Marshall Ulrich | |
---|---|
Born | July 4, 1951 |
Occupation | Athlete, author, inspirational speaker, trainer, guide |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Notable works | Running on Empty |
Marshall Ulrich is an American ultramarathon runner and mountaineer. He holds distinctions in several sports: he has completed 124 ultra marathons averaging over 100 miles each, has climbed the tallest summit on each continent (all on first attempts), a feat known as the seven summits, and has finished 12 expedition-length races in adventure racing.
Arguably most famous for his exploits in the Badwater Ultramarathon across Death Valley, Ulrich has finished the race 18 times and crossed Death Valley a record 24 times, including a 586-mile "Badwater Quad", covering the course four times (twice up and back), and a self-contained, unaided solo, in which he pulled all supplies (food, ice, medical) in a cart that weighed more than 200 pounds at the start. He won the Badwater 146-mile race from the Badwater Basin at −282 feet (−86 m) to the summit of Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) an unprecedented 4 times and still holds the record to the summit. (The race is not run to the summit anymore.) In summer 2012, he and Dave Heckman completed the first-ever trek around the entire perimeter of Death Valley National Park, a total of about 425 miles covered in 16.5 days. [1]
Ulrich has raised over $850,000 for various charities, including the Religious Teachers Filippini, a small order with a major focus on serving children orphaned by AIDS in some of the poorest countries in the world. [2] He provides his services as a speaker, trainer and guides through Dreams in Action, encouraging others to "discover what you're made of: it's more than you think".
In 1992, he had his toenails removed in order to avoid chronic problems he experienced due to the extreme number of miles he was racing and training. [3]
In fall 2008, he attempted to break the world record for a trans-American crossing (currently held by Pete Kostelnick) [4] and completed a 3,063.2-mile run from San Francisco to New York in 52.5 days, equal to 117 marathons, or two marathons plus a 10K each day. Ulrich succeeded in setting new Masters and Grand Masters records and recorded the third-fastest crossing of the United States on foot. [5] The effort, which included many injuries and obstacles, was chronicled in the 2010 movie, Running America. Ulrich's 2011 memoir, Running on Empty, gives more of the backstory of the transcontinental run, tells of his other extreme endurance adventures, and reveals his psychological drivers. Brian Metzler of Running Times called the book "a sincere original" with "candid tales about the loss of his first wife to cancer, his personal challenges of being a parent and rediscovering how to love later in life, as well as overcoming a mountain of self-doubt and insecurity." [6]
Kerwin, Kevin (director), Running America. New York: Nehst Studios, 2010. [9]
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is a 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.
Dean Karnazes, is an American ultramarathon runner, and author of Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, which details ultra endurance running for the general public.
The Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135-mile (217 km) ultramarathon race starting at −282 feet (−86 m) below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8,360 feet (2,550 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It takes place annually in mid-July when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures can reach 130 °F (54 °C).
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.
Pamela J. Reed is an American ultrarunner who resides in Tucson, Arizona and Jackson, Wyoming.
Serge Girard is a French ultramarathon runner born in 1953. He fulfilled the challenge of running across the 5 continents without a single day off.
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Richard Stephen Benyo is an American journalist and veteran distance runner. He is the editor of Marathon & Beyond Magazine, a magazine devoted to marathon and ultramarathon running. He is also the former executive editor of Runner's World Magazine, and Anderson World Books, Inc. Benyo is the author of 17 books and has written extensively about running, health and fitness.
Fergus (‘Ferg’) Hawke is an international ultra-distance runner, residing in South Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
Arthur "Al" Howie was a Canadian long-distance runner who won more than fifty marathons, ultramarathons, and multiday races in over two decades, including the 1991 Trans Canada Highway run in the record time of 72 days and 10 hours. A brass plaque on Victoria's Mile Zero marker commemorates this athletic event for which he raised $750,000 for a fund for children with special needs. Two weeks after running across Canada he won the Sri Chinmoy 1300 Miler in New York improving on his own world record time. Both the Trans Canada run and the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) race qualified for the Guinness Book of Records. He lived in Duncan, B.C., from 2005 until his death in 2016. He had been receiving treatment for Diabetes I. The City of Duncan awarded him the Perpetual Trophy for Excellence and Sportsmanship in December 2007, and in 2014 he was inducted into The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Ákos Kónya is a Hungarian ultramarathon runner from Oceanside, California.
Amy Palmiero-Winters is a below-knee amputee, long-distance runner, and triathlete. She holds eleven world records in various events. In 2010, she was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States and the ESPN ESPY Award as the top female athlete with a disability in the world.
Valmir Nunes is a Brazilian runner. A former world record holder, he currently holds South American and Brazilian Ultramarathon records.
Croix Sather is an American author, inspirational speaker, and ultra-athlete. His self-help and personal development books cover the topics of personal transformation, self-help, psychology of success, and high achievement. The titles of his books include Dream Big Act Big, BetterBody BetterLife, and BetterBody BetterLife Journal. His speaking career include the highlights of speaking on TEDx Las Vegas, Calico Canyon and TEDx NYC, Upper East Side.
Eleanor Robinson is a British former ultramarathon runner and two-time winner of the IAU 100km World Championships. She was the first woman to run over 150 miles in a 24-hour endurance race. She was the winner of the first Badwater Ultramarathon in 1987. She was twice bronze medallist at the IAU 100 km European Championships.
Harvey Sweetland Lewis is an American ultrarunner.
Sage Clifton Read Canaday is an American long-distance runner and ultramarathoner.
Pete Kostelnick is an American ultramarathon runner most well known for his world record for fastest coast-to-coast crossing of the United States by foot, in 42 days, six hours and 30 minutes. He is a two time Badwater Ultramarathon champion, and the 5th fastest North American, all-time, at the 24-hour run, covering 163.5 miles.
Michele Graglia is a model, author, fitness coach, and ultra marathon runner. His book Ultra was published by Sperling & Kupfer in May 2017. Originally from Taggia, Liguria, Italy, Graglia became an international model represented by Major Model Management in New York and the now defunct Irene Marie Model Management in Miami, FL, where he was initially discovered. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
Gerald Tabios is a Filipino long-distance runner and Ultramarathon runner. Among his most notable races in the United States is the Badwater Ultramarathon. This is an annual race that stretches 135 miles through Death Valley, California in July and ends after a steep climb of Mount Whitney. In the world of Ultramarathons this race, where temperatures often reach 130 °F, is frequently coined "The Toughest Foot Race in the World." Tabios is a 7-time Badwater 135 finisher.