#213 The Commitment: From Drug Addict to World Record Ultramarathoner, Charlie Engle Talks About Choosing Success

Dead Sea to Everest. (45:53)

Charlie Engle is an ultramarathon runner, an adventure-seeker, a global explorer and a philanthropist; he’s also a recovering crack addict, a convicted felon, and a man driven to the edge of human endurance and achievement.

After a decade-long addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol, Charlie hit bottom with a near-fatal six-day binge that ended in a hail of bullets. As Engle got sober, he turned to run, which became his lifeline, his pastime, and his salvation. The Matt Damon-produced documentary, Running the Sahara, followed Engle as he leads a team on a harrowing, record-breaking 4,500-mile run across the Sahara Desert, which helped raise millions of dollars for charity.

Charlie’s growing notoriety led to an investigation and a subsequent unjust conviction for mortgage fraud for which he spent sixteen months in federal prison in Beckley, West Virginia.

In his book Running Man, Charlie tells the surprising, funny, and emotional story of his life, detailing his setbacks and struggles and how he blazed a path to freedom by putting one foot in front of the other.

In his latest adventure, Charlie seeks to become the first person in history to trek from the lowest point to the highest summit on every continent. From the lowest point of the planet – the depths of the Dead Sea – Charlie will swim, free dive, run, paddle, mountain bike and climb his way through multiple countries and landscapes, striving to complete his journey on the very tip of the earth – Mount Everest.

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