Bernd Heinrich
Bernd Heinrich, Ph.D (b. April 19, 1940, Germany), is a professor emeritus in the biology department at the University of Vermont and is the author of a number of books about nature writing, behavior, biology, ecology, and evolution. Heinrich has made major contributions to the study of insect physiology and behavior, as well as bird behavior. In addition to other publications, Heinrich has written over fifteen books, mostly related to his research examining the physiological and behavioral adaptations of animals to their physical environments. However, he has also written books that include more of his personal reflections on nature.[1]
Education and scientific career
Heinrich earned his Ph.D in 1970 from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1971, he accepted a position at the University of California, Berkeley where he became a professor of entomology. He stayed at Berkeley until 1980. Between 1976 and 1977 he was a Guggenheim and Harvard Fellow. In 1980 Heinrich accepted a position as a professor of zoology/biology at the University of Vermont. From 1988 to 1989 he was a von Humboldt Fellow.
Running career
Heinrich has won numerous long distance running events and set a number of open U.S. ultramarathon and masters (40+) records throughout the 1980s. At the age of 39, Heinrich prefaced his masters career by winning the Golden Gate Marathon outright, with a time of 2:29:16, on a hilly course in San Francisco, California.[2]In 1980, Heinrich ran 2:22:34, his lifetime personal best, in the West Valley Marathon in Burlingame, California, where he placed third and missed qualifying for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials by just forty seconds.
On April 21, 1980, two days after his 40th birthday, he was the first masters (40 & over) finisher at the Boston Marathon, with a time of 2:25:25. Since he wrote "39" on his entry form (his age on the day he entered), however, Boston Marathon officials instead gave the award to second-place finisher Raymond Swan of Bermuda. Heinrich then struggled for a full year to get the award that was rightfully his. His essay about that struggle earned him an award from the New York Times for a first-person story about running, and his tale appeared in the Times shortly before the 1982 New York City Marathon.
In 1981, he set an absolute American record (i.e., the best of either road or track venues; this one was a road race in Chicago) of 6:38:20 for 100 km (62.137 miles). Two years later, he set an absolute American record for the 24-hour run of 156 miles, 1388 yards in a track race in Maine. In 1984, he set an absolute American 100 mile record of 12:27:01, again in a track race. One year later, he set the American track record of 7:00:12 for 100 km. In so doing, he became the only American man to hold both the road and track versions of the American record for the same event. His 12:27:01 for 100 miles and 7:00:12 for 100 km still remained, at the end of 2007, the official American track records. At the end of 2007, Heinrich was inducted into the American Ultrarunning Association's Hall of Fame.
In his book Why We Run: A Natural History, Heinrich reflected on the sport of running as a scientist, and recounted his performance in the 100 kilometer race that ushered in his ultra-marathon career. Originally titled Racing the Antelope, one of the arguments of the book was that humans evolved to be ultra-distance runners that could run down even the swiftest prey, through a combination of endurance, intelligence, and the desire to win (c.f. Persistence hunting).
DVD
In 2011 a 60 min. film, titled "An Uncommon Curiosity: at home & in nature with BERND HEINRICH," was released. The film follows Bernd Heinrich over the course of a year as he reflects on his past and shares his ideas about nature, science, art, beauty, running, and writing.