Itzler checks off another challenge

By Jane McManus

The Journal News

(Original Publication: December 20, 2006)

Jesse Itzler knew it was a crazy idea, but that was part of the appeal.

The 38-year-old self-made CEO has spent a career in the music and aviation

industries, and is one of those people who becomes consumed by projects.

Whether it’s writing the Madison Square Garden anthem “Go New York Go,” or

figuring out how to get people to buy shares in a fleet of private planes,

Itzler is all in. So it wasn’t any different when he started to run with a

group that included his former college roommate at American University, Gary

Spitalnik from New City.

“I really like challenges,” said Itzler, the cofounder of Marquis Jet

Partners, which has a major facility at Westchester County Airport. “If I

dive into something, I’m a little bit of an extremist about it. If I dive

into something I want to see how far I can take it.”

Which is how Itzler came to a small Texas town last month to take part in a

100-mile ultramarathon called the UltraCentric, as friends Matt Damon,

LeBron James and Tom Brady blew up his BlackBerry for updates on his

progress. Itzler managed to complete the 100 miles in just over 22 hours as

day turned into night, and temperatures plunged from 74 degrees to a frosty

30.

“(The cold is) why at the end I had a tough time,” Itzler said.

It’s hard to imagine signing up for the race expecting anything but. A

regular marathoner, Itzler enlisted friends and family to help him train for

the National 24 Hour Championships. Those friends included the Little Tor

Runners, the Rockland group that Itzler began running with 10 years ago.

Itzler was already a rapper under the pseudonym Jesse Jaymes when he and

Spitalnik started running local races in the New York area. Itzler tried his

first New York City Marathon in the early ’90s and has run every year since.

The two friends still work together, and Spitalnik wasn’t surprised when

Itzler said he was looking to be a 100-mile man.

“Of course we thought he was crazy,” Spitalnik said, “but there was never a

doubt in my mind that Jesse would not do it.”

Itzler picked 10 charities to raise money for as part of the process, and

set a $1 million goal to get started. Several of the charities are attached

to people in music and sports, like James’ James Family Foundation, Mike

Krzyzewski’s Emily Krzyzewski Family Life Center, and the Jam Master Jay

Foundation for Music.

He also began a training blog and a Web site dedicated to his progress. As

of yesterday, Itzler’s site said his run had raised $1,021,250 for the

charitable organizations.

There were difficulties in the process. The man who practically invented the

NBA arena anthem category doesn’t run with music. That might not make a

difference during an average person’s run, but over the course of a day, on

a course that was a closed loop, how do you entertain yourself?

“I had a goal on the charity side to motivate me,” Itzler said, “but boredom

was the biggest thing going in.”

That’s why he enlisted one friend, Lance Aldridge, to complete the race with

him, and dozens of friends and relatives to meet him in Texas to help him

make it to the finish line.

When Itzler finally did make it to the end, after a final three miles that

seemed to take as long as the other 97 put together, Spitalnik said he’d

never seen his friend so emotional. But after a few minutes, Itzler was

composed, and in the weeks since he returned he has already gotten five

e-mails asking him if he wants to climb Mount Everest.

Maybe not, but Itzler does seem to have joined a short list of entrepreneurs

who crave the next challenge.

“I always wanted to ride my bike across the country,” Itzler said.

Let the blog begin.