Patterson general manager trains for 100-mile run

To many, the idea of traversing one-third of the entire Grand Canyon on foot may seem daunting, if not impossible. One hundred miles of nothing but the ground, your feet, and the distant horizon. However, for Patterson Dental Oregon and Seattle Branch General Manager Shay Goodell, this represents a lifelong pursuit of challenging the human body to reach its limits.

Beginning as a soccer athlete at Oregon State, Goodell picked up long-distance running to fill the post-graduation idle time itch.

“I needed something to do, and someone sent me marathon training and I thought okay, that’s cool, so I started training four days a week and I also had a friend who rode bikes,” Goodell said. “Fast-forward a handful of years and I decided to compete in Ironmans, which is where I shifted my training.”

Consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile run, Goodell has competed in and completed a total of 18 Ironman races including the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Upon receiving ankle reconstructive surgery after his last race, Goodell took a step back from Ironman to solely focus on marathon running.

“For five months I couldn’t do anything. All I could envision was that I wanted to run, all I wanted to do was run,” Goodell said. “So I came back, and I think the first or second marathon after, I qualified for Boston [marathon].”

Unfortunately, even with the Boston and Chicago marathons on the horizon, COVID threw a wrench into Goodell’s plans. Marathons were cancelled, gyms closed, and runners were left inside. For a change, he was forced to remain sedentary, a lifestyle Goodell did not enjoy.

“I called my brother and I’m like, this sucks. He told me to come up with something and we’ll do it. So, I looked around and talked to a bunch of people and I narrowed it down to something,” Goodell said.

That something happened to be in the Grand Canyon, though hiking wouldn’t be enough.

“I called a friend of mine in Phoenix and she said, ‘Oh, you don’t want to hike the Grand Canyon because it’s too slow. You’d lose your mind,’ and I said, ‘But there’s people that will run from one side to the other, how do they get back? Can’t you just run over and then back the same day?’” Goodell said. “She then told me, ‘There’s idiots that do that, yes.’”

Able to convince his brother and friend to take part in the mammoth run, the trio spent months training, eventually making it to the Canyon. Upon making it to one end Goodell’s partners decided to drive back. However, Goodell turned around and ran back himself, an event that ultimately became the catalyst for ultramarathon running.

“I think I enjoy the challenge and thinking about how far I can push myself, it’s always just more,” Goodell said. “It’s not about winning, it’s more of a day-long adventure where you get to meet people from all around the world. It’s a fun experience to cheer on each other and accomplish a feat. We’re not racing each other; instead, we’re kind of racing ourselves.”

Having now completed four 100K races, Goodell has set his sights on 160K as the ultimate goal, one he attempted in the past year, though it was cut short due to extreme weather.

The many years of training, determination and success have even bled outside of the confines of a marathon, as Goodell sees positive impacts of the sport in his everyday life.

“Sales isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, so I think it gives me some insight to yes, we want to move fast, but we’ve got to move fast for an extended period of time,” Goodell said. “I think resilience. You know there’ll be times throughout those races where you sit down and you don’t want to get up. You’re tired and you’ve got another 26 miles and it’s hot or it’s in the middle of the night and it’s just you. Pull yourself back up and you just keep moving forward and eventually you’ll get to where you need to go.”

For those who wish to pursue running, of any distance, Goodell believes the best piece of advice is to simply start and don’t look back.

“Focus on you, focus on the distance that you want to go, and focus on how it makes you feel,” Goodell said. “For me it’s therapeutic. It helps me be a better person, a better employee and a better employer.”