Training for ultramarathons is hard work. It requires a huge commitment of time and energy to prepare yourself to run – maybe even race – up to 100 miles. Fifty-mile training weeks, punctuated with at least one long run...

Dear Ann, What defines being an ultrarunner? I’ve read about pedestrian races from the 1880s. Now 200-milers are common and people like Laz Lake, the race director of the Barkley Marathons, are walking across the coun...

Goal safety- Many runners have A, B and C goals going into a race. Their goals might be something like: A: PR (Glory!) B: Sub-24-hour finish (Big buckle!) C: Just Finish (Any buckle) This C goal is often unexamined...

Each year I try to volunteer at a few races – something I feel that we should all do in order to give back to the running community that gives us so much. It’s surprising how rewarding volunteering at a race can be – you...

Iron deficiency is a significantly underdiagnosed problem in distance runners. Low levels of hemoglobin in the blood or low levels of the iron storage protein ferritin, can have a huge negative impact on your ability to...

As we reach the end of summer, many of us have already completed our goal events. Buckles have been earned and many gels consumed during the course of our endeavors. Even after a healthy amount of rest you have great fit...

Ultrarunners are obsessive people particularly when it comes to health. We are all cognizant of the stresses those extra miles can wreak on our health and we like to do what we can to mitigate the negative effects. One o...

While most of us will never hold an FKT, simply perusing the list of FKT routes will fill up any ultrarunner’s bucket list. The Beast Coast offers plenty of such routes – one of my personal favorites is the Pemi Loop. Th...

There are a lot of supplements and even more money in the sports nutrition world. Frankly, most supplements have limited scientific evidence, especially herbal types. However, caffeine is a notable exception. Caffeine’s...

Gone are the good old days when a bunch of guys and gals ran through the night woods wearing road flats and carrying milk jugs full of water and table salt. Our sport has evolved. I think that’s cool! It also brings up s...

Coree Woltering is the first one to admit that his journey in becoming a professional ultrarunner has been unlikely. “I guess as a kid you do on occasion think about being a professional athlete,” says the 28-year-old...

For this round of fall shoe reviews UltraRunning’sGear Review team coordinated with The Treadmill running store in Carmel, CA. Multiple testers wore each shoe for approximately 100 miles before feedback was submitted. Th...

WELL INTO MY SECOND NIGHT OF CLIMBING, ALONE and without supplemental oxygen, I struggled to summit. Ghosts of climbers past, Mallory, Hillary, Norgay, inspired me as I completed my final push. Everesting conquered, I ma...

Over 8% of Americans age 20 and over suffered from depression in a given 2-week period, according to a report released in February of 2018 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Depression affects many people...

One hundred mile races, cancer treatment and training for Badwater 135 are not typically words that appear in the same sentence, unless you are Jennifer Nissen. The Texas native completed her third 100-mile race at MCR U...

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,...

Whether you’re a veteran of 30 years and a hundred 100-milers or a newbie of 30 months and 10 events, everyone has stories to tell of trials and tribulations, joy and self-realization experienced while on the trails. The...

I’M NOT SURE EXACTLY whereit was in Death Valley when the switch flipped for Andy. Maybe it was at mile 31 when Andy sat on a cooler on the side of the road vomiting a rainbow of Oreos and Tailwind into the darkness. May...

THE 2018 EDITION OF THE RAGGED 75 STAGE RACEand 50K built on the success and experience of their 2017 event to host the first ever ultra-trail national championship in New England – The USATF 50K Trail Championships. Whi...

Few ultramarathons have a history as storied as the Vermont 100. That comes with the territory as the sixth-oldest 100-mile footrace in America, and the folks who gather each July in West Windsor make a point of remember...

The Hood River County Forestry Tree Farm has been home to the Post Canyon 50K since 2015. The trails consist of dusty and rocky single track that weave through harvested timber, gravel roads, wildflower meadows and thick...

We have just called “Ready, Set , Go!” and started the race at 6 a.m. Saturday, and now 240 100-mile runners (including eight relay teams) and 92 100-kilometer runners are stampeding along the wooded, hilly trail. Their...

The 31st Annual Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run proved to be one tough challenge for both runners and volunteers. Southern California and most of the South West United States were going through a major heat wave wit...

Both the men’s and women’s races were closely contested and not decided until late in each race. Jim Atkinson of Larkspur, CA, after staying within shouting distance of Derek Wright of Hood River, OR, came rolling into t...

A thick mist hangs in the air above Chagrin River Road. It is very early and still dark as we pass through an idyllic pastoral farmscape of stone walls, duck ponds, rail fences, shade trees and brown horses. The hundred...

We are an easy target. The Euros make fun of American trail running for its relatively tame trails and the fact that we give awards to most anyone who crosses a starting line. Then again, we do have more than a dispropor...