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Rob French took a few rest days before resuming running. Try 24 years' worth.

The former LSU runner, now 52, has put behind him a knee injury that slowed him in his early 20s and frustrated him further on comeback attempts. His race of choice now — the ultramarathon (typically 50K or 31.1 miles or farther) — has him appearing as if he's making up for lost time. And lost mileage.

"I'm not sure how to answer the 'why' question," the High Point resident says. "I often wonder myself why I am doing this."

French found a second wind in his running career, a few months after adopting a vegan diet and wanting to run with a son, on Dec. 1, 2007. "I barely could make a mile and a half," he says.

But he quickly regained his form, qualifying for the Boston Marathon, then breaking three hours by just under a minute in April 2009. Always more comfortable at longer distances in his younger days, French set his sights on ultramarathons.

And early Sunday morning, in the woods of Umstead State Park in Wake County, he might've reached a pinnacle. French finished the Umstead 100 in 19 hours, 45 minutes. French beat all three of his goals — finishing the hundred-mile race, finishing in less than 24 hours (earning a belt-buckle prize) and finishing in less than 20 hours.

But none of that topped the prizes awaiting him at the line, just a few minutes before 2 in the morning: his wife, Sara, and sons Kane, 19, and Patrick, 12.

"It's just emotional. My family was there," he says, pausing to gather his composure, "my wife and two kids. I really didn't think my wife would be inclined to stay up until 2 a.m. It's just a feeling of satisfaction and emotion that kind of overwhelms you."

Read more about French at the Running Shorts blog at www.news-record.com/blog/running_shorts

Engle's World

Greensboro's Charlie Engle, imprisoned in Beckley, W.Va., after being found guilty in a bank, mail and wire fraud scam, has written a feature piece in the May Runner's World on his experience with the Barkley Marathons trail race. The magazine's cover illustration includes this text: "Brutal. Terrifying. Inhuman. The organizers of the Barkley Marathons don't care what you call the toughest trail-running competition in the world, as long as you don't finish it."

Engle is writing a blog, Running in Place (charlieengle.com), while serving time and was the subject of this recent story in The New York Times.

Contact Eddie Wooten at 373-7093 or eddie.wooten@news-record.com