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An 'ultramarathon' is any running event longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometers (26.21875 miles, 46,145 yards).
There are generally two types of ultramarathon runs, events that cover a specified distance, and events that take place during a specified time frame (with the winner covering the most distance in that time). The most common distances run are 50 and 100 miles, or 50 and 100 kilometers, though several other distances, for example, double marathons, 24-hour runs, or multiday races of 1000 miles or even longer are also contested. The format of these events and the courses covered are quite variable, ranging from single or multiple loops (some as short as a 400 meter track), to point-to-point road or trail races. Many ultrarunning events, especially trail challenges, are characterized by severe course obstacles, such as inclement weather, elevation change, or rugged terrain. Many of these races are run on dirt roads or mountain paths, though some are run on paved roads as well. Usually, there are aid stations every five to fifteen km apart, where runners can replenish food and drink supplies or take a short break.
Timed events range from 6, 12, and 24 hours to 2, 3, and 6 days (known as ''multi-day'' events). Timed events are generally run on a track or a short road course, often one mile or less.
The International Association of Ultra Runners (IAU) organises the World Championships for various ultramarathon distances, including 50K, 100K, 24 hours, and 48 hours. These events are sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world governing body of track and field. Many countries around the world have their own ultrarunning organization, often the national athletics federation of that country, or are sanctioned by such national athletics organizations. World records for distances, times and ages are tracked by the IAU.

Contents

Ultramarathons over the world

Ultrarunning in Africa

Ultrarunning in Asia

Ultrarunning in Australia and New Zealand

Ultrarunning in Europe

Ultrarunning in Antarctica

Ultrarunning in North America

Well-known ultramarathons

Road and dirt paths

Mountain and trails

Extreme conditions

Very long events and multidays

World or National-record holding or World-championship-winning ultramarathon runners

Ultracycling

See also

External links

Ultramarathons over the world

Ultramarathons are run all over the world and over 70,000 people complete ultramarathons every year. A list of the most popular ultra marathons can be found under the subsection "Well-known ultramarathons" below.

Ultrarunning in Africa

Several ultra distance events are held in Africa. South Africa hosts the world's oldest and largest ultramarathon, the 89km Comrades Marathon. Approximately 12,000 runners complete Comrades each year, with approximately 20,000 in 2000. It also hosts the 56 kilometer long Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town in the southern autumn which attracts approximately 7,000 runners.

Ultrarunning in Asia

Ultrarunning has become quite popular in Asia recently, and countries and regions such as Taiwan, Japan, and Korea have hosted IAU World Championships in the last few years.

Ultrarunning in Australia and New Zealand

The first ultramarathon held in Australia and New Zealand was likely a track 100km in New Zealand. Today, Australia and New Zealand are host to approximately 100 ultramarathons each year. One of the most famous Australian ultra Marathons was the Westfield Ultra Marathon, an annual race between Sydney and Melbourne which was contested between 1983 and 1991. Greek runner Yiannis Kouros won the event five times during that period. Australia is also the home of one of the oldest six-day races in the world, the Cliff Young Australian 6-day race, held in Colac, Victoria. The race is held on a 400 meter circuit at the Memorial Square in the centre of Colac, and has seen many epic battles since its inception in 1984. The 20th Cliff Young Australian 6-day race was held between the 20-26 Nov 2005. Kouros rewrote the record book in that event when he beat his existing world 6-day track mark and set a new mark of 1036.851 km.

Ultrarunning in Europe

Ultrarunning is also quite popular in Europe, where over 200 ultramarathons are held each year, among the biggest the 100k of Bienne and the 72.7k Rennsteiglauf in the Thuringian Forest. The second oldest ultramarathon in the world, London to Brighton, was widely considered to be among the most prestigious titles until its retirement in 2005. The earliest written documentation of ultrarunners came from Icelandic sagas. The history of ultrarunners and walkers from the Victorian Era has also been documented. The IAU hosts annual European Championships for the 50k, 100k and 24 hours. The European Ultramarathon Cup (ECU) is an annual series covering several of the biggest races in different European Countries.
An extreme challenge in Germany is the annually multiday ''Deutschlandlauf'' (German Run) over 1200km

Ultrarunning in Antarctica

In January 2006, Scott Smith of the United States, won the first ultramarathon on the Antarctic continent by winning the The Last Desert. On December 17, 2006, Ultramarathoner Mike Pierce completed one of the most difficult races on Earth, a 100K (62.1 miles) marathon in Antarctica. Pierce completed the race in 17 hours and 15 minutes.

Ultrarunning in North America

There are several hundred ultramarathons held annually in North America. One of the most popular is the Western States Endurance Run, the world's oldest 100-mile trail run. The race began unofficially in 1974, when local horseman Gordy Ainsleigh's horse for the 100-mile Tevis Cup horse race came up lame. He decided to travel the course on foot, finishing in 23 hours and 47 minutes.
One of the first documented ultramarathons in North America was held in 1926, as part of the Central American Games. Tomas Zafiro and Leoncio San Miguel, both Tarahumara Indians, ran 100K from Pachuca to Mexico City in 9 hours and 37 minutes. At the time, the Mexican government petitioned to include the 100K in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, however nothing came of these efforts.
In April, 2006, the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame was established by the American Ultrarunning Association (AUA). Candidates for the Hall of Fame are chosen from the 'modern era' of American ultras, beginning with the New York Road Runners Club 30 Mile race held in 1958. The Inaugural inductees were Ted Corbitt, a former US Olympian, winner of the aforementioned race in 3:04:13, and co-founder of the Road Runners Club of America, and Sandra Kiddy, who kicked off her ultra career at age 42 with a world record at 50 kilometers, 3:36:56, and who went on to set a string of US and world ultra records.
Four of the most prestigious 100 Mile Ultramarathons in the United States are called together the Grand Slam of Ultramarathons. They are: Western States, Leadville, Vermont and Wasatch. In 2006 there were 11 runners who completed the Grand Slam: 10 men and 1 woman. The fastest cumulative time of the 11 was Darcy Africa.

Well-known ultramarathons

Road and dirt paths

★ Biel/Bienne 100 km

★ Comrades Marathon

★ Grand Union Canal 145 mile Race

★ London to Brighton (defunct)

★ Dartmoor Discovery

★ Spartathlon

★ Two Oceans Marathon

★ Way Too Cool 50 Kilometer

Mountain and trails

★ Addo Elephant Trail Run

★ American River 50 Mile Endurance Run

★ Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run

★ Barkley Marathons

★ Big Horn Trail Run

★ Bear 100 Mile Endurance Run

★ Grand Raid de la Réunion

★ Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run

★ Jay Challenge

★ Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run

★ Leadville Trail 100

★ Lean Horse Ultramarathon

★ McNaughton Park Trail Runs

★ Miwok 100K

★ Quad Dipsea

★ Rennsteiglauf

★ Scorched Sole

★ StumpJump 50k

★ Tahoe Rim Trail 50k, 50 miles, 100miles

★ TransRockies Run, 6 stages, 125m

★ Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc

★ Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run

★ Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run

★ Western States Endurance Run

Extreme conditions

★ Atacama Crossing

★ Badwater Ultramarathon

★ Gobi March

★ Marathon des Sables

★ Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon

★ Sahara Race

★ The Last Desert

Very long events and multidays

★ Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

★ Spreelauf

★ Bruce Trail, Ontario, Canada 800 kilometers in (10-15 days).

World or National-record holding or World-championship-winning ultramarathon runners

★ Tomoe Abe, 100k female world record holder (6:33:11)

★ Gordy Ansleigh, Western States pioneer, 'inventor' of the trail ultramarathon

★ Suprabha Beckjord 3100 mile race record holder

★ Edit Berces, world record holder, 24 hour treadmill; holds several Hungarian records

★ Ted Corbitt, "father of American ultrarunning"; 1952 US Olympic team member; former American world record holder at various distances

★ Bruce Fordyce, nine time Comrades Marathon winner; African 100K record holder (6:25:07)

★ Wally Hayward, Multiple winner of Comrades Marathon, London to Brighton, many other ultramarathons; set early world records

★ Dr. Bernd Heinrich, US 100m track record holder (12:27:01), naturalist

★ Vladimir Kotov, former Comrades Marathon winner

★ Yiannis Kouros, multi-day race legend, holder of numerous world records and world bests from 24 hours to 1,000m

★ Frith van der Merwe, set Comrades Marathon records for both directions

★ Stu Mittleman, US record holder for six day race (578 miles)

★ Arthur Newton, 5 times Comrades Marathon winner

★ Jesper Olsen, has run around the world in 22 months (2004-'05); won the Australian 6-days race (2004); world record holder for run around the world

★ Ann Trason, thirteen time Western States winner; holds numerous world records, including 100 mile (13:47:41 1991), 50m (5:40:18, 1991) , and 12 Hours (147.6k, 1991); American 100k record holder (7:00:48)

★ Cliff Young, former winner Westfield Sydney to Melbourne; holds numerous world age records

Ultracycling

Extra long distance bicycle races are also referred to as "ultramarathons" or "ultracycling" events.
In cycling, there is no specific distance that is directly analogous to runners' 26 miles ( 42 km ), so the definition of cycling ultramarathon is not set in stone. Generally, all events that last 12 hours or longer or cover distances of over 200 miles ( so-called "double century" ) can be considered ultramarathons.
Some examples of ultramarathons include Race Across America and its qualifying races.

See also

★ International Association of Ultra Runners

★ Multiday race

External links

★ Alphabetical list of famous ultrarunners and results

★ 4 Deserts series

★ American UltraRunning Association

★ Australian Ultra Running Association (AURA)

★ Team E.R.F. San Diego Endurance Racing Family Running Coaches

★ Comrades Marathon

★ CoolRunning.com - ''Westfield Sydney to Melbourne'' (links to pdf of book)

★ ExtremeUltraRunning.com - Extreme Ultrarunning: Ultrarunning resources, Ultrarunning links and general ultra running information for the novice or veteran ultrarunner

★ The HUFF 50K Trail Run on the Banks of the Wabash

★ Marathon & Beyond - bimonthly magazine in book format

★ Multidays.com - The Complete Resource for the Multiday Runner: Multiday and Ultrarunning News

★ OUSer Homepage - Ultrarunning events in Ontario, Canada

★ Run100s.com - Stan Jensen's Web Site (comprehensive compilation of all things ultra)

★ SixDayRace.org.au - Cliff Young Australian SixDay race

★ Sri Chinmoy Races.org - Hosts of Self-Transcendence 24/48 and multiday races around the world

★ TrailRunner magazine

★ UltraRunner.net - The UltraRunning link for the U.S.

★ Ultrarunning.com - UltraRunning Online, ''UltraRunning Magazine

★ Ultrarunning World Ultrarunning World magazine

★ World Ultra News

★ Ultrarunner.co.uk - UK Ultra Distance Running Magazine

★ RealEndurance.com - UltraRunning All Time Result Lists

★ ZombieRunner - Ultramarathon commentary, e-zine, shop and community forum.

★ UltraHolics - Fun products for the Ultra Runner

★ Pacific Coast Trail Runs - Great race director site with large selection of trail runs

★ Tahoe Mountain Milers - Host site for the Tahoe Rim Trail 50k, 50 mile and 100 mile races