Ellie Greenwood

Have you strung together a good number of 50k and 50-mile finishes? Do you feel like you are a reasonably capable ultrarunner? Sure you may not be fast and you might not post podium results, but you’re confident running on trails and over long distances, so now it is time to contemplate what some folks call “the golden distance” of ultra running – 100 miles.

There is nothing better than running through a landscape and being completely immersed in it. In my prime running years, I was lucky enough to experience some amazing landscapes and trails, and one race that has stuck with me for its scenery and local culture is the Grand Trail des Templiers, a 50-mile race in the hills around Millau in southwest France.

As a mountain lover, the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) had tremendous appeal. The idea of connecting the mountain and high desert ranges through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana was irresistible.

To me, it’s vital that we all think about trail etiquette – how to respect and maintain the beautiful natural environments that we choose to run through, and how to respect our fellow trail users. It’s important to recognize that we share the trails with others.

There are many aspects of the ultrarunning community that I love, and one of the most important is the fact that at 99% of races 99% of the folks out there helping the runners are volunteers. It’s easy to take this for granted and just assume that races are volunteer run. But have you considered how a race might differ in atmosphere if the folks handing you water or issuing your bib number were paid employees?

Over the years, I’ve seen numerous runners who, in my opinion, have put undue focus on a race. They become totally fixated on doing well at a particular event that they almost feel that they should not enjoy the training, as if in some way suffering through hard training is part and parcel with doing well on race day. This is totally wrong.

I distinctly remember the finisher shirt I got at my very first marathon in Victoria, British Columbia. I remember it because it was a bit of a dilemma –
I’d just run a marathon, a whole 26.2 miles, so I sure as anything wanted to go around proclaiming my accomplishment by wearing an item of clothing that shouted this fact to everyone who I so much as passed in the street.

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.

Time… wouldn’t we all love to have more of it? This can be particularly true when we have a full-time job, family and social commitments and we decide to sign…

If any of you are relatively new to running ultras, here are my top tips to ensure that you have fun and success at your ultras and come back wanting more!

You know those times when you innocently say something and are met by a really odd look, and then you realize that you’re not talking to an ultrarunner? Well, that was the case when I was talking to a local newspaper journalist recently and referred to running the Vancouver marathon as “a good, middle distance effort.” Well what else do we ultrarunners call a mere 26.2-mile jaunt other than “middle distance”?

As a reader of UltraRunning magazine for the past several years, one of my favorite issues has always been the January “Year in Review”; a look back at the past…

In an effort to make the most of my limited vacation time from work, the opportunity to combine a family vacation with a destination race just seemed too perfect to…

Oh, if only running and racing to one’s potential was just about running, wouldn’t that be wonderful? It would make life so much simpler and I truly believe that many more “weekendwarriors” would be up on the podium at competitive ultras. But the more I run, the more I realize that it’s the “extra stuff” that all goes towards truly fulfilling one’s potential as a runner, which is hard, as all I really want to do is run, and all I often feel I have time for is to run.

We’ve all done it, signed up for a race with the simple click of a button, carried away with the enthusiasm of a recent race result or inspired by beautiful images from a race website, and only after do you begin to consider the practicalities of racing at the event.