I failed at masking my disbelief when, at our last appointment, Dr. Harake reported that Dr. Dan was coming to Santa Barbara to run in a road race. Don’t get me wrong–he’s a gifted and personable cardiologist who invents cutting edge gadgets to help little kids in the fight–but the memory of watching him chomp on a bag of Doritos during 9am rounds didn’t exactly convey the image of “runner”.
As I suspected that Dr. Harake would not be able to resist passing on my initial shock, I was given pause when I received an e-mail from Dan late in the weekend. Instead of taking umbrage, his devotion to Rudy was very evident.
Rolf
Thanks to you and Rudy, I had a dominant effort in the clydesdale (>200 lbs) division of the SB Half Marathon. I finished in under 1:56 min with a staggering 8:50 min/mi pace. Bilal told me that you were “surprised” to hear that I would attempt such a thing so I decided immediately to dedicate my race effort to Rudy. When I almost suffered a myocardial infarction at mile 9 of 13, I just started saying to myself “Rudy never quits and Dr Dan never quits” – this made the last 4 miles possible!! Tell Rudy Thanks! I will send him my medal!!
Dr Dan
P.S. see number 583 and please note that there were 1705 runners thus I was not last! Also note efforts by Jenn Levi (244 overall) and Noel Reemtsen (much faster than me-#263)
Once again, I am moved by the individuals we’ve met on this journey and grateful for them. Good show, Dr. Dan, and thanks for being one of Rudy’s heros!
Rudy's Beat 
Way to go Dr. Dan! 1:56 is not too shabby!
Go Dr. Dan. I agree the idea of seeing him as a runner is a bit crazy, but inspirational as well. I love that he thought of Rudy for his push to make it through to the finish. Go Rudy Go and good job to Dr Dan.