Man finishes ultra with jaw wired shut

While most of us don’t actually use our mouths to run, you have to admit, it would be tough to run a long distance run with no way to take in any fuel. Yet a Michigan man completed an ultramarathon last weekend with his jaw wired shut.

According to local paper The Daily News, Brandon Mulnix, 32, was in a car wreck in February that left him with a shattered jaw. He required major surgery, and to help speed along the recovery process, doctors wired his jaw shut on August 17, not long before the race.

But even with the jaw, Mulnix completed the 50-mile North Country Trail Run in Michigan in 12 hours, 29 minutes.

“As an experienced ultra-marathon runner I wanted to challenge the community by doing something extreme,” he told the paper. “Last year at this race I had to quit at 25 miles into the race due to overheating. The chances of me finishing this year were even less, but I like a challenge.”

Mulnix also told the paper running 50 miles is “almost impossible” due to issues with nutrition, lack of oxygen from having his jaw wired shut and other unknowns. He survived by taking forms of liquid nutrition.

He then went on to complete a 5K race the next day (finishing in 27:10), and plans to compete in another run on Labour Day.