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.
A cornerstone of being in the zone is freedom from expectations. Expectations are projections into the future, based on the past. They are not in the moment. The present moment is a heady place to be. But that is the only place we will ever find the zone, ever find the fleeting feelings of freedom; on the run, or anywhere.
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.
For those of you, like myself, who are potentially facing triple digit temperatures to match a triple digit race distance, here are some things to consider to keep your ‘A’ goals from evaporating.
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.
The course, as the race name indicates, goes along the Chubb Trail, a seven-ish mile route that offers some technical rocky/rooty Midwest single track and a nice flat section along the Meramec River.
We are on the cusp of summer and some of the hottest ultra races are coming up fast. I am going to review heat preparation and management strategies in this article, but the bottom line is you should try many things to determine what works best for you. You also need to know the red flag symptoms to avoid some disastrous consequences.
Somewhere around mile 45 two more runners caught up to me. They weren’t the first to catch me in this section. A few miles earlier I had gotten it into my head that my legs just couldn’t run anymore. I was slowed to a walk, or was “Miwalking”.
Race founders Stacy and Phil Sheridan greeted each runner with a smile and a hug.
I wanted an Ice Age belt buckle. At 72-years-young, now wouldn’t be too soon. I expected to be on the edge, chasing the cutoff most of the day… if most things went right.
I began mentally rewriting song lyrics as a way to pass the miles, entertain myself, and poke a little fun at the absurdities and idiosyncrasies I see within the subculture of this sport I love.
It was a perfect day for a race in the shadow of WWII heroes. Hosted by the Military Museum of Northern Florida, the race is held on a former WWII airbase and loops through magnificent cypress swamps around the perimeter of the old base. Remains of crashed aircraft and old bunkers are still visible.
As I make my way down the asphalt path I am conscious of the sound of my feet hitting the ground. It’s something I usually don’t pay much attention to but today is different. I am running with more attentiveness to my form. Is my posture good? Am I leaning into this short grade properly? Am I engaging my glute muscles?
There’s something about being applauded for not giving up when it includes 11 DNF’s. This past March, at the Badger Mountain Challenge, I finally finished a 100-miler. The road to get there was long, and took me four years and 11 attempts.
To remember the past is to respect it. Even the most independent of us in this most independent-at-times of sports, do not live in a bubble of rugged individualism feeding the fire of progression alone. We are all interconnected, and we all need each other.
A 90-minute drive from Los Angeles, Leona Divide is run mostly on the scenic Pacific Crest Trail among undulating green mountains and views of distant Lake Hughes.
In the modern world, decisions on what to eat and drink and when, can be as confusing as they are convenient.
Sometimes it takes a great loss to reach an all-time high.
This is the last text from the Sahara, my friends, after three days of cruel intensity. Magdalena Boulet won the race easy. She still looks amazing. Most of us survived it, struggling.
The sandstorm happened last night at midnight and was awful. But it also gave birth to the best day we’ve had so far. The Sahara… go figure.
Gaël Couturier, five-time Marathon Des Sables finisher, reports while running the 2018 Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara desert in Morocco.
By Laurie Staton Snowflakes swirled and wind whipped around us at the Friday noon start of the 2018 Antelope Island…
Was it really possible in the modern world to use the feet more than fossil fuels to get around? It sounded like a life adventure worthy of an attempt and, as a longtime ultra runner, Phil Kiddoo had always thought it somewhat ridiculous how many miles he drove simply to go for runs.
Runners, beware, you are about to enter the twilight zone. This is the dimension that exposes long-held beliefs that cause of chronic burn-out. It is a journey into a wondrous land that defies dogma and disposes of the monotonous. A place where mindless, boring exercise goes to die.
Some people can run ultramarathons for years, even decades, and never get a serious injury. Others are very injury-prone, forced into taking extended breaks often. Surely, some runner’s bodies are better suited to the demands of running far than others, but there’s got to be more to it.
After falling in love with a man who shirks labels and simply states there is a darkness that at moments is all consuming, I have learned more profoundly than through all my years working in mental health the heartbreaking meaning behind this statement.
