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Billed as the 24-hour Treadmill Challenge, Dustin Jenkins had hoped to raise $5,000 for Loving Hands Clinic by running on a treadmill on Nepessing Street. Going into it Jenkins predicted the only way he wouldn't complete the 24-hour run is if the treadmill broke or he was injured.

"Both happened," he said.

While his support crew was able to fix the treadmill, a painful shin splint sent him home at 3 a.m., 12 hours after he began running.

"I felt kind of disappointed," said Jenkins, "but at the same time, we raised $1,700 for the free clinic.

Jenkins said when he packed it in he had run 73 miles and was on track to complete 130. A marathon, he said is 26 miles and anything longer than that is called an ultra Marathon.

According to Greek legend after the Greeks defeated the Persians at the town of Marathon, the warrior Pheidippides ran nonstop back to Athens; shouted "NenikŽkamen" (We have won) to the assembled senate; and dropped dead.

Jenkins, who served 4 1/2 years in the Marine Corps, said he plans on entering the 50-mile Appalachian Trail Run in September and wants to enter at least one 100-mile race in the coming year. In order to qualify for a century race, he said, "you have to do a 50-miler in nine hours."

"Basically, after you've done a marathon, it's all mental," he said. "You just have to consume enough calories and water.

To complete a 24-hour run, said Jenkins, he calculated he'd have to consume 30,000 calories, or about what a normal person consumes in 10 days. Jenkins said when he got off the treadmill at 3 a.m., he had consumed about 15,000 calories.

He said he got into trouble during Lapeer Days when his treadmill got stuck on an incline sometime after 7 p.m. "My feet started swelling. It was killing me," he said, so he eventually got off the treadmill and ran around the block while his support crew fixed the machine, but the damage had been done to his body.

While he had said initially that he'd continue to run as long as Loving Hands Clinic volunteers were collecting $5 a minute, at some point he decided to run the whole 24 hours. "I wasn't tired," he said.

After midnight Jenkins said volunteers from Loving Hands Clinic began suggesting he'd run farther than donations called for. "It became obvious about 1 a.m. we were getting the leftovers from the beer tent and we were getting more harassment than donations," said Jenkins, but still he ran.

Jenkins opened Elite Feet Running Store in downtown Lapeer in March and sponsors his own running club in addition to coaching cross country at Lapeer West High School.

Loving Hands Clinic has provided routine medical care to Lapeer County low-income residents since 2004.

He said he ran until the throbbing was more than he could stand, but he added he plans to do it again next year. However, he said, next time he plans to get pre-run pledges.

"I was fine the next day," he said. "My shin throbbed pretty good, but all in all it was a success."

Two days after his 73-mile run, Jenkins said, "I feel good. I went out for a jog this morning."

Phil Foley may be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext. 8148 or pfoley@lapeergroup.com.