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...
Articles by Dean Karnazes
“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...
Winter brings cooler temperatures and shorter days. As the seasons shift, running outdoors becomes more of a production. Layers must be added and headlamps charged. Some runners move into the gym for their training while...
Ultrarunning has the power to transform, and so does a good book. Many ultrarunners take up the sport as a means to slay demons or deal with hardship and loss. Some have written stories about their journey, and many of t...
As an ultramarathoner, I’m always open to new challenges. One of our closest endurance brethren is cycling and I’ve done a few “ultra” cycling events, such as a century bike ride, a double century and even a 24-hour moun...
Founded in 1999, Running USA is the largest running industry association in the country. Originally created to improve the status of road racing in the United States, the organization has broadened to offer a variety of...
The 200-miler is becoming the new marathon. Well, maybe not that commonplace, but you get my point. In the old days before iPhones, finding a 200-mile ultramarathon was practically unheard of. There was Badwater (135-mil...
The situation seemed hopeless. At the 80-mile mark of the Wasatch Front 100 there was nothing left, the tank was empty, I’d expended everything on the course and there were no reserves left to draw from. The thought of c...
In this issue we’ve talked a lot about iconic trails and places that many of us are familiar with. But perhaps the most historic running route of all time is the original marathon. For starters, the very first marathon w...
In his new book, The Inflamed Mind, Edward Bullmore advances the theory that depression may be caused by inflammation. He observes that patients who have undergone painful surgeries resulting in inflammation often experi...
If you’ve never heard of the Five Percent Solution, don’t be alarmed. I just made it up. But the idea wasn’t born simply out of thin air, it’s an offshoot of the popular One Percent Better movement (okay, cult) that’s sw...
The holidays are upon us, as I’m sure you’re aware. With the daily onslaught of flashy ads and catchy jingles, you’d have to live on a desert island not to notice (one without wifi, of course). The constant bombardment o...
Balance is bullshit. There, I just came right out with it. Seems everyone’s preaching the virtues of balance these days, but I’m no fan. If you have equilibrium in your life you do everything okay. Congratulations. Wooho...
Running on a treadmill sucks. Let me clarify, running on a treadmill on a sunny day sucks. But that’s exactly where I’ve spent the past five days; in a gym, on a treadmill. I’d much rather be outside running on a trail,...
Running a marathon takes crazy; running an ultramarathon takes a special kind of crazy. Few things in life require such commitment and sacrifice, and those are the easy days. There’s no way to finish an ultramarathon wit...
There’s no denying that technology has changed the way we run. When once we “guesstimated” the distances we were running, or used a car’s odometer for measurement, we now know down to the precise footstep how far we’ve g...
During my tenure as an endurance athlete and ultramarathoner I’ve raced and competed across the globe, in some of the most remote, extreme and exotic places on Earth. I’ve traveled to all seven continents of Earth, twice...
We are told that having good core strength will benefit our running and overall fitness. Easier said than done, right? But don’t give in to the notion that it can’t be done. In fact, you’ve probably got all of the tools...