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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.
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It seemed like the perfect plan. After 10 very successful years of running the JC
Stone 50K Spring road race, why not take advantage of the runner friendly Western Pennsylvania fall weather and the beautiful running trails around North Park to create the second in the series of JC Stone 50K Races. -
In August of this year, I signed up to run a new 100-mile race in Texas. To be specific, I signed up for the race the night before the race. On a whim. Like a crazy person. I think stress from full-time work and full-time school drove me to this extreme, where I started thinking how lovely it would be if I had a full-day break from worrying about work and deadlines. As a friend would comment later, “You were literally running away from your problems!”