Articles by UltraRunning Magazine
2021 USATF MUT RUNNERS OF THE YEARThe USATF Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) Running Council of long distance running announced the 2021 USATF MUT Runners of the Year. Chosen from 37 nominated candidates, the following athle...
Anthony Costales Anthony Costales is ranked sixth in the 2021 UROY voting. A former Chico State track star and 2:13 marathoner, Costales won three races during the year, including the…
Katie Schide Katie Schide is ranked seventh for women in the 2021 UROY voting. In a year when few Americans were racing in Europe, Schide ran four races there (of…
Adam Peterman Adam Peterman is the eighth ranked male for 2021. Peterman ran only two races, but they were highly competitive, and he won them both. He posted the second-fastest…
Abby Hall Abby Hall is ranked ninth in the 2021 UltraRunner of the Year voting. The highlight of her year was a breakthrough second place at the highly competitive Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix…
Jeff Browning Jeff Browning is the tenth ranked ultrarunner for 2021. Browning, a running coach and graphic designer, won three 100-milers during the year and finished fifth at Hardrock. “Bronco…
Don Choi, a long-time postman from San Francisco, has been inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame as its 20th member. Don is recognized as being “the father of the modern multi-day race.” He made a significant historic contribution to the sport of ultrarunning by bringing back the multi-day races after an absence of 75 years.
Golden Tickets at Javelina Securing a lead early in the race, Ohio’s Arlen Glick finished first overall in 13:14:51, closing in on Patrick Reagan’s course record of 13:01:14. Glick’s is the third-fastest time on the...
UltraRunning Magazine (UR) has added Drymax Sports as the presenting sponsor of their 2021 UltraRunner of the Year (UROY) award. Male and female UltraRunners of the Year, as well as the top 10 frontrunners, will be announced on ultrarunning.com starting on January 10, 2022. More detailed and comprehensive coverage of UROY awards and year-end stats will be featured in the February issue of the magazine.
Eric was the fastest and most dominating 100-mile trail ultrarunner during the 1990s as trail ultras became popular in America. His “go for broke” race strategy was legendary, as he…
New 24-Hour Record Lithuanian Aleksandr Sorokin ran 192 miles at Poland’s UltraPark Weekend 24 Hour race on August 28-29. Sorokin beat Yiannis Kouros’s long-standing 24-hour record of 188 miles set in 1997. Weather Pr...
Vol State Champs Bob Hearn finished the Last Annual Vol State 500K in 3:04:09:10, securing both the men’s crewed and “screwed” (no crew) records – previously 3:07:09:49 (crewed) and 3:14:11:31 (screwed) – as Hearn ran t...
Tragedy in China Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the 21 ultrarunners who died during the Yellow River Stone Forest Huanghe Shilin Mountain Marathon 100k in the Gansu Province in China on May 22. A...
The Run Rabbit Run 50 and 100 Mile Endurance Run based out of Steamboat Springs, CO, has announced they are reserving several spots for a few highly competitive elite runners…
Western States Lottery Change Western States Endurance Run recently implemented the following changes to their annual lottery: • Runners will no longer need to have consecutive qualifiers to keep their tic...
The Finishers is a photographic record of the superhumans who have completed the toughest race on Earth, the Barkley Marathons. Ultrarunning photographer Alexis Berg and journalist Aurélien Delfosse criss-crossed the United States capturing stunning photographs and in-depth interviews with each of the 15 finishers.
Before the invention of trail shoes, handheld bottles and energy gels, ultrarunning gear used to be pretty simple. However, as all ultrarunners know, the sport is centered around problem-solving. Advertising in the early...
Founded in 1981, UltraRunning Magazine is celebrating 40 years as the Voice of the Sport™ in ultrarunning. The February 2021 issue will provide comprehensive and in-depth historical coverage featuring a summary of each decade written by former UR publisher John Medinger.
USA Takes Top Spots at Golden Trail Championship Jim Walmsley and Rachel Drake both finished second overall in the Golden Trail Series Championship 4-day stage race. The race included an international...
This weekend, UR columnist Jeffrey Stern set a new supported FKT on the Backbone Trail in Southern California. He finished the 68-mile trail in 11:10, snagging the record from Jeff…
With the recent tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, it is clear that systemic racism continues to exist in our society. We condemn these acts of brutal violence, and believe that racism, bigotry and discrimination in our country is a major problem and needs to be eradicated.
In 1910 Eugene Estoppey of Venice, California ran 1 mile every hour for 41-1/2 days. 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours for a $1,000 bet.
In the summer of 2018, ultrarunner Harvey Lewis attempted to run the Appalachian Trail faster than anyone in history. With his 78-year-old father as crew chief, Lewis raced across 14 different states and more than 2,100 miles in his quest to reach a new record. He fell short of the FKT, but what developed was a father-son story for the ages.
On October 15, 2011, 32 runners assembled in my yard in Short Creek, Tennessee. Little did anyone suspect that they had showed up for the first running of a race that was about to go viral. It was our second year out on...
Each year a few races attract a large number of elite runners. In this analysis, we have examined the races in which those who received votes for Runner of the…
Camille Herron’s 24-hour world record and Jim Walmsley’s Western States course record are the 2019 UltraRunning Performances of the Year
Jim Walmsley is the Ultrarunner of the Year for 2019. This is the fourth year in a row that he has won the men’s honor, a feat only previously accomplished by Tom Johnson (1992-1995). Walmsley’s year was topped by a 14:09:28 course record at the venerable Western States 100 and a world record 50-mile time of 4:50:08 at the Project X Invitational. He also won the Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35 Mile in course record time, Norway’s Ultravasan 90k, and the inaugural Fast 50 (Mile) in Hong Kong. Walmsley lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, with his girlfriend, Jessica.
Clare Gallagher is ranked second in the UROY voting for 2019. Gallagher won the Western States 100 in 17:23:25, the second-fastest time ever posted. She also won the highly competitive Way Too Cool 50K and was eighth at The North Face Endurance Challenge. An ardent environmental advocate, Gallagher lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Jared Hazen is ranked third in the UROY voting for 2019. Hazen placed second at Western States in 14:26:46, a time that was under the previous course record, only to be second to his roommate and training partner, Jim Walmsley. He also placed second at the Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35 Mile, in a time that was under the previous course record, only to be second to his roommate and training partner, Jim Walmsley. Hazen also won the über-competitive Lake Sonoma 50, where his winning time of 6:08:31 was the third fastest in race history. Hazen lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Camille Herron is ranked fourth in the voting for 2019. Herron broke her own world record with a startling 167.842 miles while winning the IAU World Championship in Albi, France. She also won the Tarawera 100 Mile in New Zealand, setting a course record. In an up and down year, Herron suffered DNFs at Lake Sonoma, Comrades and Western States. A native of Oklahoma, Herron and her husband, Conor, recently moved to Alamosa, Colorado.
Jeff Browning is ranked fifth in the voting for 2019. One of the most consistent runners in recent years, Browning won the Bear 100, Tarawera 100 Mile in New Zealand and finished ninth at Western States. A coach and graphic designer, Browning, his wife Jennifer and their three kids recently moved to Bozeman, Montana.
Brittany Peterson is sixth in the 2019 UROY voting. She won the Bandera 100K to earn a golden ticket to Western States, where she finished a strong second. Later in the summer, she was fourth at the Tromsø SkyRace in Norway. A native of Minnesota, Peterson teaches occupational therapy at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.
Olivier Leblond checks in at number seven for 2019. Leblond won the Umstead 100 and Old Dominion 100, and placed third at the IAU World 24-Hour Championship with a stellar 171 miles – the second best mark in U.S. history. An IT contractor by day, Leblond lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Addie Bracy checks in as number eight in 2019. Bracy had a strong and consistent year, with podium finishes at Way Too Cool, Lake Sonoma 50 and The North Face Endurance Challenge. She also won the Quad Rock 50 and was ninth at Western States. Bracy lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her partner Corey, and recently completed a graduate program in sports and performance psychology at the University of Denver.
Matt Daniels is the ninth ranked runner in the 2019 Ultrarunner of the Year voting. After a DNF at the Bandera 100K in January, Daniels destroyed a deeply talented field while winning the Black Canyon 100K in February and receiving a golden ticket to Western States, where he finished fourth in his debut 100-miler. A Navy veteran and former All-American track standout at Adams State, Daniels lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his new bride, Lauren.
Amanda Basham is the 10th ranked woman for 2019. She won three races and placed second at the highly competitive Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (CCC) 101k race in the Alps. Originally from Oregon, she now lives in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Jonathan professes to be a slightly too heavy, slightly too flat- footed, slightly too pronating, slightly too slow runner of ultras. He came to running in his late twenties, and enjoys all distances, though his particular favorite is the 100 mile. He has run 18 marathons and at least “run in” 10 ultras.
If you’ve been running ultras for the past few years, there’s a good chance you’ve picked up a BOCO hat. The Boulder, Colorado-based company designs custom hats for endurance athletes that are constructed with moisture-wicking fabrics and technical innovation.