As if we’re not divided enough these days, another growing chasm of separation is beginning to widen. America is the most age-segregated country on Earth. Nowhere else do people live such separated existences. Growin...
Articles by Dean Karnazes
Ultrarunners are notoriously prolific. We run on every imaginable terrain—mountains, deserts, snowfields, marshes, grasslands—on all continents. Any landscape that’s accessible is runnable. Been there, run...
What could tidal rhythms, a wooden ball and a cable car possibly have to do with training for an ultra? More than you would think. Turning any activity into a game can make it more enjoyable and help prevent boredom a...
Shan Riggs’ 5K run was abruptly interrupted by the sight of an enormous lizard scurrying up a nearby tree, a creature unlike anything he’d seen in Connecticut. It was as long as a park bench, muscular and thick – lik...
It might surprise you to learn that the first marathon was actually an ultramarathon. And the first marathoner was actually an ultramarathoner. Many are familiar with the legendary tale of a Greek runner setting off a...
Certain sporting arenas across the globe have taken on almost mythical proportions. Tennis has Wimbledon, golf has Augusta, baseball has Yankee Stadium and football has Lambeau Field. Though I would argue – as impartiall...
“What should we give the guy?” It was a question on a lot of people’s minds. The year was 1974 and Gordy Ainsleigh had just completed a grueling 100-mile horse race called the Tevis Cup. The only differ...
If you know your trail running history, you know the Dipsea Race is widely considered the nation’s oldest trail run. Beginning in 1905, the 7.5-mile trek starts in the bucolic town of Mill Valley, CA, located about 15...
Besides being an ultrarunner, I’m also a surfer. Even though I don’t get in the water nearly as much as I once did, I still identify as a surfer. And that’s because surfing is more than just a...
If you’re like me, you typically choose several “A” races throughout the year. Once those have been earmarked, you then build specific training blocks to arrive at these races in peak condition. Of course, you might a...
On the night of my 30th birthday, I set a world record: I ran 30 continuous miles. I knew a marathon was 26.2 miles, and it was common knowledge that the marathon was the outermost zenith of human endurance. I’d gone...
“Bob, it’s minus-35 degrees.” His idea was cockamamie enough, even in ideal running conditions, but in this frozen and vast polar plateau, it was beyond ludicrous. The ramifications were unthinkable. Still. As the pa...
Running has been a steadfast tread on the path my life has travelled since discovering track in junior high. In high school I became a devoted disciple of the sport, falling in love with the year-round cycle of cross cou...
What if there was a race that had no end? And what if the starting time was equally uncertain? And what if deception and false hope were thrown into the mix? You might be told the race will likely start sometime tomorrow...
We’ve all read the clichés in the headlines: the COVID crisis is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. As the weeks and months go by, it now seems more like an ultramarathon. As such, I’ve found myself drawing upon some of thos...
This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Miwok 100K. I’ve run the race on several occasions over the years and it remains one of my local favorites, with the course being set in my backyard in Marin County. Wanting t...
My brother Kraig is a history buff. I was the runner in the family and he was the studious one. So when he came to me with a history- related running escapade, I was keen to hear his idea. He explained that there are 21...
In 1993, the year I ran my first ultra, 3,297 individuals finished an ultramarathon in North America. By 2019, the number had ballooned to 127,269. Yes, the sport has grown – phenomenally so. And, by most analyst predica...
With all the attention focused on training and fueling in this issue, I thought it important to examine a sometimes overlooked byproduct of our athletic pursuits, tooth decay. Being married to a dentist, I’m well aware o...