Author Jeffrey Stern

We caught up with Kevin Youngblood last week in the midst of what he considers to be the most pivotal moment of his life. “I’m in a truck on the Ice Age Trail at 2:30 a.m. answering questions to be featured in UltraRunning Magazine,” just as he was one day away from finishing a three-plus-week trip following Coree Woltering as he set a new FKT on the trail in 21 days, 13 hours and 35 minutes.

The independence and freedom that running had given me since seventh grade was stripped away. I knew that getting back on my feet and leaning into running—rather than away from it—was a step forward in my recovery.

Illinois native and current Chicago resident Wes Judd possesses the power to turn Type 3 “never going to be fun ever” into Type 1 “always fun,” and it’s his experience using this magical ingenuity that hooked him into ultrarunning.

Originally from a small town of just over 1,000 people tucked away in the northwest corner of Wisconsin, Olivia Amber was a former All-American Nordic skier at Colby College and is poised to make a name for herself in 2020.

What initially drew Chattanooga, TN, ultrarunner Seth Ruhling into the ultrarunning community nearly a decade ago, was the allure of a finisher’s sweatshirt that told the world he ran 40 miles in one day.

Paramount to any race day achievements for Kate is to keep her running lighthearted and adventurous. “There are a lot of longer trails I want to start running on without a clock and a race bib next year. I have plans to do a little more fastpacking too, but the most important part of all of this is making sure it’s always fun.”

Prior to volunteering at White River 50 in 2017, Gus Gibbs’ perception of ultrarunners was that they were beyond “crazy,” but unbeknownst to him on that summer day in late July, the madness instantly became appealing. Fast forward to March 2018 and he found himself on the rainy start line of Way Too Cool for his first 50k.

After dabbling in half marathons during college and running two road marathons in 2018, Sacramento native and former basketball player Melissa Flores hasn’t looked back since being introduced to the trails by a friend in Santa Barbara.

When Rod Farvard crossed the finish line last fall at the Cuyamaca 100K in Julian, California, not only had he just finished his first 100k (his third ultramarathon), won the race and set a new course record in the process, but he thought he’d just punched his ticket to the 2019 Western States Endurance Run. Quite literally a dream come true for this 23-year-old from San Francisco.