McRunner breaks his marathon time after burger diet

The idea itself was enough to give weak-stomached critics indigestion.

But Joe “McRunner” D’Amico proved hundreds of naysayers wrong Sunday, by completing the Los Angeles marathon in a personal best time after eating nothing but McDonald’s fast food for a month.

The Palatine dad’s time of 2 hours, 36 minutes and 13 seconds was 41 seconds faster than his previous record, and good enough for 29th place overall in the 26.2 mile race.

“It went just as I planned,” said D’Amico after finishing Sunday. “The course was much tougher than I expected and the wind and rain didn’t help, but I felt strong.”

The 36-year-old munched 23 hamburgers, 24 chicken snack wraps, 63 cookies, three filet-o-fishes, 91 hotcakes and an Aberdeen Angus burger among the 99 McDonald’s meals he ate in the 30 days leading up to the race. His only deviation from the McDonald’s menu was tap water, an occasional runner’s gel supplement and a daily multivitamin.

D’Amico, who set himself the challenge because he loves McDonald’s and running and wanted to combine the two, said he was not trying to make a political point or to upset anyone.

The effort saw him pick up more than 23,000 fans on Facebook and raise $27,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

He celebrated completing the race with a Snickers bar but said he would let his wife choose where they would eat dinner Sunday night.

“We managed to walk past a couple of McDonald’s restaurants after the race without stopping,” he said, adding, “I’ll probably be back in a McDonald’s some time next week.”

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/4419343-418/mcrunner-breaks-his-marat...