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For an accomplished trail runner, Ian Shultis is going to be spending a lot of time on the roads — a LOT — in December. During the past two years, Shultis has made a name for himself on the regional trail racing scene. But for a week in December, the 27-year-old from Poughkeepsie is ditching his trail shoes and pounding the pavement.

Shultis, a Marist College graduate who is now in the post-graduate DPT (physical therapy) program at his alma mater, is planning on running five marathons in five days, from Dec. 16-20. His goal is to raise awareness and money for mental health issues and for suicide prevention.

“I feel suicide prevention is a very complex term that ultimately can be broken down to the essential need of human connection,’’ Shultis said in an email interview. “Ultimately, this is very easy to say but may be a very difficult and slow process that can be done in a variety of forms. This event for me is the way I want to express my voice for human connection through physical movement and the aspiration toward a goal, slightly different than from the base idea of a direct conversation. My hope is how someone who sees my actions either is inspired to reach out to a friend in need, or how an individual struggling may be inspired to find a goal to move themselves forward from their hard time.’’

Shultis said the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) often leads “Out of the Darkness” walks across the country. His weekday-long mission is his way of trying to embody that vision “in a slightly different application to fit how I feel I can best express this point.”

Shultis has chosen to run from New Paltz to Poughkeepsie each day on roughly the same 26.2-mile course.

Here’s how he explains it: “I am running via the rail trail starting from the trailhead lot across from Lowe’s in New Paltz to the Mid-Hudson Bridge. I’ll take it over into Poughkeepsie, where I will connect back onto the rail trail at the Walkway parking lot, continuing down past the North Grand intersection, giving me a 10-mile mark turnaround point. I double back on everything with 20 miles being back at my starting point to pick up anything I need for the last 10K. I’ll end with a 6.5-mile loop on North Elting Road and back on Plutarch to take me back to the lot.”

The majority of Shultis’s 131 miles will be run in the predawn darkness. He plans on starting each day’s marathon around 3:30 a.m., with the goal of finishing around sunrise each day.   

“My strategy is to ultimately focus on longevity of the day-to-day run,’’ he said. “I’m not exactly trying to PR every day but focusing on the ability to repeatedly perform and recover to be able to turn around inside 24 hours for the next one. I’ll try to maintain 7:00-7:30-per-mile pace for the extent of the runs, but am totally fine if I need to drop this lower as the week goes on. I more want to focus on the goal of completion and being able to use the run to bring to the forefront a topic that influences many but is not openly discussed or visible at times.”

About a year ago, Shultis had an experience where a past student-athlete and a friend whom he had known for years took his life.

“This was someone I interacted weekly with and a person who most likely needed a friend to help and say something,’’ he said. “This current undertaking is my desire to find a way to express how if there is a time and place to say something, it is best to do and not to wait.’’

Shultis is aware that his timing is not the best: He’ll be running in the days with the least amount of daylight in the entire calendar year, and at a time when he will be finishing final exams for his graduate school studies.

“Many situations may not be afforded that perfect opportunity and so the immediacy of this effort is an important component to my message,’’ he explained.

Shultis has a large bank of fitness built up over months and years of training in various disciplines — from fencing to lifting weights to trail running and hiking, and, yes, road running. As a result, he’s confident that he’ll be prepared for this unique challenge.

The cold days of mid-December will be a challenge as well, but he’ll be able to replenish with dry clothes at the 20-mile mark each day. His marathon-a-day goal will be self-supported in every way — from nutrition to hydration to clothing, as well as keeping his legs and joints as responsive as possible throughout the week.

“The hope is a few years of sports medicine experience and a grad program of physical therapy may help me out day-to-day as well,’’ he said.

Shultis said his goal is to raise money for the organizations of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, as well as Active Minds, a student-based approach to mental health discussion on campuses across the country.

“But awareness and discussion are components I wish to bring to the forefront with my efforts,’’ he said. “Largely, I hope to bring to mind the day-to-day struggles people may face and how much can occur in one morning, one night, one week and in our day-to-day interactions.’’

Along the way, he’ll be utilizing social media to spread his message of mental and physical endurance. And, he said, awareness is always a goal as well.

“Just for people to think and be mindful of what other people may have going on that isn’t evident from the outside,’’ he said. “I hope anyone who sees any of my efforts may feel able to apply a mindset like that, and more importantly, be the person to make a difference for whoever it is in their life they may think needs a hand.’’

Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club member Pete Colaizzo, the track coach at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, writes on running every week in Players. He can be reached at runhed246@hotmail.com. For more club information, go to www.mhrrc.org

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