Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon: Edmond runner Eric Cayot plans to double up

He plans to start his first 26-mile trek at Lake Hefner at 11 p.m. Saturday and then end that run at the finish line of the Memorial Marathon course. He then plans to jog or walk over to the starting line to make the 4:30 a.m. early start of the marathon.

“I've ran this race several times and I thought, ‘Why not run it twice?'” Cayot said. “I would enjoy it twice as much, right?”

Cayot has competed in ultramarathons before, races of more than 26 miles. The most common distances of ultramarathons are 50 miles, 50 kilometers, 100 miles or 100 kilometers, he said.

“I have primarily done just 50ks or 50-milers,” the Edmond resident said. “You would be amazed at some people. They will just run for days in a row.”

Cayot, who runs a half-marathon every weekend to train, said he likes running at night.

“I know that probably doesn't make much sense, but I really enjoy running at night. It's so peaceful,” he said. “Even running in the city at night it's so serene and quiet.”

He considered running the Memorial Marathon course twice, but decided against running on some of those city streets along the course in the middle of the night.

For his first marathon, Cayot plans to run 16 miles around Lake Hefner then the final 10 miles toward the finish line of the Memorial Marathon.