Who is this guy?

Hello. My name is Saulius (Saul) Eidukas and I am a trail runner, ultra marathoner, husband and father with a full-time 8-5 job.

As a child I loved to run all the time and it gave me such joy that I did it as often as possible. Be it with other friends playing games or by myself running home from school just to see how fast I could do it. I never seemed to tire of running. Another activity that I could do for hours on end was simply being outdoors especially in the natural world. It could be hiking, fishing with my family, camping or just exploring on my own.  It was something that always gave me much peace.  Like many people as I began entering the adult world and became exposed to the many pressures and responsibilities that comes with it, time for such activities got pushed aside.  Fortunately, my passion for running was to be rekindled with the coming of middle age. My wife Julia who also loves running took it up again and I started to join her on some training runs.  I had some set backs as I suffered injuries in the beginning and had to stop running two years in a row.  I really got serious with running after being diagnosed with anxiety and depression. In time I found that exercise helped me better cope with my mental illness and as running was my favorite form of exercise I started to try to take it up on a regular basis.  To help keep me motivated with daily runs I began to sign up for races.  I soon completed my first half marathon and the next year ran my first road marathon.  Before I realized it in four years I had run 6 marathons. One of these qualified me for entry into the Boston Marathon and one race was my first trail marathon. This trail race in Silver Falls State Park  gave me a taste of what longer and tougher trail racing was about and combined my love of nature with running.  The seed was planted and I gained the confidence to train for my first ultra. The following year in 2014 I ran three 50k races. My completion of those events spurred me on to keep pushing my limits. In 2015 I ran one 50 mile race and three 100k races. My results from two of these races qualify me to enter the lottery for the prestigious Western States 100 mile race.  I came from very humble beginnings and if someone would have asked me after my first half and even first marathon if one day I’d like to attempt an ultra marathon I would have thought them nuts. But with time, as I struggled with my mental health and pushed my limits over and over with running I realized I was capable of much more than I imagined.  In writing my blog it is my hope to share these experiences to demonstrate that we all have the ability to achieve great things.  I’ll post about my races, my training and things I learn as I go. Along the way I’ll share my ups and downs, tears and laughter and everything in between. Thank you for taking the time to visit and see you again soon.