BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Donna Dutton waits with her husband's lunch along Highway 50 on Thursday while he makes his way through Mound House. Calvin Dutton, who received about 25 phone calls from family and friends during his birthday trek, decided he would run 50 miles to celebrate his 50th birthday.
The biggest concern for most people on their 50th birthday is where to have dinner or who to invite to the party - for Calvin Dutton, it was not getting hit by passing cars.
Just before 5 a.m. Thursday, Dutton began his birthday celebration - a 50-mile run that began in thick fog along Old Highway 395 in Washoe Valley.
"I was worried that I didn't have enough safety stuff on," Dutton said. "I decided three weeks ago to try, to prove to myself I could still do it - I've done it once before."
Dutton said he took up running seven years ago as a way to spend time with his family.
"My kids were all grown up and dad was starting to gain some weight. I thought this is a way to get my family together," Dutton said. "When I get stressed I run. It keeps your head straight."
As for the people who say he's crazy to run 50 miles - Dutton tends to have a different opinion.
"I think crazy is thinking you can't do it. Anyone can get off the couch and eventually do this," he said.
The run capped off a weekend of events for the Dutton clan, including a surprise party for Calvin on Saturday and his daughter's wedding Sunday.
Dutton's run would take him from East Lake Boulevard north along Old Highway 395 to Bowers Mansion and then back south along the highway then through the Lakeview neighborhood.
He ran through Carson City using College Parkway, Arrowhead Drive, Goni Road, Fairview Drive, Fifth Street and Carson River Road before taking Highway 50 into Dayton.
His goal was to complete the run in nine hours, but he failed - by one minute, arriving home at 2:01 p.m.
Dutton walked during only one section of the run - up the hill from Carson City into Mound House.
"I was so psyched up in the beginning that I wanted to set a slower pace, but I didn't and it hurt me on that hill. That's where that one minute went."
His time would, however, be good enough to qualify him for his next goal, a 100-mile run that he hopes to run in the next year.
He is also considering running in the Las Vegas Marathon on Dec. 3.
As for his immediate plans, Dutton said he planned to spend his Friday getting a massage he got as a present and probably go for a run.
"I'll go run a couple of miles, probably three or four miles. I will have to because I'll be so sore and will need to work it out," he said.
He'd already picked his route.
"That hill in Mound House, I'm going to tear that hill up."
• Contact Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.