This year’s return of Western States brought familiar faces, both young and old, to the iconic course on the last weekend in June. A few were running, some were volunteering, and many came to spectate at a race that hold...

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...

If you run, you’re a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. Being a runner is more a state of mind than some minimum athletic threshold. This applies if you’re injured and can’t currently run, or if you’re super...

If your venture into ultrarunning has you dreaming of running Western States one day, I hope you’ve had the chance to be there in person to spectate, crew or pace. While I have run it 12 times, I have had the pleasure of...

Ultrarunning is at a crossroads. We continue to see growth in participation, race size and format, new players entering the space and more elite runners competing at the biggest races. This growth and development are pri...

Nineteen years, ten months, four weeks, one day, five hours and six minutes. That’s how long it took me to run—and finish—200 ultramarathons. Yep, that’s about 10 ultras per year for 20 years. I know I am far from the fi...

My goal for this column is always to discuss the latest relevant science on endurance sport, providing both practical takeaways and a peek inside the science of endurance. However, this time I’m going to pivot a little....

Art can be defined as the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature and dance. Meanwhile, science is defined as a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject. Given...

Myocarditis, or inflammation of the muscle of the heart, is a rare condition. It affects about 1-2 people per 10,000 each year, but this adds up to be around 1.5 million annually (Kang, 2021). It will typically cause che...

ABC’s Wide World of Sports crushed its weekend time slot for 37 years on network television from 1961 to 1998. The premise was simple: people would love to watch sports coverage that went beyond standard baseball, footba...

They used to call ultrarunning a subculture. But we have grown. As a matter of fact, we have grown so much that now there are subcultures within the subculture. Prominent among these is the aid station subculture. It has...

On a Saturday morning in April, 17-year-old Will Draxler set off up the trail to begin his “design your own” 100-mile journey through the Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. Will was a senior at the local Academy at Char...

Beth Pascall crossed the finish line of the 2021 Western States Endurance Run in 17:10:42, placing first woman and seventh overall. Her time was the second-fastest women’s finish in Western States history. Le...

Smartphone apps can be a trail lover’s best friend. They can help you discover new areas to explore, plan specific routes, assist you with navigation, provide additional measures of safety and enrich your overall enjoyme...

Cory receives support from his friend and pacer Jared at the finish line of Western States. Paul Nelson I made it to mile 99 of the Western States 100. I felt a sinking despair knowing I had traveled so...

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...

I remember the exact moment I heard footsteps behind me, the shuffling of feet and the “swish, swish” sound of knee-length shorts rhythmically moving at the cadence of someone still running, 50 miles deep into a 100-mile...

My head leaned heavily against the window of a teammate’s car as he drove several of us back to campus after another sweltering South Carolina afternoon cross country practice. Piling out of the vehicle, someone pointed...

Age: 40 Where do you live currently? Ashland, Oregon Where did you grow up? Bellingham, Washington Occupation: Freelance graphic designer (Editor’s note: Carly is the newest addition to th...

Kuni Yamagata was the oldest runner to finish Western States this year at age 68. Let’s Wander Photography Welcome to the Three Dot Lounge, where we annually list our deep thoughts, cheap shots and bon...

Brian Rook runs among the pines. Rick Mayo / Mile 90 Photography Located in the Mark Twain National Forest, about two hours south of Saint Louis, Missouri, the Berryman Trail is 26.4-mile single-trac...

Bighorn runners in the 100-mile race climb out of the Tongue River Canyon about five miles from the start. Rick Mayo / Mile 90 Photography No precipitation had been received in the Bighorn Mountains...

Author Jill “Watson” Wojta is all smiles on her way to an overall win in the 100K. Jenny Thorsen Michele Hartwig founded Ornery Mule Racing (OMR) in 2011 and became the beloved race director of the Kettl...