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Ultramarathoners


JW
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My wife and I have both run ultras. And I can promise you, we're not genetically gifted in any way, we just work really hard and are patient with our training.

 

I started running in 2002 and did my first 100 mile race in spring 2006, after building up gradually from half-marathons to marathons to 50K to 100k races.

 

If you're interested, here are mine and Wendy's race reports from our 100 mile races last year:

 

http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum8/HTML/009080.shtml

 

http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum8/HTML/009080.shtml

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sooo.... I guess that would meke me the OPPOSITE of "genetically gifted"

 

Thanks so much for sharing markc7!

I've always been fascinated by ultras. It was great to read your race reports.

 

Congratulations to you and your wife for an amazing accomplishment!!!

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Thanks JW. Ultras are tons of fun, and the people who run them tend to be cool and very laid back. If you're ever interested in running an ultra, there are lots of 50k races around, and that distance is a nice stepping stone to the longer ultra distances.

 

Or better yet, go to one of the long ones (www.run100s.com) and volunteer to work an aid station or pace a runner for a couple hours. good times!

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As much as I'd love to, my body tells me otherwise

 

Maybe it's the years of abuse playing soccer and volleyball.

I've run a number of half marathons but the full marathon just wreaked havoc on my body.

I'm a fairly big guy at 6'3.5" 230lbs

so thats an awful lot of pounding on the joints.

 

How many have you run?

Do you have any particular goal in mind for ultras?

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First of all, good for you for listening to your body. Way too many people keep running marathons and other long distances when they shouldn't be.

 

I've run: two 50k races

One 6-hour race (around a 1K loop as many times are possible in 6 hours)

A two-day stage race (50k on Saturday, marathon on Sunday)

A 24-hour race (same as the six-hour, but on a track and much longer )

A 100km road race

I didn't finish my first attempt at 100 miles, but made it to ~85 miles

A double marathon

And last but not least The 100 miler that I posted about.

 

Right now I've only planned my goals for this year. I'm going to return to Sulphur Springs and run the 100 miler again this may. In the summer, I'm hoping to be able to do another long race, either the Canadian Death Race, Burning River 100 mile, or a 24 hour trail race here in Ontario. Then in the fall I'm going to run the whole 100 miles at Haliburton with Wendy.

 

I'm not sure if my body can handle that much distance in a single year, so I'm going to pay close attention and modify the plan as needed. Long term, there are a couple of races that I dream of doing, like Western States 100, HURT 100, and Across the Years 72 hour race. But those will have to wait for the time being!

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My HS track coach is a 10hr iron man competitor and he's done one ultra...he said it was way more difficult than an iron man and as soon as he was halfway done...he couldn't believe he had another marathon left. He wasn't sure he'd finish until he had less than 10 miles left.

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  • 6 years later...
These people have just got to be genetically gifted!

Running a full marathon nearly did my body in...... can't imagine running

races in excess of 50 miles!!!

 

Anyone know people who have done them?

Haha, I think the majority of us definately aren't genetically gifted. Personally it's just a gradual progression of finding new ways and challenges that will test us. Kind of like you run a few 5km races and you decide to have a go at a 10km, then you progress up to a half marathon etc etc.

 

I did a 50km run this week in the pouring rain (should have been 60km but I got too cold and my hands had gone numb), it's actually very cathartic and almost easy to switch off from lifes' stresses and just run for long periods of time

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  • 11 months later...

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