon of challenges he will face the rest of his life.