In the enlightened words of the iconic philosopher Kelly Clarkson, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I’m at least 81% certain Clarkson was referring to running an ultramarathon with your spouse. What I think sh...
Articles by Cory Reese
Maybe it was peer pressure. Maybe it was sleep deprivation. Maybe it was the fact that Death Valley’s heat had cooked my brain like a piece of bacon on a skillet. It was probably a combination of all those things. But wh...
Last Annual Vol State 500k in 7 easy steps:1) Park your car at the finish line and board a bus with other runners.2) Drive the course in reverse to the start line.3) Run/walk/crawl 314 miles through the states of Missour...
The fuel that I used to use while running was pretty traditional like Tailwind, Mountain Dew and fruit. But that all changed when I began training for the Last Annual Vol State 500k. This 314-mile jaunt across Tennessee...
Sometimes life gets in the way of training. Sometimes there are family or work obligations. Sometimes it’s an injury. And then sometimes, it just boils down to the naughty “L” word. That’s right. Laziness. Your bed is ju...
On a March afternoon in Minnesota, the greatest event in running history took place on a modern-day Field of Dreams. Iconic races like Western States, the Boston Marathon and Badwater pale in comparison to this new quint...
Maybe my finish at the race had nothing to do with my dad dying. Then again, maybe my finish at the race had everything to do with my dad dying. I ran the Red Mountain 55k in southern Utah and when I reached the aid stat...
Dear Mile 68, Hey it’s me, Cory. I’m writing this letter because I have such a hard time communicating with you in person. We’ve had a pretty rocky relationship over the years. I’m always excited to sign up for a race be...
It is difficult to explain to a non-runner what it’s like to run an ultramarathon. How can you possibly put into words the excitement, the highs, the lows, the torture and the triumph of such an audacious pursuit? Here’s...
Finding a balance between ultrarunning and life is kind of like trying to juggle a spinning chainsaw, an angry cat and an oily bowling ball. Because of the time demands of family, work and training for something as audac...
I’M NOT SURE EXACTLY whereit was in Death Valley when the switch flipped for Andy. Maybe it was at mile 31 when Andy sat on a cooler on the side of the road vomiting a rainbow of Oreos and Tailwind into the darkness. May...
At mile 99 I kept glancing at my watch. I heard myself whimper, “Am I going to make it?” The sun was radiating fire so hot that I swear I could hear my skin sizzling. I was so tired that my eyes were begging for a moment...
If there’s one thing that scares me, it’s flying in airplanes. I hate them. If there are two things that scare me, they are flying in airplanes and getting my blood drawn. I have this pesky little habit of passing out wh...
I have run ultras in the mountains. I have run ultras in the deserts. I have run looped-course ultras. I have run an ultra across Death Valley. I have run solo ultras. But there was one glaring omission from my previous...
Here was our pitch to the family: you can run when you want to. You can walk when you want to. And you can rest when you want to. You’ll get to hang out with some really cool people. You get a medal at the end. And the a...
Let me tell you what isn’t an effective ultramarathon fueling strategy: chili dogs. Two gigantic chili dogs. Considering that a theme of this issue is race fueling, noting what fuels don’t work is at least as important a...
There is a scene in the Oscar-worthy film Dumb and Dumber when Jim Carrey trades in a dog-shaped van for a child-sized moped to drive across the country. In a look of seeming disgust, Jeff Daniels looks over at Carrey an...
There’s something about standing on the side of the highway in Iceland hitchhiking with your wife that has a way of bringing you together. We stood there in the kind of storm where at any moment it will literally start r...
I’ve been waiting for a good opportunity to tell you about my wife Mel. It is fair to say that Mel has a love/hate relationship with running. Approximately 3% is love. And the other 97% is hate. So you can imagine my sur...
My friend Scott came out of his camper holding a paper cup. He handed it to me and said, “Here, do you want to drink this?” I was immediately suspicious. Judging by the slightly yellow tint of the liquid, it looked like...