Finish to start to finish

Surf City personal trainer runs marathon in both directions for charity.The official start to the second OC Marathon wasn’t until 7:30 a.m. Sunday, but Charles Bauknecht of Huntington Beach got an early start.

Make that a very early start.

It was -- yawn -- 2:45 a.m. that morning when Bauknecht stood at the finish line near the Irvine Spectrum, carbed-up, laced-up, and ready to run the 26.2-mile course in reverse. His destination: the marathon’s starting line.

Four hours and 15 minutes later, he had crossed that line at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. It allowed the 31-year-old just enough time -- about 15 minutes -- to catch his breath before joining a sea of nearly 11,000 runners and walkers for the official start of the marathon.

When the marathon had began, Bauknecht had held true to his pledge to “Double Down.”

Those were the words printed on the shirt he and several of his supporters wore on race day, the mantra he used for running the marathon route twice in his quest to raise money for the Southern California Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

That’s a 52.4-mile wake-up call for Bauknecht.

A personal trainer, Bauknecht had trained for the marathon with Brian MacKenzie of Costa Mesa, and the two had planned to “Double Down” together. But MacKenzie, also a personal trainer, became ill and didn’t run the marathon in either direction.

Bauknecht said that MacKenzie did show up along the course and jogged the final mile with him.

“It felt good to do it,” Bauknecht said of running the OC Marathon course twice. “It went really well. Physically, I was fine and didn’t hurt myself. The weather was great too.”

By the time he was running in the official marathon, Bauknecht said he was comfortable with the course.

That wasn’t the case during his early morning 26.2-mile run.

“I was by myself and hadn’t run the course before, and I got lost,” he said. “I didn’t know the area really well. I had to ask for directions, and that set me back on course.

“That first run was somewhat taxing and there was some anxiety, but things worked out. It felt great to get to that finish line.”

Bauknecht, who was born in Michigan and lived there before moving to Surf City last year, is a newcomer to marathon running. He ran his first -- called the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon -- in San Diego last June. He’s also done two timed ultramarathons, 50K and 35-mile events that had “huge elevation gains” of 6,800 and 10,000 feet.

“I starting running just for fitness in about 1998 and ran my first race in August 2000 in Michigan,” Bauknecht said. “It was a five-mile race with about 75 people and I finished third, so it sparked my interest.

“I started doing 5K races a couple times a year and ran into some problems with my feet. So, I just cross-trained and lifted weights. After that was taken care of, I started to do longer races, distances under a half-marathon, and then my first half-marathon at the Pacific Shoreline last year, just after moving out. After the marathon, I was encouraged by Brian to get into ultra running with him.”

On Nov. 26, Bauknecht ran what he called a “brutal race,” the Santa Barbara 9 Trials. That race altered his preparation for the OC Marathon.

He took a week off following the trials and then started with an “easy” week of 35 miles. The next week he ran just over 50 miles, and the week after that he did about 65. He also strained a calf muscle on a 32-mile run before the holidays.

Bauknecht said he would like to continue running ultramarathons while raising funds for charities. He had worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation back in Michigan and, when talking to one of his training clients, Bob Waltos, who is the chairman for the foundation’s Southern California chapter, he expressed his desire to race to raise funds.

Waltos suggested that Bauknecht enter the OC Marathon.

“I fired back with, ‘Hey, let’s do it twice and do the first one starting early in the morning,’” Bauknecht said. “The rest is history.”

As of Monday, Bauknecht, who said he enjoys the peace and quiet of running, mostly in the mountains and on trails, said his ultramarathon run Sunday has already raised $3,500. He noted that money will continue to come in for the cause throughout the week.

“It was a totally worthwhile experience, something I was proud to run and something I’d do again,” he said. “It’s great, because I was out there taking care of my body, pushing myself to the limit, and it was for a good cause.”20060112iswk43nc(LA)Barefoot runner Ken Saxton, center, of Huntington Beach approaches the 16-mile marker. Unlike Bauknecht, he and other marathoners ran the course just once. 20060112iswk3lncPHOTOS BY MARK DUSTIN / INDEPENDENT(LA)Charles Bauknecht, center, approaches the 16-mile marker on Portola Parkway while running in the OC Marathon Sunday. Bauknecht ran from the finish line to the starting line very early in the morning, then started the official race with the rest of the runners at 7:30 a.m. His 52.4-mile run raised funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.