In a span of nine days in July, brothers Josh and Spencer Fluetsch both accomplished rather impressive athletic feats. First it was Josh swimming the length of Lake Tahoe, covering 21.3 miles on July 16 and 17. Spencer then ran his first ultramarathon – which is considered any race longer than a traditional 26.2-mile marathon. Spencer competed in the San Francisco Ultramarathon, which was back-to-back marathons on July 25 and 26, covering 52 miles.

 

Their father, Doug, has competed in many long distance cycling events and played a big part in bringing road races to Merced County in the last 20 years with the Gran Fondo Hincapie-Merced and the MERCO Cycling Classic. Maybe that’s why Josh and Spencer, both Merced High School alumni, may be wired a bit differently.

 

“I want to say a large part of it is having two great parents,” Spencer said. “I think they instilled a lot. I wouldn't say they ever pressured us to succeed, but I think they gave us the strength and tools to succeed. I think Josh and I have both used those tools and support from our families to push ourselves through these physical feats.”

 

Josh’s swim across Lake Tahoe started as a gift from his wife Hannah.  With two young children and one on the way, this was a good window for Josh, 29, and his family for him to spend the six months he needed to train for this swim. “It would have been at least two more years before I had another opportunity to try for this,” Josh said. 

 

Josh, who graduated from Merced High in 2015, spent his early mornings swimming at In-Shape. On Saturdays he would train at the Merced High pool with Kit Grattan or the Atwater High pool with David Svendsen. As the event got closer, Josh would go out on Saturdays for an open water swim at Lake Yosemite. 

 

Swimming across Lake Tahoe had been a challenge Josh wanted to tackle since he was little. He remembers another area swimmer Clark Byrd making the swim in 2011. Byrd was on hand when Josh made the swim in July. “At the time Clark did it, it wasn't as popular as it is now. When Clark did it, I believe he was the 11th person ever to do it. Since then, about 60 to 70 more people have done it. I was just shy of like the 80th person who has done it. I always thought it was really cool that Clark did that and took on that challenge, so when Hannah and I got married, it was something that I really wanted to try and take on.”

Josh started his swim at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 16 and finished at 7:32 a.m. on Friday, July 17. He swam for 10 hours, 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The feeling of reaching land on the other side will be unforgettable for Josh. 

 

“I'll probably never be able to recreate that moment, it was just awesome,” Josh said. “I just have so much gratitude toward all the people that help give me the opportunity to be able to do it. I was able to reflect on all the coaches that I've had throughout the years, all the people that really helped create the swimmer that I was, but then also helped me become the person that I am outside of swimming as well. I've been very thankful for the many great coaches and teammates and people throughout the years.”

 

Josh said it was tough swimming through the pain, the darkness and the cold but finishing wasn’t a concern. “I felt pretty confident that I could do it most of the time,” he said. “I questioned why I was doing it. That was more of the question that was going through my head. Why am I doing this? And then just remind myself it was a gift, and I have a huge support team, and I'm in one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. You do the backstroke for two seconds to see the stars above you, you realize this is actually so much more of a blessing than anything else.”

 

Josh says this was a one-and-done challenge for him. Maybe he’ll try to match it in 10 years. However, he says Spencer is just getting started with his endurance races. “I think it's probably the start of something pretty cool for him,” Josh said. “I  wouldn't be shocked if in a year he did a 100-mile race.”

 

Spencer, 26, graduated MHS in 2018 and has collected 21 marathon medals since he started running during COVID. “I guess I really didn’t want to stop at a marathon,” Spencer said.

 

Spencer trained for the ultramarathon by increasing his training from about 45 miles run per week to about 55 miles and also focused on his diet as he lost 12 pounds leading up to the event. When it came time for the ultramarathon he wasn’t quite sure how he wanted to pace himself during the first marathon. Eventually during the race, he threw caution to the wind and decided to run it like he would any other marathon and he’ll deal with the consequences later. 

 

“I knew I had another marathon coming after the first one so I think subconsciously, I took the first 4 miles out slower,” Spencer said. “I ran about a seven-minute pace, and then I started to ramp it up from there, and then by mile 10, I was running a 6:15 pace pretty consistently. I ran that pace without much consideration of how my legs would feel for the second marathon. I'll just deal with this later, like I'm just going to run the pace I want to now. I'm feeling really good and I'm feeling strong, so I'm just going to throw off the brakes.”

 

Spencer finished second after finishing the first marathon with a time of 2 hours and 52 minutes. Spencer had four hours in between the two marathons so he went back to his apartment and slept for about 40 minutes before getting up to stretch and prepare for the next leg. He also ate a hot dog and half a quesadilla to refuel.

 

Despite running through pain, Spencer won the second marathon out of the 200-plus participants competing in the ultramarathon with a time of 3:12. It came as a shock to Spencer who had found out the runner who won the first marathon competed at the Olympic trials. 

 

“You could tell that this guy is really serious about running,” Spencer said. “Like he was wearing skin-tight shorts. Meanwhile, I was in like five-inch athletic shorts and a t-shirt from a brewery. My apparel and his weren't very comparable at all. So I thought this guy was going to kill me on the second leg. So when I crossed the finish line and I heard ‘Spencer Fluetsch, ultramarathon champion,’ I felt a sense of euphoria and accomplishment like I have never felt before.”

 

Two incredible accomplishments by two brothers who inspire each other. “Josh has always been an inspiration for me,” Spencer said. “Even outside of physical activity, I think he's just a good role model in person, but in addition to that, an incredible athlete, and I certainly would not be running as much as I would be or doing all these races if I didn't have him to look towards.”

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.