An ultramarathon,also called ultra distance or ultra running,is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. Various distances,surfaces,and formats are raced competitively,from the shortest common ultramarathon of 31 miles (50 km) and up to 3100 miles. World Championships are held by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) for 50 km,100 km,24 hours,and ultra Trail running. The Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners (GOMU) holds World Championships for 48 hours and 6 days. World Records are ratified and recognized by World Athletics,the IAU,and by GOMU.
Scott Gordon Jurek is an American ultramarathoner,author,and public speaker. Throughout his running career,Jurek was one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world,winning the Hardrock Hundred (2007),the Badwater Ultramarathon,the Spartathlon,and the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (1999–2005). In 2010,at the 24-Hour World Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde,France,Jurek won a silver medal behind Shingo Inoue and set a new US record for distance run in 24 hours with 165.7 miles. In 2015,Jurek set the Fastest Known Time running record for the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail.
The Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race is the world's longest certified footrace. In 1996 Sri Chinmoy created this event as a 2,700-mile (4,345 km) race. At the award ceremony that year he declared that the 1997 edition would be extended to 3,100 miles (4,989 km).
Suprabha Beckjord is an ultramarathon runner from Washington,D.C. She is an owner of a gift shop and a disciple of Sri Chinmoy.
Hal Koerner is an American distance runner specializing in ultramarathon running. He is the owner of a specialty running store,Rogue Valley Runners,located in the mountainous Southern Oregon town of Ashland. He is one of the subjects of JB Benna's feature-length documentary "Unbreakable:The Western States 100".
RacingThePlanet (RTP) is an organizer of off-trail and rough-country endurance foot-races,including the 4 Deserts. The company also operates an outdoor products store and a dried foods company.
Yuki Kawauchi is a Japanese marathon runner. He came to prominence after running the 2011 Tokyo Marathon in 2:08:37,finishing as the first Japanese citizen and third overall. He was known as the "citizen runner" given that he used to work full-time for the government of Saitama Prefecture and trained in his time off with his own expenses without any sponsorship. Kawauchi won the 2018 Boston Marathon. In 2020,he left his job in local government and became a full-time professional runner.
Mahmut Yavuz is a Turkish Navy officer,who serves,currently as a lieutenant,in the SAT Commando unit of the Marines and Special Forces. He is best known for his successful career as an ultramarathon runner and his indistinct fast speech. He holds many records and currently works as a running instructor.
Jenn Shelton is an American ultramarathoner. She has set course records in several of the most demanding American ultramarathons.
Harvey Sweetland Lewis is an American ultrarunner.
Max King is an American ultra-marathoner. He was the winner at the 2014 IAU 100 km World Championships and the 2011 World Mountain Running Championships. King earned the bronze medal at the 2016 NACAC Cross Country Championships / Pan American Cross Country Cup.
Sage Clifton Read Canaday is an American long-distance runner and ultramarathoner.
Oz Pearlman is an American mentalist,magician,and athlete who lives and works in the United States. He performs as a mentalist under the name "Oz the Mentalist",and has successfully appeared on America's Got Talent,winning third-place in Season 10 (2015).
Elisabet Barnes is a Swedish athlete specialized in ultrarunning. Her major claim to fame is winning the Marathon des Sables in 2015,winning each stage of the race. She repeated her win in 2017. The Marathon des Sables has been listed by Outside Magazine as one of the 9 toughest ultramarathons in the world. In 2015,she participated in six races,winning all and setting new course records in four.
Gobi is a small,female Chihuahua mix that began following ultra marathon runner Dion Leonard at the beginning of Stage II of the Gobi Desert Run in China in June 2016.
Dion Leonard is an Australian/British endurance athlete and ultramarathon runner,motivational speaker,and author of New York Times Bestseller Finding Gobi,the non-fiction memoir of his story of his dog,Gobi,who ran 77 miles of a 155-mile race across the Gobi Desert. Leonard who grew up in Warwick,Queensland before moving to the U.K. started running in 2013 and has already achieved numerous top 10 finishes in ultra races around the world in the most extreme conditions. Leonard has not only competed in but completed some of the world's toughest ultra running races across the most inhospitable landscapes.
Jim Walmsley is an American long-distance runner. An ultra-trail specialist,his wins include the JFK 50 Mile in 2014,2015 and 2016,the Lake Sonoma 50 in 2016 and 2018,the Tarawera Ultramarathon in 2017,and the Western States 100 in 2018,2019,and 2021. He holds several course records,including the Western States 100,set in 2018 and further improved by 21 minutes in 2019. In 2023,he became the first American man to win the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.
Gary Cantrell,known as Lazarus Lake,is an endurance race designer and director. His races include the Barkley Marathons,Big's Backyard Ultra,the Barkley Fall Classic,Vol State 500K,A Race for the Ages,the Last Annual Heart of the South,and the Strolling Jim 40. In 2018,Lake covered the United States on foot,starting in Rhode Island and ending in Oregon.
Buzz Burrell is an American ultrarunner,outdoor athlete,and businessman. Burrell began trail running and ultramarathons during the infancy of the sport in America during the late 1960s and early '70s at events such as the Pikes Peak Marathon.
