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.
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.
Katie McGregor is an American runner who participates in track, cross country and the marathon.
Deena Michelle Kastor is an American long-distance runner. She was a holder of American records in the marathon (2006-2022) and numerous road distances. She won the bronze medal in the women's marathon at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She is also an eight-time national champion in cross country.
Shalane Grace Flanagan is an American long-distance runner, Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon champion. She was the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977. She holds the NACAC area records in both the 10k and 15k road races.
Brian Sell is a retired American long-distance runner who specialized in various long-distance track events before specializing as a marathoner in his professional career with Hansons-Brooks Distance Project. Sell represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the men's marathon. He attended Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, where he ran on the Saint Francis University cross country team.
Kílian Jornet is a professional long-distance trail runner and ski mountaineer. Jornet has won some of the most prestigious ultramarathons, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc multiple times, Grand Raid, Western States and Hardrock.
Emma Roca Rodríguez was a Spanish Catalan ski mountaineer and an eco-challenge member. She represented Spain which she was a captain, she helped her team to get in the top 10 spot.
Karl Meltzer is an ultrarunner and ultrarunning coach based in Sandy, Utah. Meltzer has won more 100-mile ultramarathons than any other ultramarathoner, and has held speed records at major U.S. trails, including the Appalachian Trail and the Pony Express Trail. Meltzer's trail runs have been featured in news outlets from Ultrarunning.com to NBC Sports. Meltzer has been a professional ultramarathoner since 1999, and a coach since 2007.
Dave (David) Mackey, born November 22, 1969, is an American ultra runner and adventure racer who lives in Boulder, Colorado. Mackey has set course records at many significant national ultra-distance trail running races, and spent several years adventure racing nationally and internationally. He is a physician assistant in emergency medicine.
Connie Gardner is an American ultramarathoner and member of the USATF. She has competed in ultramarathons all over the world, and has won 11 USATF national championships. Her ultramarathon victories include the Burning River 100 Mile Trail Race, the Mohican 100 Mile Trail Race, the NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run, the Tussey Mountainback 50 Miler (2011), and the JFK 50 Miler.
Emelie Tina Forsberg is a Swedish athlete specializing in trail running and ski mountaineering. She has won repeated victories in different disciplines, including European and World Championships.
Ellie Greenwood is a British and Canadian ultramarathon runner. She is a four-time 100km World Champion, winning both individual and team titles in 2010 and 2014. She won the 90 km Comrades Marathon in South Africa in 2014, becoming the first British woman to win the race. Greenwood is also a former champion and course record holder for the Canadian Death Race, Western States 100, and the JFK 50 Mile Run.
Jacquelyn Camille Herron is an American ultramarathon runner and scientist born on December 25, 1981 in Norman, Oklahoma. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest Ultramarathon runners of all time.
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.
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.
Kami Semick is an American ultramarathon runner based in Bend, Oregon who was a two-time UltraRunner of the Year and USATF’s Ultra Runner of the Year in 2009 and 2010. She ran collegiately with the University of Alabama and transitioned to ultramarathons in her 30s and came in second with a time of 4:54 in the Siskyou Out Back 50k, second in 4:54. Her ultra career went on to include five wins at the Miwok 100K Trail Race, a fourth place finish at the 2006 Western States 100, first female and third overall at the 2010 Vermont 100. Internationally, she won the 2009 IAU 100K World Cup in Belgium, the IAU 50K World Championship in Gibraltar and was involved with the creation of the North Face Tea Horse Trail Running Expedition.
Trudi Thomson is a British former distance runner and ultramarathon runner who competed for Great Britain at the IAU 100 km World Championships in 1993 and 1994, the IAAF 1995 World Cup Marathon, the IAAF 1995 World Championships Marathon and the IAAF 1995 World Championships Half Marathon. She represented Scotland at the 1999 World Mountain Running Trophy.
