About Don Muchow

Why I Run (and Ride and Swim)

Even though as of 2025 I'm still the first and only person to ever run from Disneyland to Walt Disney World (2020-2021) and amazingly I still hold the Fastest Known Time record for running across Texas (2019), I'm not Scott Jurek, Karl Meltzer, or Pete Kostelnik.

I'm "Joe Everyman." I started late. I didn't do a 5K until I was in my 40s. Didn't do a full Ironman until my late 50s. You get the idea. And I've never been even close to being the first guy across the finish line, either.

Which means that nothing I've done is out of reach for other T1D Joes and Janes out there.

Sure, I've tested my limits—as carefully and methodically as possible. I quit waiting for bulletproof answers, and started going out and getting the data myself.

With Type 1 diabetes, you have to think that way. And when I've learned something, I share it.

Still, sometimes stuff just doesn't go your way, and I've had sucky races due to super-high BGs at the starting line. When I ran across the US, I had days where it felt like I spent more time waiting for my sugar to come up than I did actually running.

Sometimes, I've been lucky. Once I accidentally came in third place in a quadruple marathon because I ended up running with someone I didn't know was going for first place. Those moments are treasured gifts.

I'm also someone whose blood sugar has tanked during exercise. My wife can tell you about the time I needed glucagon in a hotel room during my Texas run when eating and drinking nearly 100 g of fast carbs didn't even touch a double-down arrow and a BG in the 30s

So none of this is hypothetical for me.

My mission is to show fellow Type 1 diabetics that while our mutual fears of low blood sugars are justifiable, with help, we can find safe ways to be physically active and even epic. That starts with finding others who've already done what we're trying to do, and when no one's done those things, DOING them, sharing what you've learned, and lifting each other up.