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.
This was the eighth year of the FOURmidable 50K, put on by SingleTrack Running, who uses their mapping sorcery to concoct a 50k that’s not for the faint of heart. Last year, the race was the USATF 50k Championship, so naturally the field was super deep.
Participation levels in ultrarunning continue to trend upwards, as well as the number of opportunities around North America for runners to experience their first ultramarathon.
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.