Distance runner will cross Arizona during 'Bunion Derby'

Atsuyuki Katsuyama says he likes "something unique."

He's Japanese but lives in Thailand, where he owns a vegan restaurant. He often runs barefoot, has a thing for Route 66 and plans to follow in the footsteps of a Cherokee from Oklahoma who once followed that historic roadway during a race across America.

Yep, that's unique.

Katsuyama, or "K" as he likes to be called, is combining several passions in one grand adventure — K's Run Across the USA.

Based on his research, K figures that only about 500 people have crossed the continent on foot, whether running or walking. And only a few have followed all of Route 66 since a 20-year-old named Andy Payne, a Cherokee from Foyil, Okla. — a town on Route 66 — won the 1928 International Trans-Continental Foot Race.

That race, which became known as the "Bunion Derby," was created to promote the newly constructed "Mother Road." It followed the entire route from Los Angeles to Chicago, and from there some runners went on to New York.

Katsuyama will make the 84-day, 3,423-mile run beginning April 25, his birthday. He will follow Route 66 to Chicago and then the Lincoln Highway from Chicago to New York, averaging 42 miles a day and taking only six days off.

He will pass through Arizona from May 3 through May 12.

"I love your country," Katsuyama said via e-mail. "When I was 20, I left Japan and lived in the USA for a year. Later, when I was 40, I lived in San Diego for two years."

During his time here, he learned about Route 66 and drove it on several occasions.

"I have always been thinking that someday I want to run this road all the way with my own feet," said Katsuyama, who has run more than 100 races of marathon distance or greater.

Although he said he does not run fast, he holds the course record for the 88-mile Thailand Ocean to Ocean race across the Thai Peninsula.

A little over a year ago, he decided it was time to live out his dream of running across America and began running 21 kilometers — a half marathon — every day. He increased it to 42 kilometers, or a full marathon, every day.

Just as important, Katsuyama said, he concentrated on running efficiently.

"If we do not run smoothly, that will create unnecessary energy with the ground," he said. "That is a waste, and also, that will cause injury. I need to run with less energy and without injury. Otherwise, I cannot make it."

He plans to begin running at 5 a.m. each day and go until 11:30 a.m., covering about 26 miles. After a one-hour break for lunch, he will run until 5 p.m., covering another 16 miles or so.

He will run in minimalist shoes, using a "natural," barefoot running technique. For 27 years, K said he was an "artificial runner" caught up in the latest shoe technology or nutritional fad. He changed three years ago.

"I spent more time shopping than training," he said. "I was a very nice customer of the running industry."

Katsuyama will sleep in an RV, except for the occasional Route 66 motor hotel, and will be supported by a crew that includes his wife Neung and friends Julie Coltrinari and Colin Hunter of New York, and Greg Wilson, who lives in San Diego.

Wilson and Hunter will run with him for some stretches. Katsuyama encourages anyone who wants to join him to find his schedule at krunusa.wordpress.com and run along with him.

"Yes, yes, yes! I am encouraging people to pace me," he said, adding that e-mail and telephone contact information are on the Wordpress page.

Of his crew members, only Wilson does not follow a strict vegan diet, so he might spend more time than the rest in Route 66 diners.

But being a restaurant owner and cook, Katsuyama said there will be plenty of tasty vegan fare along the way. Or at least there had better be.

He estimates that he will need to eat about 6,000 calories a day to maintain his weight. That's a lot of calories from plant-based, non-processed foods.

"We need to buy smartly," he observed.

K is selling T-shirts to raise money for two Thai foundations: the Hug & Smile Foundation, which supports people living with HIV/AIDS, and the Wishing Well Foundation, a Thai equivalent of the Make a Wish Foundation in the U.S. that helps dreams come true for children with incurable diseases.

But ultimately those worthy causes were not the real reasons he decided to take up the Bunion Derby II.

"When a runner runs, we love beautiful nature and scenery," he said. "And we love people's smiles and kindness. That is why I will run across your beautiful country."

Explore Arizona reporter Bob Young is a runner, bicyclist and reluctant swimmer. Reach him at 602-444-8271 or bob.young@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobYoungTHI and on Yonder App @BobYoungExploreAz.