Articles by Jeffrey Stern
The trend of fast times in 2024 continues in our Ultra Weekend Recap where we saw course records fall at the Bandera races in Texas. Two Canadians from Chilliwack dominated at the HURT 100 in Hawaii and Washingtonians won the long-running Bridle Trails Winter Trail Running Festival 50k in Washington.
Headlining What’s Up in Ultra on our UltraRunning Calendar this weekend is the fabled HURT 100 in Hawaii, a much faster 100-miler in Florida and a long-standing 50k in the Pacific Northwest, among many others.
The first weekend of racing in 2024 delivered a slew of fast times and course records in 50k events across the country. Headlining our Ultra Weekend Recap are results from the San Tan Scramble 50k in Arizona, the No Hands 50k in California and the Frozen Gnome 50k in Illinois.
We’ve made it to the new year in our What’s Up in Ultra column with more races from our North American UltraRunning Calendar. This weekend we have big events in Southern California, Texas and Illinois, just to name a few.
It’s the last day of the year and we have some results from around North America for our Ultra Weekend Recap. Leading the way is the Tuscobia Winter Ultra 160-miler in Wisconsin, the New Year’s One Day shorter distances in California and the Revenuer’s Run 8-hour in Ohio.
After a pause for the holiday weekend on our UltraRunning Calendar, we’re back to close out 2023 with a bang. Our database boasts nearly two dozen events crisscrossing the country, but we’ve highlighted a self-supported 80/160-miler in Wisconsin and timed events in San Francisco, Arizona and Georgia.
The results have rolled in from Aravaipa’s Desert Solstice Track Invitational in Arizona, the Lookout Mountain 50-miler in Georgia and the Woodside Ramble 50k in California for our Ultra Weekend Recap.
We’re getting close to the end of the year, but our North American UltraRunning Calendar still has some races where you can either line up at the start or simply follow along. This weekend, look no further than Desert Solstice 24-hour in Arizona, Lookout Mountain 50-miler in Georgia, the Woodside Ramble 50k in California and the Arctic Frog 50/50 in Wisconsin.
Even as the temperatures drop, we’re finding fast times in our Ultra Weekend Recap. There was a new course record at the 21st Hellgate 100k in Virginia, and we’ve also got results from a 50k in Ohio and the 42nd Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic in Florida.
While many ultrarunners have closed the books on the 2023 racing season, the depth of UltraRunning Calendar indicates that the year is anything but over. Headliners include the 20th Hellgate 100k in Virginia, the Bigfoot 50k in Ohio, the 42nd Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic 50/50 and more.
December’s first Ultra Weekend Recap delivers results from the Ray Miller 50/50 in Southern California, the Sawmill 50k in Colorado and the 43rd Pine Mountain 40-miler in Georgia.
Whether you consider yourself an ultrarunner or not, making grandiose plans for the upcoming season is a common end-of-the-year activity. We tend to look back on what we’ve done and try to adapt for future pursuits and g...
After last weekend’s lightest racing lineup of the year, during the first weekend of December, our UltraRunning Calendar has over 40 races. Leading the way is a 50/50 in Southern California, a 43-year-old 40-miler in Georgia, a competitive 50/50 in Arizona and more.
We have some lightning-fast results from the 40th Quad Dipsea in California, a 50k in North Carolina and a 50k in Seattle to cover in our Ultra Weekend Recap coming on the heels of Thanksgiving.
As expected, the weekend after Thanksgiving is slim on our UltraRunning Calendar—there’s only a baker’s dozen or so of races to choose from. The highlight, as it’s been for four decades, is the 40th Quad Dipsea in Mill Valley, CA, followed by the Derby 50k in North Carolina entering its third decade, as well a small handful of other races.
As we head into the week of Thanksgiving, highlights in our Ultra Weekend Recap include some speedy times at the country’s oldest 50-miler, two new course records at a large…
The weekend before Thanksgiving on our UltraRunning Calendar offers up some great opportunities to earn your feast next Thursday. There are boatloads of options around the continent, but we’re highlighting the historic JFK 50 in Maryland, a 50/50 in Utah and the 15th edition of a 50/50 on a ranch in Texas.
What a weekend for ultrarunning in North America. In Illinois, we saw a new World Record, age group records and course records go down. We also have results from Oregon where a 50k course record was smashed, as well as results from a California 50k and more.
There are just under two months remaining on our 2023 North American UltraRunning Calendar, but there are still tons of places to get out and find a finish line across the nation if you’re in need of some last-minute inspiration. This week in our What’s Up in Ultra column, we’re highlighting a potentially record-setting Tunnel Hill in Illinois, a 50/50 near to the UltraRunning headquarters in Central Oregon, a 50k on Mt. Tamalpais in the San Francisco Bay Area and more.
For the November 5 Ultra Weekend Recap we’re covering results from Team USA at the IAU 50k Road World Championships in India, the Pinhoti 100 in Alabama, the Rio Del Lago 100 in California and more.
With just two months left on our 2024 UltraRunning Calendar, we still have some amazing races to talk about. This weekend, look no further than the 40th Mountain Masochist in Virginia, the 21st Rio Del Lago in California, the 16th Pinhoti in Alabama and as always, much more.
A new course record at a Western States Golden Ticket race in Arizona, a World Record-breaking backyard ultra in Tennessee, a 50k in Georgia and more highlight our Ultra Weekend Recap for our final weekend of racing in October.
We finally made it to the last Western States Golden Ticket race in North America for 2023 at the Javelina Jundred on Saturday, October 28, at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Arizona. The 100-mile race has nearly 850 entrants in total, making it one of the largest ultras on the continent, and we spent the last week collecting comments from a handful of key contenders for the four automatic entries into the 2024 Western States. We also asked if they were willing to divulge their costumes.
Staring down the start line of your first 100-mile race is daunting for anyone. In my final preparation for the Javelina Jundred this coming weekend, I asked veterans of the sport about one piece of advice they wished they’d had before their first 100-miler. What follows is a collection of wisdom nuggets you can apply to your first 100-mile journey.
Leading our Ultra Weekend Recap for October 21-22 we have Lake Sonoma 55/100k in California, Mines of Spain 100 in Iowa, Tussey Mountainback 50/50 in Pennsylvania and a handful of other races.
We’re nearly a month into fall, but our UltraRunning Calendar is still heating up. Highlights for the weekend of October 21 include Big’s Backyard Ultra last person standing in Tennessee, Surf the Murph 50/50 in Minnesota, Lake Sonoma 55/100k in California, and as always, a ton more.
This week, on our Ultra Weekend Recap, we have results coming in from a 100-miler in Indiana, a 50k in Oregon, a 50/50 in California with a new American age…
Welcome to the heart of fall when our UltraRunning Calendar seems to pick up the pace. This week we have 60 events happening across the country. In San Francisco, there’s a 50/50 where a world record went down last year, a 240-miler in Moab, Utah, a triple header in the heart of the in the heart of Central Appalachia and more.
Tonight’s highlights on our Ultra Weekend Recap have new course records at a 100-miler in Illinois, a 100k in Southern California, a 50/50 in Utah and more.
Welcome to the first full weekend of October on our UltraRunning Calendar. Fall is in the air, but there are still some hot pockets around the continent. We’ve got races in Arizona, Southern California, Illinois and loads more than we could possibly list.
Our Ultra Weekend Recap on October 1, 2023, covers a 50k on the Oregon Coast, a large 50k in North Carolina, a new course record at The Bear 100 in Utah and more.
Race directing a 50k is like running a 100-miler, or at least that’s my hypothesis as I recover from the Tamalpa Headlands 50K. It’s interesting to look back and realize when we started the whole process, a few conve...
An accomplished alpine skier, mountaineer, adventurer and all-around athlete for his entire life, France’s Nico Mermoud is intimately familiar with being at the forefront of innovation. After being heavily involved w...
As I trotted my way to the start, it felt cold on the coast of Washington. Surprisingly, it wasn’t raining, which was welcomed by the nearly 500 eager runners who lined up at Fairhaven Park preparing to tackle the 29t...
Back in January, I was ready to start training in earnest, with races on the calendar just a few months away and my physical recovery from the end of year races in November was complete. The flickering flame inside wante...
It’s easy to emerge from a winter thaw feeling rejuvenated and ready to roll on the trails. Pumping the brakes is likely harder than testing out the throttle after a deep hibernation, especially with...
Not many people would use a 160-mile fastest known time (FKT) attempt just one month after one of the world’s hardest 100-milers in preparation for another notoriously demanding 100-miler, but there are few like 37-ye...
At the end of each year, there are plenty of ultrarunners who’ve made a lasting impression, even if they don’t top the annual UltraRunners of the Year list. So, before racing season kicks off in 2023, we’re keeping our...
Just four short years ago, Adam Peterman thought his running career was finished. He was coming off a nagging Achilles injury that prevented him from having any success during his final years in the storied University...
“Imagine running 3 hours and 22 minutes for 50k…and getting beat by 45 minutes!” “Tropical” John Medinger said to me after, well, doing just that on October 8, in San Francisco, California, at the 35th annual Ruth Anders...
William Nguyen shows some excitement near the Grass Valley aid station. Brian Walker Ting There’s something about signing up for an ultra just days before the gun goes off. The pressure is low an...
Mount Tam Hill Climb runners at the finish. Alex Hudgins For the last four decades, approximately 100 runners from around the Bay Area have gathered in downtown Mill Valley for a jaunt up...
Last year at the 2021 race, while standing at the Hardrock start in downtown Silverton, Colorado, Courtney Dauwalter turned to her friend, fellow competitor and then four-time finisher Jeff Browning and asked him for...
Folklore has it that Alaska’s Mount Marathon started as a bar bet between two “sourdoughs”—slang for gold miner— on who could race from the middle of Seward, Alaska, to the top of the 2,974-foot-tall peak hovering ove...
Cocodona runners take off from the start line in Prescott, AZ, on their 250-mile journey. Howie SternIn Prescott, Arizona, 225 brave souls toed the line at the second edition of the Cocodona 250, with two-thirds of them...
The notoriously swift and historic Northern California season opener, Way Too Cool 50K, returned to the calendar after an absence in 2021, and was welcomed with wide open arms by the robust ultrarunning community. Pr...
For the fifth consecutive year, the Barkley Marathons course in Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, conquered all of its 38 entrants. “I’m amazed that we ended up without a finisher,” said race director Gary “Lazarus...
Just three years ago at the 2019 Black Canyon Ultras, the course was adjusted to a tertiary route to avoid crossing the dangerously swift moving Agua Fria River after a heavy winter of rain. This year, the race ran tr...
A Minnesota Nordic skier at heart, this year’s women’s UltraRunner of the Year for the third consecutive season wishes winter would arrive soon at her home in Leadville, Colorado. She wants to get on her sticks. At th...
Boasting a new American Record in the 100k to start the year in January, his third consecutive win at the world’s most prestigious 100-mile race, Western States, in June, and finishing the season off with a new a win...
After completing his 25th Western States Endurance Run in 2006, Tim Twietmeyer knew he was satisfied with pinning on a number. Along with joining the Western States Board in 2007, he also wanted to give back as much a...
Keeping race logistics simple and controlling what he can is something Karl Meltzer has done throughout his entire 25-year ultrarunning career, and he’s confident it’s the best approach to racing, “I think, in general...
The anticipated international fan fair was a bit subdued with some travel restrictions for this year’s Big’s Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, but there was still plenty of excitement as a previous, two-time,...
(L to R) Noah Brautigam, Anthony Costales and Max King approach mile 10 at daybreak as they climb out of Mammoth Bar aid station on the newly modified Canyons 100K course. Lacy Wittman Arguably the most co...
Once again, since its inception in 1986, The Barkley Marathons were held at Frozen Head State Park in Wartburg, Tennessee, and concluded with zero finishers this year—for the third time in a row.This year’s edition didn’...
The weekend at Black Canyon Ultras wasfor many, a much anticipated return to racing in the pandemic era. After nearly a full year since the start of it all, racing opportunities for most have been relatively few and...
After a wildly successful event in 2019 in Sacramento, California, that saw Jim Walmsley break the 50-mile world best in 4 hours, 50 minutes and 8 seconds, it seemed only natural that Project Car...
During the 2018 Big’s Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, Courtney Dauwalter arrived at the starting line for her 68th lap standing shoulder to shoulder with Stockholm’s Johan Steene. After running through two...