We were an hour outside of Putaendo, when the yerba maté started to take effect. It was June and deep mid winter. All that afternoon we had driven north towards …
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Ultramarathon races take hours, days. What’s a few lost seconds, right? Wrong. Seconds really do matter. Let me share with you a little story that illustrates this point. The race …
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Ride the Wind is a desert race through and through with cactus, kangaroo mice, wadis, coyotes, painted rocks, lizards, one hundred percent exposure, and a UV index that could strip …
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My non-running friends often ask me what it feels like to run a 100-miler. They find it difficult to imagine. I find it difficult to describe. Oxymoronic phrases like “Everything …
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Following are some conclusions I have drawn after being married to a running fanatic (Gary Johnson, who placed ninth in the 1991 Angeles Crest 100 Mile Run and who totaled …
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Running Times published an article earlier this year entitled “Is 100 Miles The New Marathon?” That made me smile—so the rest of the running world has finally found our crazy …
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Stop laughing, this is no joke! Where did I get this secret? Well, it’s a long story and it goes back many years. You see, the historical and legendary Kit …
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This May, after falling just short of the magical 600-mile mark last year in Anchorage, AK, Joe Fejes became the first modern-day American to break the 600-mile barrier in six …
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I had just started my 140th lap, which was the same number in miles during the third day of the 72 hour race at 3 Days at the Fair held …
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“Seek and you will find.” Well I found what I was looking for, the fact that I knew I was going to be running day and night thrilled me. That’s …
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What’s it like to run 100 miles? To get an idea without all the effort, consider pacing someone in a 100-mile race. There are real benefits — you can run …
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The San Francisco 100 pits you against the elements of nature but at the same time reveals all Nature’s glory in the hills and coastlines of the Marin Headlands just …
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Manitou’s Revenge might the hardest 50 (technically it is 54) mile race in the United States. In 50 miles runners climb over 15,000 feet of hand over foot, rocky, root …
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Because this race is out-and-back and because the return has a net elevation loss I expected most runners would run close to even splits but a comparison of the halfway …
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On the Friday morning the day before the Western States Endurance Run 100 Mile, many non-racers—crew members, pacers, fans—gather for the Montrail 6K Uphill Challenge. This fun race has quickly …
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Buckle fever, or chronic ego driven exhaustion (CEDE), has been known to cause premature DNF and extreme remorse. This case study is taken from the 2015 Western States Endurance Run.
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The noun “verity” is described by Webster as “the quality or state of being true or real.” A recent letter to Ultrarunning (Jan/Feb ’86) identified handicapping ultras as an idea …
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In 2005, just one week before her 61st birthday, Gunhild Swanson set the 60-and-older female record for Western States with a time of 25:40. Without a doubt, her husband Jack …
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Running 100 miles is a crazy sport. You can train and plan for months and feel like everything is lining up perfectly, but things very rarely play out the way …
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When you meet Marin County’s Mark Richtman, it’s hard to believe that he’s 60 years old. Despite his longish graying hair, his stride is fluid and he remains a fierce …
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Gunhild Swanson crosses the finish line of the 2015 Western States 100 6 seconds before the 30 hour cutoff to become the oldest finisher in the history of the race.
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I recently signed up for a local 10k race. It will be my first ever. Now I’m thinking about doing either a 50-mile, 100k or a 100-mile ultra. Most folks …
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With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, but, just as there are Americans, and Southerners, there are runners, and ultrarunners, and:
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Running consistently, logging at least a moderate number of miles, and including high-intensity sessions each week—all part of a balanced running schedule—are difficult enough to incorporate into one’s daily life …
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Of all the important relationships in life, my relationship with the trails is one of the most complex and profound of all. Some days running the trail is like a …
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What do Michael Wardian, Sage Canaday, Ellie Greenwood, Yassine Diboun, Aliza Lapierre and Adam Chase have in common? Yes, they’re all elite ultra marathon runners who have raced consistently at …
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I decided to examine the question whether women are superior distance runners by consulting the world records. (I assume that the world records give close to the best human performance …
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Like it’s been since its inaugural run in 2011, the Yakima Skyline Rim 50k is a testament to toughness. It’s hot. It’s dry. It’s rocky. It can be windy. It’s …
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The nine volcanic islands that make up the archipelago of the Azores have sprung up from the ocean floor relatively recently. Altogether devoid of human habitation until the adventurous seafarers …
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How good is Yiannis Kouros? Put it this way: He is the only runner for whom an accusation of cheating eventually became an honor. The quality of his run in …