The scene in the finish area of the Ice Age Trail 50 is a living expression of what most of us love about the ultrarunning community. Runners and spectators alike welcome the finishers – and those who didn’t make it – as they would a friend or family member. If you’re wearing a bib, someone is looking after you.

The advent of spring is the Promise Land 50K. This year it was even more so with all of the rain. The streams were full and the leaves in the lower elevations were an eye-popping green.

I registered for the Bryce Canyon 100 as a training run. My only concrete plan was to run hard. But at the start of the second loop I instantly felt sick on the first climb. I had two equally discouraging choices: quit or hike 40 miles.

Only in its third year, race directors Valerie Abradi and Mindy Slovinsky have put together an ultra event with an old-school feeling and lots of down home charm that will simultaneously delight and challenge you. Riverlands is a great up-and-coming destination race. Put it on your calendar before the word gets out.

For years, the consensus had been that Mike Morton’s 100-mile record, set in 2012, was invincible. But this year, Brett Sanborn beat it by 12 minutes in an astounding 13:20:18. Given that it was a very hot weekend with minimal cloud cover, Brett’s performance was all the more remarkable.

The second annual Hellbender 100-Miler turned out to be a huge learning experience for me. Two weeks prior to race day I made a comment on Facebook about how the attention of a race should not always be on the front runners, but on those at the back of the pack. This race would hit home for me what my comment really meant.

The Teanaway Country 100 stands toe-to-toe with those 100-milers that are notoriously hard. I think that in time, it will be viewed as a low altitude Hardrock. The most obvious factor and where the comparisons to Hardrock begin, is the elevation profile.

Destination races are fun. But, they also are expensive and stressful. That’s one of the beauties of the Hawkeye 50K. Located within scenic Lake Macbride State Park near Solon, Iowa, it’s less than an hour from my front door.

After being runner-up in 2016 and winning in 2017, it felt great to be back on the magical start-line of the Canyons 100K in Foresthill, CA. It was going to be a different ballgame this year, however.

I believe the Badwater experience is about being together in settings that involve intense running experiences, and then having the time and space to recover, relax, and rejoice together.

It was a perfect day for a Run through History with 68 runners signed up for the annual Hellcat 50k endurance run at the North Florida Military Museum in Green Cove Springs, Florida.

Orcas Island wasn’t meant to be this year, but I got to have an amazing running adventure with my friend in Washington and run some hard and beautiful miles, just in time to taper for LOViT 100.

The long stage is the most feared stage of the race. This year, for the 34th anniversary, it was sandy and hot. Not really a day at the beach. 

This is my seventh Marathon des Sables, and it took me three days to write this story. Three days of heat, sand, wind and miles of stony plateau. Three days of acclimatization, digestion really, of what the desert had in store.

The Wells Mills 50K is in an area that includes about 650,000 acres and is nearly as large as Yosemite. However, it’s right smack dab in the middle of the most densely populated state in the Union: New Jersey.

HURT hasn’t had course conditions like this since 2011, when rain poured on race weekend. Back then, the finish rate was only 29%. It’s gotten as high as 60%, so we were wondering if people might stop thinking of the HURT 100 as a tough race.

The Wild Duluth 100K and 50K races were created in 2009 to show off a new segment of the Superior Hiking Trail that spans the entire length of the City of Duluth, Minnesota, staying predominantly on the ridge overlooking the mighty Lake Superior. The trail is spectacular, and the views are plentiful as the trail crosses rocky overlooks, waterfalls and creeks, under stately white pines.

It’s difficult to top a magical Pacific Northwest island when it comes to trail running. Race weekend is a special experience, from riding the ferry, experiencing the slow pace and artsy vibe of island life, cruising along some of the greenest forest trails you’ll ever see and soaking in panoramic summit views from Seattle to Canada and the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound.

Held at Camp Millstone 4H Camp in Richmond County, the race consists of three 10.4-mile loops on the North Carolina Game Lands. Like all Fat Ass events, there are no t-shirts, no awards and no whining.

At 66 years old, could I still go the distance? Was 2019 going to continue my bad luck from 2018? Could I still notch a 100-mile finish as a spanking-new granddad and add Florida to my long list of states where I’d run a 100-mile race?

We have finally arrived in Wisconsin at the starting line for the 2018 Kettle Moraine 100 after a long drive from our home in Missouri. For the next 30 hours, we will be crewing for Superman.

In its best years, the first 15 miles of the JFK 50 are difficult. An unusually wet fall in western Maryland was bound to make conditions on the course even more miserable, especially for those of us in the mid to rear pack. We were not disappointed.

We just needed a couple’s weekend. The last of our three kids left the nest this year, and now they are all in college. Is there a better way to sort out and plan your golden years than with a 7-hour drive to spend 30 hours in nature?

There’s been a wave of participation in our sport in the last 10-15 years, even in the 60, 70 and 80+ age groups. It’s revealing of both the sport and its participants that it’s possible to stay in the sport and run a 100-miler every year. For decades.

I can run 32 miles. I do that almost every weekend for my training runs. This may sound like an odd thought to be having upon arriving at the mile 68.5 aid station. But before we get to that, a little about me.

Like many spots in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Stringers Ridge is rich in Civil War history. Who knew that 155 years later, this former war zone would host The Cannonball – an annual, last-runner-standing battle.

On November 4, twenty-two runners lined up for Conquer The World (C.T.W.) Endurance’s first annual Fall Back into the Trails 50K, a 10k loop course with roughly 1,000 feet of elevation gain per lap at Red Wing Recreation Area in Lagrangeville, New York.

Rather than digesting my race experience, here’s a glimpse into how I got there. Simply toeing the line on race day is an honor, and certainly not a given.

Scheduled just two months after I had hip surgery, Shawnee Hills 100 was going to be my comeback race. I was healed enough and needed a shot of endurance (and confidence) for Superior 100 two weeks later. But was I ready?

“Don’t worry dear, this is the hardest time for everyone,” a volunteer consoled me. “It is?” I fought back tears. The same delicious hot food I’d devoured earlier at Red Wolf aid station now turned my stomach 25 miles later.