“My favorite times during these races are actually at dusk, right before the sun sets, and then at sunrise in the morning,” he says. “When you just start to see the flicker of sun come up you know that you're on the downhill slope of the race, you're getting close.”

Ultramarathoning, with its physical and mental challenges, isn't for everyone. “You have to not mind spending hours and hours on the trail by yourself,” says Garcia. “In fact, you have to look forward to it.”

The trails offer him breathtaking views, an occasional mountain lion encounter, and precious solitary time to process information and solve problems in his research—a break from life's chaos. At the finish line of a 100-mile race, Garcia says he is more himself than at any other time. “It just puts life in perspective,” he says.

Garcia says his 40-something body is starting to feel the stress of a decade of these races. “My body is definitely getting pretty beat up,” he says. He's not bothered by the puking, shivering, fuzzy thinking, and sore muscles that come in the latter stages of an ultra-marathon. Experience has taught him that he can push through those temporary discomforts. But chronically sore hips may eventually send Garcia back to shorter races—marathons and triathlons. Not yet, though. He's got three 100-milers on his summer calendar.

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