In 2015 and 2016 I failed at my attempts to complete the Eastern States 100. Disappointed and in the throes of existential angst, I went to the finish line both times to watch people finish. What do these people have that I don’t?

The race starts with a bit of single track, and as much as I try to begin at the back, there are others who come in behind me and then bumble about in the rocks and high grass, passing me where there’s no room to do so. Race director Chris McWatters is standing at his post to send us down a mile out-n-back and this is a wide enough jeep road that finally allows all the poor trap-ees behind me to escape and sprint past.

“Take one step,” was the mantra that got me through the 35 hours and 40 minutes of my first 100-mile race.

Summer in Kansas can get brutally hot and humid so that is why the Lawrence Trail Hawks came up with the Night Hawk. It’s a chance to run a trail ultra at night when summertime temps can be a bit cooler.

Many folks think that Promise Land is the best 50k in the East. Runners camp for free Friday night at the start/finish. We provide 100 pizzas for the runners and they bring all the desserts. After the pre-race briefing, we have a big bonfire and make s’mores. There is great fellowship that goes on before and after the race.

It was almost 143 hours into a six-day race when I finished my fifth consecutive eight-minute mile. I felt invincible. With a little more than an hour left, I wondered how long I could hold this break-neck pace.

The 14th Annual Virginia 24 Hour Run for Cancer proved that determined people with strong willpower can overcome all obstacles. 

Last year’s Angeles Crest 100 was an experience I will never forget. I went out too fast early and wasted precious time at aid stations. This year I made some adjustments…

Hotter than Hell, Dusk to Dawn is a night trail run that pits runners against the oppressive heat and humidity of a South Louisiana summer. The race starts at dusk on the middle weekend of July and ends ten hours later at dawn.

My five-foot-one and barely-north-of-100-pound frame was patiently waiting in the shadow of a literal castle to embark on my first 100-mile adventure. Thoughts of “What will happen?” and “Can I even do it?” swirled through my mind.

On a devilishly hot July day, 56 runners from five states met to run the 5th edition of the Harrisburg Area Road Runners Club’s Conococheague 50K Trail Run. The event is held on rock-covered single track and forest service roads in the wilds of western Perry County, Pennsylvania, in the Tuscarora State Forest.

For those not inclined to venture into a six-hour, mid-July run in suburban St. Louis, the race’s name is a sufficient deterrent to participation. However, devout masochists take the tone behind the name as a dare.

When I signed up for the Eagle Up Ultra in Canal Fulton, Ohio, it was for the sole purpose of earning a belt buckle. The course was newbie friendly, a five mile loop on a flat tow path and had nice swag like a headlamp.

Mild temperatures and a gentle breeze in Central Pennsylvania’s Moshannon State Forest ushered in the daylight at Mid-State Regional Airport for the fifth annual Allegheny Front Trail Run.

I first ran the Peterson Ridge Rumble 40-Mile two years ago – my first ultra. This year the race was a 65th birthday present to myself.

A gentle “angelic” loop around the valley floor gives you a chance to adjust to the altitude, enjoy the pine forest and valley meadows, and picturesque mountain cabins and ski chalets. The “fire” comes when you begin the 18.5-mile out and back over the top of the ski resort and down the other side, topping out at about 11,000 feet where you feel like the sun is microwaving your exposed skin.

The back of the pack runners come straggling in to Wyeth Campground. Thirty-one miles is a tough distance no matter what day it is, even if running sixty-two is your goal, and these runners have endured thirty-one rocky, rooty, sloppy, and gorgeous trail miles in the Columbia River Gorge.

On April 8, 2017, 83 Midwesterners came together to run one of Iowa’s few ultras. The Hawkeye 50K starts in Solon and sends runners on two laps around the man-made Lake MacBride.

This was my first attempt at running 50 miles. I had run a couple 50ks but the San Francisco 50 Mile Endurance Run was incomparable to anything I had raced before.

We have officially revived this old-school race, established in 1991, and are quietly, in an unknown corner of the ultrarunning world, building something great.

Vashon Ultra is an island gem smack in the middle of the Seattle-metro area but you would never know it as it’s a small community and is organized by some of the friendliest folks!

Never had I experienced a landscape like that of the Zion 100-Mile. The race takes place adjacent to Zion National Park, through the dry valley floor and up onto giant mesas dwarfing runners with their enormity.

New hip + no spleen + slightly less pancreas = 25th annual Bull Run Run 50-Mile start

It was a tough day out at the Rockin’ K races. The storm dumped a lot of water on the area, making for wet and slippery running—and cold, miserable conditions for the volunteers. A year to remember for sure!

As I approach the start/finish area to begin my second loop, a surge of peace and strength washes over me. I am energized to step into the unknown world of miles 31-62.

Holiday Lake 50k is a great race for a first ultra. There were over 40 runners making their ultra-debut at the race this year.

Records fall and microbrew flows.

Records were set despite the cold, rainy and windy conditions

Towering rock walls and overhangs, 113-foot Yahoo Falls, at least a dozen water crossings, blooming wildflowers and the Yamacraw River were highlights of this third-annual race.