January 2, 2004 Geesler Sets New American 48-Hour Record Litchfield Park, AZ The first new American Record of 2004 was set at 9:00AM New Year's Day in Litchfield Park, Arizona.  John Geesler of St. Johnsville, New York, running in the Across The Years 48-hour race on a 500 meter certified road loop, compiled 248.55 miles to surpass the previous American Record of 243.43 miles, set by Roy Pirrung of Sheboygan, Wisconsin at Surgeres, France in May, 1997. Geesler, a three time national 24-hour champion and top American in October's World 24-Hour run title event in The Netherlands, finally succeeded after three previous failed attempts to notch his first American Record at the two-day event, racking up exactly 800 laps around Nardini Manor. The appropriately-named event began in late 2003 and finished early on the morning of Jan. 1, 2004.  The 44-year old Geesler amassed 145 miles on the first day, then came back to crack 100 miles on day two, despite having to take numerous short sitting breaks due to extreme fatigue.