Photo by Can Türkyilmaz.
Clive Miskin wears Winston Churchill’s words, “Never, never, never give up,” on his bracelet when he races — whether on flat pavement in the Dallas heat or up steep glaciers in frigid Antarctica. During the past 20 years, the 53-year-old Preston Hollow resident has run 87 marathons and ultramarathons combined. In October, he will take on 62.1 miles at the Sovev-Emek ultramarathon in Israel. Originally from England, Miskin says he began running to stay fit and, “basically, to allow me to drink beer without looking too ridiculous,” he jokes. He ran his fastest time at the Austin Motorola Marathon, finishing in 3 hours and 12 minutes. In 2003, he became a proud member of the Seven Continents Club after running The Last Race marathon on St. George’s Island off the northern peninsula of Antarctica. On the course, he saw penguins, sea lions and killer whales. “We were guaranteed that none of us would remember the marathon because we’d be blown away by the things we’d see. We got to run up real glaciers. That’s not something you can train for. It was one of the most phenomenal places, basically, completely untouched by man. And the race itself was a blast.” Although Miskin has raced in Paris, Rio de Janiero, Venice and Athens, just to name a few, he’s still a true Dallasite and never misses a chance to run the Dallas Marathon. “A lot of people I know race with me, so it always feels like home,” he says. The sport relies heavily on volunteers. During one of his favorite races, he didn’t race at all. He served as a pacer for his friend during the last 40 miles of the 100-mile Rocky Raccoon Ultramarathon in Huntsville. “In a race that long, your mind starts wandering. Especially after 24 hours, every little thing takes energy.” But, when he decides to tackle his first 100-mile trail run, he’ll have his running buddies by his side. “It’s not the time you run,” he says, “it’s the time you have running.”
