Stu Mittleman is an ultradistance running champion, as well as a fitness/running coach and author.
Mittleman set three consecutive American 100-Mile Road Race records in the US National Championships 1980–1982. His fastest 100-Mile Run was 12 hours 56 min . In 1986, he won the 1,000 Mile World Championship and set a new world record by running the distance (1 609.344 kilometers) in 11 days, 20 hours, 36 min. 50 sec. [1] Mittleman set three consecutive modern-era American Records in the 6 Day Race, the final one being set in 1985 at the University of Colorado Field House with 577 miles.
In December 2008, Mittleman became the sixth American – the third American male – to be inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame.
An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres. The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running.
Michael Lawrence Marsh is a retired American sprinter, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 200 m.
Glenn Vernice Cunningham was an American middle-distance runner, and was considered the greatest American miler of all time. He received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1933.
Ann Trason is an American ultramarathon runner from Auburn, California. She set 20 world records during her career. Her world record of 5:40:18 at the 50 mile distance, set in 1991, was unbeaten until 2015. As of her induction into the Ultrarunning Hall of Fame in 2020, she was considered by many to be the most successful female ultrarunner of all time.
Pamela J. Reed is an American ultrarunner who resides in Tucson, Arizona and Jackson, Wyoming.
Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Greece. Kouros holds or formerly held many world records between 100 miles and 1,000 miles. In 1991, he starred as Pheidippides in the movie The Story of the Marathon: A Hero's Journey, which chronicles the history of marathon running.
Donald Ray Lash was an American long-distance runner who won 12 national titles from 1934 to 1940, including seven consecutive men's national cross-country championships, and who set a world's record for the two-mile run in 1936.
Multiday races are ultramarathon running events which are typically either segmented into daily events of a specified distance or time, or staged so that runners can run as far as they want, at their own discretion, over a set course or over a set number of days. Multiday races can range from continuous 48-hour track events to staged transcontinental treks.
Bernd Heinrich, is a professor emeritus in the biology department at the University of Vermont and is the author of a number of books about nature writing and biology. Heinrich has made major contributions to the study of insect physiology and behavior, as well as bird behavior. In addition to many scientific publications, Heinrich has written over a dozen highly praised books, mostly related to his research examining the physiological, ecological and behavioral adaptations of animals and plants to their physical environments. He has also written books that include more of his personal reflections on nature. He is the son of Ichneumon expert Gerd Heinrich.
The Leadville Trail 100 Run is an ultramarathon held annually on rugged trails and dirt roads near Leadville, Colorado, through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. First run in 1983, the race course climbs and descends 15,600 feet (4,800 m), with elevations ranging from 9,200 to 12,620 feet. In most years, fewer than half the starters complete the race within the 30-hour time limit.
Ted Corbitt was an American long-distance runner. The first African-American to run the marathon at the Summer Olympics and the founding president of New York Road Runners, Corbitt is often called "the father of American long distance running." He was also an ultramarathon pioneer, helping to revive interest in the sport in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte called Corbitt a "spiritual elder of the modern running clan". In a Runner's World feature honoring lifetime achievement, writer Gail Kislevitz called Corbitt a "symbol of durability and longevity". Corbitt was among the first five runners to be inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, and the first to be inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame.
The 6-Day Race became a standard footrace distance in the 1870s and was a popular form of entertainment with up to 70,000 paying visitors during such a Pedestrians event. However the widespread use of the bicycle from 1890 caused it to be replaced as spectator sport by cycle races of the same duration. It was in two forms: strict "heel-and-toe" racewalking, or "go-as-you-please" combination of walking, jogging, running.
Laurence Eugene "Lon" Myers was an American sprinter and middle distance runner.
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.
Jacquelyn Camille Herron is an American ultramarathon runner and scientist. She has 12 world records in ultramarathon distances.
Márta Vass is a Hungarian ultramarathon runner, former IAU100km European champion and multiple IAU 100 km World Championship medallist.
Betty Jo Geiger is an American former long-distance runner who competed in events ranging from 3000-meter run to the marathon.
Courtney Dauwalter is an American ultramarathon runner and former teacher. Widely regarded as one of the world's best ultra trail runners, Dauwalter became in 2023 the first person ever to win Western States 100, Hardrock 100 and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in the same year.
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.
John Wade Kelly is an American endurance athlete who specializes in ultrarunning.