Ethan Dupris tells his life story with such ease and grace, he virtually succeeds in making his childhood one notch above a living hell.
Where do you start? With the fact that he was raised in one of the poorest regions in America, without running water or electricity? Or that his mom died when he was just 10 years old? How about the alcoholic father who used to drink in front of him and his six other siblings?
Dupris, 60, has run 97 marathons, with a plan to run his 100th 26.2-miler in May . Even if that moment comes to fruition — a likely occurrence — the achievement will never measure up to what he’s accomplished off the race course by simply surviving.
“I’ve been lucky and fortunate, and I make sure to count my blessings,” said Dupris, who has lived in Hollister since 1985. “I lucked out in life, but I also had to take advantage of the opportunities I was given.”
A Lakota Sioux Indian, Dupris was one of seven kids raised on an Indian reservation in Dupree, S.D., lacking the amenities most people take for granted today: running water and electricity.
There was always a sense of hopelessness and despair on the reservation — where alcoholism runs rampant — but growing up in a poor and desolate environment couldn’t bring Dupris down.
It took the death of Dupris’ mom, Edith, to send him into a tailspin. Edith, who died from breast cancer in 1963 — Dupris was 10 at the time — was the heart and soul of the Dupris family. Without her, the family crumbled.
“After my mom died, my brothers and sisters and I weren’t a family anymore,” Dupris said. “We saw a lot of pain from seeing our dad drink in front of us, and my mom dying pretty much took him down. He tried to be a man and father for his kids for half a year, but he gave up pretty much and became homeless, and we had to live with our relatives.”
Dupris doesn’t know how his life would’ve turned out had it not been for the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Foster Parent Program in Saratoga, which partnered with an Episcopal Church on the Lakota Sioux Reservation to take kids off the reservation and offer them a place to stay in Saratoga.
Dupris only found out about the program through one of his older brothers, and when his guardians at the time refused to sign off on the paperwork, Dupris forged their signature. So, at 17, Dupris was off to Saratoga.
“Ironically, out of the 20 of us who came here, I’m the only one who’s still here,” Dupris said.
Even though he got his foot in the door so to speak, Dupris’ stay in the Bay Area was anything but a foregone conclusion. After graduating from Saratoga High in 1972, Dupris attended a couple of vocational schools and worked for a couple of years before moving back to South Dakota in Eagle Butte, near his hometown.
However, Dupris came back to California for good in October of 1977, after the Eagle Butte Education Office and the now defunct Condie College — a computer vocational school — in San Jose established a contract through the federal relocation program that gave Dupris assistance to attend Condie, where he eventually completed his schooling.
Dupris, who works in the Information Technology Department in the Monterey County Data Center in Salinas, has two children, Peter, 28, and Melissa, 23. He’s been married to his wife, Julie, since 1978.
Dupris ran his first marathon in 1998, finishing in 4 hours, 18 minutes. Two years later, in the Napa Marathon, he recorded a personal-best time of 3 hours, 24 minutes.
“I’m not the fittest or fastest guy around, but I have energy all the time,” he said.
Dupris was still fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon three times, most recently in 2009. When Dupris crossed the finish line in the 2001 Boston Marathon, the announcer said, “Congratulations to the Lakota finisher of the Boston Marathon.” Dupris ran the race with a shirt that had a Lakota logo on it. No matter where Dupris was on the course, he heard repeated chants of, “Lakota, Lakota.”
“I had the chills as thousands of people said Lakota, and it gave me the inspiration, pride and energy to keep on going,” Dupris said.
Even though Dupris ran a slow race by his standards — he finished in 4 hours, 32 minutes — nothing could take away from his experience from running in one of the most prestigious races in the world.
In 1972, Dupris told himself that one day he would run the Boston Marathon.
“So running in the Boston Marathon for the first time was particularly emotional because of the chants and the culmination of a dream come true,” Dupris said.
Dupris is scheduled to run in the Buzz Marathon in San Miguel on Feb. 15, the Oakland Marathon on March 23, and the Surfer’s Path Marathon in Santa Cruz — which would be his 100th marathon — on May 18.
However, Dupris doesn’t plan on stopping at 100 — he’ll go as long as his body is willing.
Even though Dupris calls Hollister his home, he still remembers his roots. Every two years, Dupris visits the Lakota Sioux Reservation. In addition to seeing his relatives, Dupris wants to raise awareness of the increased diabetes rate on the reservation. In the past, Dupris ran for himself.
Now, he’s running for a greater cause — specifically, the Sioux YMCA in Dupree. With every race, Dupris plans on raising money through siouxymca.org. Dupris wants to give back to his community because he knows had it not been for several people in his life, he could’ve faced the same predicament as his father and three of his siblings — a premature death.
Dupris credits his wife for turning his life around.
“When there’s a lack of love in your life, you can’t find love,” he said. “My wife showed me what love was, and I was able to turn around and show love to my brothers and sisters. We are a family again.”
In the end, that’s what really counts.
