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At age 62, having just completed a grueling 100-mile mountain race in which he finished first in his age group, Fred Brooks died suddenly when his car crashed on an interstate highway just hours after the race was completed. He was in the second year of a comeback to ultrarunning after a six-year hiatus.
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Early Saturday morning, driving down winding roads and rolling hills, my stomach fluttering with nervous anticipation, it felt like being on a roller coaster. But we were not at an amusement park. We were en route to the start of the inaugural Water Gap 50K in the Poconos/Delaware Water Gap region of Pennsylvania. Little did I know that this race would also be quite an emotional roller coaster.
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If you ask ultrarunners why they got into the sport in the first place, you will hear a range of answers—for health, for a love for the outdoors, for a personal challenge, for an escape from the stresses of work. But I can’t imagine that many ultrarunners would say that they got into running because they wanted to be fast and competitive.
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The Run Rabbit Run is a tough 100-plus mile race in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It’s in September, usually just when the aspen leaves turn golden. It’s also on the very short list of Hardrock qualifiers, unlike Western States or Leadville. So when a bunch of my friends signed up for it, I gave in to peer pressure, adding a third hundred-miler to my 2015 calendar.
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Last December, my friend Rachael and I got lucky at the Western States lottery. We were excited, then terrified. After that, we got serious. We watched Unbreakable over and over, which confirmed what the Western States website says all along: It’s a downhill race, and most years a very hot one.
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There sat 17-year-old David Hedges, smack in the lead pack at the Twisted Branch Trail Run, a 100k race on the Bristol Hills Branch of the Finger Lakes Trail in NY. As he ran, surrounded by veterans of the sport, past winners of ultras and consistent hometown favorites he patiently waited.