'It's a lifestyle': Local runner tests his limits in ultramarathons

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Jacob Albert has been running since he was in high school. At first, it was just a way for him to stay in shape for soccer. Now, it's turned into his biggest passion.

"It's a lifestyle," Albert said. "[People are] always telling me I'm crazy for how much I run."

Albert runs ultramarathons, which are as intense as they sound.

"An ultra is typically anything over a 50k, which is 31 miles," he told WAND News. "There's usually set distances, so there's a 50k, there's a 100k, there's a 50-miler, a 100-miler."

He does it because he loves it. When he's running, it's just him out there with no distractions.

"Sometimes in a hundred-mile race, after I get going, I kind of just zone out. Usually don't even think about anything. I just go and it kind of works," Albert said. "It's usually just me listening to nature and observing what's around me. I don't really listen to music at all. I don't have my phone on me, I just go."

Albert has run countless ultras since his first at 19-years-old.

Albert hopes to one day run the Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile race. He has time qualified for it, but hasn't been selected in the race's lottery system yet.

There is something else he's pushing for, too.

"Taco Bell is my go-to," Albert beamed. "I always have it before a big race, after a big race, it's like my main food source. They have not reached out to me, but I'm hoping here soon they do."

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