I was dead scared of running the Leadville Trail 100, or more precisely, of failing spectacularly. At 30 hours, it’s a tight cut-off for a high-altitude race, which contributes to only about half of participants finishing each year. As I stepped out of the bus on the town’s wide main road, lined by old-time Saloons,…
I had to get to the start line within half an hour or I’d miss it. Stuck in this foreign town, I was lost between winding streets and strange houses, unable to find my race bag, or drop bags, or anything at all. Hadn’t I had some hiking poles somewhere? This was Logan, Utah. Wandering past…
“No peein’ off the porch” is the sign that greets me as I wait on Craig Thornley’s deck. He is in the kitchen to make tea and one of his cats is keeping an eye on me from under a wooden bench. What do Western States runners get up to on their race director’s porch?…
Listen to the full interview with Ann Trason The popularity of ultra running has shot through the roof with finisher numbers in the U.S. nearly tripling since 2007, and the number of women in the traditionally male-dominated sport rising dramatically. One of the world’s most famous female runners is Ann Trason, who broke 20 records…
You might think that grueling 100 mile foot races through remote wilderness are nothing for people who are easily scared, but you’d be wrong. A woman who only runs after taking precautions against anything from rattle snakes to serial killers has not only run dozens of iconic ultramarathons but also Badwater, a 135 mile race…
Listen to the full interview with Ana Braga-Levaggi: Want to get into ultra running but don’t know how to fit it around your kids? Get inspired to become an ultra marathon parent from a mom and personal trainer who has run some of the world’s toughest 100 milers. Your kids might actually love you for…