My contribution to the Marquette 50 has definitely become less as the years have gone by, and now my children take great pride in helping with “Dad’s Race.”
This was by far the toughest 100-miler I’ve ever been in, but I was more determined than ever to finish. I’m grateful to my friends, fellow runners, and volunteers that got me there.
To honor and recognize you, one of those brave runners who toed Wasatch’s starting line in its first decade (1980-1989), a special “40 Hours for 40 Years” (40/40) race category has been created for the 40th anniversary, 2019 race.
What’s the most epic thing you’ve ever done out of spite? For me, it was my first ultra. Being told I couldn’t do something when all the facts agreed that I would fail – and doing it anyway – was so me.
Running 50 miles will change your life and running 100 miles will rewire your brain. But what happens when you run twice as far as the 100-mile distance? Running 200 miles will not only reshape your mind…it will bend your reality.
This was the first time that a trail race held in New Hampshire’s White Mountains went over summits of the 4,000-foot peaks.
The inaugural UrbanICT 50K and 50-mile race was held in Wichita, Kansas under the full moon. This unique race had a 9 p.m. Friday start time.
Sandwiched in between 4th of July festivities, the Afton Trail Run 25k/50k draws a celebratory crowd, and has a loose, joyful, rock festival vibe that suits the season.
I had a calm confidence I could traverse the entire Burning River 100. While I knew my training had not been optimal, I felt showing up healthy and gutting it out would provide the opportunity for success. I could walk if I ran out of gas… How dangerous a thought this was.
“Relentless” is a word that gets tossed around a lot by folks who have run Black Hills, and the Centennial trail certainly fits the description. Is the Centennial more relentless than you?
It’s the middle of the night in Coney Island and with over 80 miles on our legs, Rob and I are feeling it.
I was 36 weeks pregnant when I ran the North Country Trail 50 Mile last year. Even though I knew it would be a challenge, I was cleared by my doctors so I was up for the challenge to prove you can do anything you set your mind to.
We are waiting at the finish line for our final runner. It is our special pleasure to present Edna Vazquez Lung with her finisher buckle, the last Kettle Moraine 100 award we will be giving out, due to our “retirement.”
On a toasty morning, I toed the line for my first crack at the Titletown Ultra Series 15.5-hour event on June 30. There are three time lengths to choose from: six hours, eight hours, and the solstice run challenge where you run 15.5 hours from sun up to sun down.
Through a variety of different sights and sounds, I was reminded time and again of places and races I have run. It all felt… familiar.
2018 – the year I turned 40 and the year I tackled my first 50 mile race – the Ice Age Trail 50!
The Burning River 50 Mile was my second “race-cation.” My husband, Jon, and I combined it with four days of short, easy hiking at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio before the ultra on July 28.
On a humid and hot July Tuesday in Texas, I set out to run 100 miles alone, without aid stations, time cutoffs, finish lines or buckles. One hundred miles just for me, for my sanity, for redemption.
After a very rainy week, runners saw clouds lifting and blue skies for the 6th edition of the HARRC’s Conococheague 50K Trail Run. The event is held on rock-covered single track and forest service roads in the wilds of western Perry County, Pennsylvania, in the Tuscarora State Forest. The course has five major climbs totaling more than 6,100 feet of ascent.
Meander along babbling brooks, by waterfalls, through rhododendron tunnels and into the highest points in Virginia where ponies roam.
Gradually my obsession about the meaning of DNF took on a less emotional and more abstract quality. I began to play with alternative and perhaps more useful meanings for DNF. Maybe I could make it a positive, motivational or even inspirational phrase…
Each mistake I make in an ultra teaches me something new and brings me a little farther than the last race. Let me list my mistakes and what they taught me, in the hopes that you can avoid making the same ones.
On May 5, 2018 Rockhopper Races launched its first race in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Although White Lake Ultras was not held on the rugged terrain that the White Mountains are known for, it did provide a variety of trails that went around White Lake. There were beautiful mountain views from parts of the 2.9-mile race course as well as snowmobile trails and technical single track.
When I first turned to ultras in 2017, I needed the solitude of the trails and long hours to work through some demons. Within that, I discovered an amazing community. This year, I secretly hoped for a podium place and set my sights on Earth Day 50K.
With almost perfect weather, we had a record number of participants (231), a record number doing 100 or more miles (nine), a record number doing 50 or more miles (154), and set six new state age group records.
In 1999, Suzi Cope created the Grasslands Trail Run not long after moving to north Texas from California. As a pioneer in women’s ultrarunning – she was the first woman to complete the Grand Slam – it was important to build a stronger trail running community in her new home state.
You don’t often see the words “Iowa” and “ultrarunning” in the same sentence. The Hawkeye State has no mountains and little gnarly single track to attract hardcore masochists. But, there are a few ultras scattered around the state, and they have their charms. The Hawkeye 50K is one example.
The Napa Valley 50K takes runners from downtown Calistoga, California to the top of Mount St. Helena, running along the Palisades Trail. Runners consistently praise the course for its remoteness, technical challenge, almost 8k of vertical, and stunning views of the Napa Valley.
Every May the Born to Run Ultra Marathons draw over 1,000 people from a world-wide pool of misfit athletes, creating a legendary running journey through the creative mind of shotgun-toting Race Director Luis Escobar.
A collection of photos from the FlatRock 101K, a double out and back on the gorgeous Elk River Hiking Trail just outside of Independence, Kansas.